By the way Jeff, the emperor has no clothes. All that talk about environmentalists blocking thinning projects is a bold-faced lie by politicians cause they want a villian. This is from the same source you cited above:
Burning tree-huggers at the stake
E.J. Montini
The Arizona Republic
Jun. 25, 2002
The "Rodeo-Chediski" fire provided the smoke; the politicians provided the mirrors.
"The governor, along with our U.S. senators, are creating a climate of hate right now," said Sharon Galbreath of the Southwest Forest Alliance, an environmental coalition based in Flagstaff. "We're getting hate calls and worse. We could be polite and say she (the governor) is misinformed. But at this point, I'd say she is trying to make political hay and creating a firestorm of her own. And what she's saying isn't true."
Gov. Jane Hull and U.S. Sens. Jon Kyl and John McCain have held press conferences in the past few days in which they've said lawsuits filed by "radical" or "extremist" environmental groups have prevented the U.S. Forest Service from clearing dangerous buildups of smaller trees and scrubs in forests.
"That's simply not the case," Galbreath said. "We've researched it, and we can find only two or three instances where anything like that was challenged in Arizona."
None of the politicians has mentioned specific instances of a legal challenge that occurred within the boundaries of the current fire.
One of Kyl's assistants told me they don't believe they have to. He said opposition to the Forest Service's effort to clear forest of what is called "hazardous fuels" has created a chilling effect that prevents the work from being done.
Is that actually the case?
Last year, Sen. Larry Craig of Idaho asked the General Accounting Office to identify all of the Forest Service's fuel-reduction projects in the nation and tell him how many have been challenged. The report states that there were 1,671 such projects in fiscal year 2001. "Of these projects," the report reads, "20 (about 1 percent) had been appealed and none had been litigated." In other words, no lawsuits.
"Where there's a lack of leadership, what you get is finger-pointing," said Sandy Bahr of the Grand Canyon Chapter of the Sierra Club. "We have encouraged the government to thin the smaller trees, especially around communities. It would have been good if the governor had gotten her facts straight before spouting off."
Bahr and Galbreath describe the cause of the fire in broad terms, as does the Forest Service itself. There have been 100 years of logging, cattle ranching, fire suppression and home building in areas that were previously untouched wilderness. Add to that a drought. Add to that carelessness or criminal behavior, and you wind up with the hell that is the Rodeo-Chediski fire.
This isn't to say that some activists can't see the forest for the trees. Still, saying environmentalists are to blame for 100 years of change and mismanagement of our forests is the thickest kind of smoke screen.
When a fire-suppressing prescribed burn was suggested some time ago for Hop Canyon outside of Show Low, it was residents who fought the idea, not wanting to deal with the smoke.
Francie Noyes, Hull's spokeswoman, said the governor was speaking in general terms when condemning lawsuits.
Hopefully, President Bush won't add more fuel to the fire when he visits Show Low today.
"The only way this problem will ever be fixed is if we build a consensus," Galbreath said. "That can't happen by creating villains."
Unfortunately, politicians know less about building coalitions than they do about wildfire.
Although they're very good at burning people at the stake.
Burning tree-huggers at the stake
E.J. Montini
The Arizona Republic
Jun. 25, 2002
The "Rodeo-Chediski" fire provided the smoke; the politicians provided the mirrors.
"The governor, along with our U.S. senators, are creating a climate of hate right now," said Sharon Galbreath of the Southwest Forest Alliance, an environmental coalition based in Flagstaff. "We're getting hate calls and worse. We could be polite and say she (the governor) is misinformed. But at this point, I'd say she is trying to make political hay and creating a firestorm of her own. And what she's saying isn't true."
Gov. Jane Hull and U.S. Sens. Jon Kyl and John McCain have held press conferences in the past few days in which they've said lawsuits filed by "radical" or "extremist" environmental groups have prevented the U.S. Forest Service from clearing dangerous buildups of smaller trees and scrubs in forests.
"That's simply not the case," Galbreath said. "We've researched it, and we can find only two or three instances where anything like that was challenged in Arizona."
None of the politicians has mentioned specific instances of a legal challenge that occurred within the boundaries of the current fire.
One of Kyl's assistants told me they don't believe they have to. He said opposition to the Forest Service's effort to clear forest of what is called "hazardous fuels" has created a chilling effect that prevents the work from being done.
Is that actually the case?
Last year, Sen. Larry Craig of Idaho asked the General Accounting Office to identify all of the Forest Service's fuel-reduction projects in the nation and tell him how many have been challenged. The report states that there were 1,671 such projects in fiscal year 2001. "Of these projects," the report reads, "20 (about 1 percent) had been appealed and none had been litigated." In other words, no lawsuits.
"Where there's a lack of leadership, what you get is finger-pointing," said Sandy Bahr of the Grand Canyon Chapter of the Sierra Club. "We have encouraged the government to thin the smaller trees, especially around communities. It would have been good if the governor had gotten her facts straight before spouting off."
Bahr and Galbreath describe the cause of the fire in broad terms, as does the Forest Service itself. There have been 100 years of logging, cattle ranching, fire suppression and home building in areas that were previously untouched wilderness. Add to that a drought. Add to that carelessness or criminal behavior, and you wind up with the hell that is the Rodeo-Chediski fire.
This isn't to say that some activists can't see the forest for the trees. Still, saying environmentalists are to blame for 100 years of change and mismanagement of our forests is the thickest kind of smoke screen.
When a fire-suppressing prescribed burn was suggested some time ago for Hop Canyon outside of Show Low, it was residents who fought the idea, not wanting to deal with the smoke.
Francie Noyes, Hull's spokeswoman, said the governor was speaking in general terms when condemning lawsuits.
Hopefully, President Bush won't add more fuel to the fire when he visits Show Low today.
"The only way this problem will ever be fixed is if we build a consensus," Galbreath said. "That can't happen by creating villains."
Unfortunately, politicians know less about building coalitions than they do about wildfire.
Although they're very good at burning people at the stake.