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October 26, 2008
Efforts to reduce wildfire risks posed by landscaping are taking root
UNION-TRIBUNE
Greg Rubin installed fire-resistant landscaping at this Ramona home.
Many homeowners are thinning shrubs and pruning trees that otherwise might become fuel for flames where housing meets the wildlands. In urban settings, civic groups and public safety organizations are encouraging neighbors to work cooperatively to clear excess brush from canyons and open space.
October 24, 2008
Fire-charred NM mountains fuel policy debate
Associated Press
TAJIQUE, N.M. (AP) — Nearly 30 years ago, a piece of property along a twisting dirt road in the heart of the Manzano Mountains caught Paul Davis' eye.
October 22, 2008
Suit against USFS dismissed: Robert Stephens hoped to stop prescribed burns
McCreary County Record
LONDON — U.S. District Judge Danny C. Reeves recently granted a motion from the United States Forest Service to dismiss a federal civil suit filed by local environmentalist and historian Robert Stephens last year.
October 19, 2008
A healing flame: As fire season subsides, crews are using controlled burns to keep
forests healthy — and to prevent catastrophic blazes in the future
The Bulletin
After months of preparation, fire crews must complete a final checklist before initiating the prescribed fire.
Forest Service officials ignite prescribed burns in an attempt to re-create the natural fire cycle, which clears out fuels that would otherwise build up and risk catastrophic wildfires.
October 17, 2008
Firestorm frequency puts rare evergreen in peril
Tecate cypress among species most at risk
UNION-TRIBUNE
On the flanks of Otay Mountain, one of California's rarest plants is losing its grip.
The Tecate cypress is slipping away because of repeated fires that have roared through the backcountry in recent years, including 2007 and 2003. The frequency of the blazes has not given the slow-maturing species enough time to reproduce, so its limited range is shriveling.
Despite major wildfire year, firefighting reforms go up in smoke
San Jose Mercury News
California's brutal fire season isn't over yet. But the most significant efforts this year to provide California with more fire engines and to reduce fire risk all have gone up in smoke, the victims of Sacramento politics.
October 10, 2008
Idaho's forests granted a quiet wildfire season:
Just 98,894 acres have burned across the state this year
Idaho Mountain Express
Idaho's 2008 wildfire season nearly became the fire season that wasn't.
In all, just 901 wildfires spanning a total of 98,894 acres have burned across the state this year due to natural and human-caused ignitions, information from the National Interagency Fire Center in Boise indicates. That figure doesn't account for an additional 35 remote, natural-caused wildfires that state fire managers this year allowed to burn 47,189 acres for resource objectives.
REGION: Fire drops called minor threat to environment
20,000 gallons of salt water, 13,979 gallons of retardant dumped on Pendleton blaze
North County Times
Did those aerial drops of bubble-gum-colored retardant and salty ocean water on a 1,500-acre Camp Pendleton wildfire this week harm the environment?
The answer is yes, public officials and a native-plant expert said Friday.
October 8, 2008
Homeowners Seek Damages Against Government for California Wildfire
BLT: Blog of Legal Times
A lawyer representing a class of homeowners affected by the largest wildfire in California history urged an appeals court today to hold the federal government responsible for damages in the Cedar Fire of 2003, which consumed more than 273,000 acres, destroyed 2,232 houses, and killed 15 people.
October 5, 2008
Gov. Schwarzenegger Signs 10 Wildfire And Preparedness Bills
Canyon News
VARIOUS LOCATIONS—On Saturday, September 27, Governor Schwarzenegger signed a package of bills aimed at improving California’s ability to respond to emergencies and natural disasters. A number of the bills, intended to boost California's wildfire prevention and firefighting capabilities, may potentially affect those areas most prone to wildfire outbreak.
October 3, 2008
Corrections officer dies during firefighting efforts
Mojave Daily News
TOPOCK - Officials say a supervisor with the Arizona Department of Corrections in Globe died Wednesday while overseeing inmate crew firefighting efforts on the Sacramento Fire inside the Havasu National Wildlife Refuge.
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