Tuesday, June 12, 2012

PERFECT STORM

     There is a perfect storm brewing that it may be too late to stop.  The western areas of the country especially the national parks, forests, and monuments as well as all that surrounds them, are poised for a fire that will surpass anything seen before.  The reasons are varied but the remedies are being stopped by the obsessive belief in Global Warming.
     Even thought the statistics were admitted to be false and the premise exposed that it was a big game to control countries and economies, especially the US.  We have been experiencing a long over due but periodic drought that has created tinder dry conditions all over the country.
     The use of science and scientific research has been scewed with political and emotional issues.  For one hundred years there has been a policy of stopping every fire that happens.  Yet it is proven that fire is a basic cycle in both forest and prairie.  The Bambi syndrome and the classic Smokey the Bear promotion injected emotionalism into the management of our resources.
     The environmental extremist organizations and even some mainline groups have bought into the politically correctness that has hamstrung the people who live by the resources and manage them.
     The logging industry that brought prosperity to not only the forest areas but the entire country have been mostly put out of business.  Very few people do not like the clear cutting that used to take place yet see where the fires stop and are controlled in many instances.  Fire is natures clear cut.  Some species of trees cannot sprout and grow without naturally occurring fire that splits the seed hulls and allows them to grow.
      The canopy of a mature forest does not let new trees grow and is not ideal for wildlife.  The mandated multiple use of our forest lands controlled by the government have had all the management taken from them and placed in the hands of lawyers and judges.  And as the experienced managers retire or are fired, they are replaced with new people trained in the new agenda with little real experience.
     Another part of the puzzle is an aging fleet of air tankers.  The planes are stressed past any point of logical life and are frequently grounded as well as crash.  This all costs lives.
     The new generation of fire tanker created to replace the smaller worn out models are not allowed to go into service.  Yet the Evergreen Airlines 747 replaces 12 smaller bombers and can operate from a higher altitude than the old ones.  It is a proven technology.  But it will not be deployed because the government will not sign the contract or certification of the plane.
     The next is the pine beetle killed forests that are spreading at a rapid pace.  Due to lawsuits and the loggers going out of business there is not a fast enough salvage and clean up of the dead trees.  This will be the source of the big one.
     Add in the fact that over 40% of the Federal firefighters will be retiring in the next few years.  There are already many units not being staffed for lack of qualified captains to head the crews.
     Plus the latest intelligence from Alqueda is the encouragement for would be terrorists in the US to go out and start fires in these areas.
     If you think it is bad now wait until the season is advanced and all this comes together into a perfect storm.  As I say it may be to late to stop the perfect storm from happening, but, we can always count on congress to do nothing, the federal bureaucracy to do nothing, and the courts to not stop the obvious frivolous suits that stop any action from being taken.
     How many funerals will it take for you and others to raise a voice and put an end to this travesty?

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