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May 31
Trinity County man says firefighters destroyed his water system with backburn
Record Searchlight
JUNCTION CITY - For almost a year, William Heinrici has been filling up a 33-gallon drum at a neighbor's property and hauling it up a bumpy road to his tiny home so that his three children can brush their teeth before going to school.
It wasn't always so for the 52-year-old Trinity County man.
Up until last summer, his family could turn on any of the taps in their house. That was before U.S. Forest Service firefighters defending a wildfire that didn't come within a mile of his home lit a burnout that ignited his property, he said.
May 30 There seems to be some confusion in the ranks regarding the alleged “benefits” of wildfire. There has been an effort to credit wildfire with positives. Generally the “positive” is reduction in fuel. However, reducing fuel with a wildfire is a non-sequitur — the burden of fuel is that it can cause a wildfire. SOUTH LAKE TAHOE – A forest after a fire can be like a heart-attack victim: Sometimes the recovering patient looks worse after life-saving surgery. So it is with the forest burned by the June 2007 Angora fire in South Lake Tahoe. May 24 Many environmentalists look back 200 years ago and yearn for the majestic forests that grew before the European settlement of California. Many in the timber industry look back 20 years and pine for the buzzing mills and the rough but respectable jobs that were the foundation of a thriving regional economy before the spotted owl wrecked it all. May 22 Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar announced today that the Department would invest $15 million under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 to fund 55 projects that will reduce hazardous fuels on thousands of acres of federal land to protect communities at risk from wildland fires, support local economies and rehabilitate ecosystems damaged by wildfire. The funding is part of $3 billion Interior is investing in the nation’s economy under President Obama’s recovery plan. May 21 President Barack Obama’s pick to oversee the Forest Service was a shocker. He didn’t look to a career Forest Service employee. He didn’t choose a forester or an environmental activist, either. He didn’t even pick a Westerner. May 18 While the Obama administration has been consumed with problems tied to the country's economic woes, it's left our national forests largely in the hands of appointees from the previous administration. Unless the White House sends a clear signal to its agencies to change course, we could be living with the consequences for a long time. May 17 A year after wildfire killed 13 people and blackened hundreds of thousands of acres of forestland - costing nearly $170 million to fight - the north state's woods stand primed to burn again. May 15 Local connection: With the early start to the 2009 fire season, this handy little paperback contains a lot of information Central Coast residents, especially those in vulnerable areas, will want to read up on before we get into the summer months.
Content: Part of the California Natural History guides published by the University of California Press, this book investigates the nature of wildland fires in the state. After explaining ignition sources and the "behavior" of a fire and how it is affected by weather and topography, the author discusses vegetation types that are most susceptible to wildfire, wildlife concerns and the debate over controlled burns. Next, there's a brief history of some of the state's more notable fires, including the Marble Cone blaze in 1977, the 1990 Painted Cave fire in Santa Barbara, and the Oakland Hills conflagration the following year. May 6 The Obama administration's pick to be the new agriculture undersecretary in charge of the U.S. Forest Service breaks a long-standing tradition of someone with a forest policy background. Homer Lee Wilkes, the Mississippi state conservationist, was named late Tuesday as the nominee for undersecretary of Agriculture for natural resources and environment. State to get millions to fight wildfires California will receive $31 million to help reduce the fuels that feed severe wildfires, including nearly $9 million for the San Bernardino National Forest, officials announced Tuesday. May 5 WASHINGTON, May 5, 2009 - Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack announced $224 million today for 110 hazardous fuels reduction and ecosystem improvement projects funded by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA). The projects are located on forested lands in over 26 states and territories. May 4 Spring is here, and the fire season will soon be upon us. Every year, the cost of fighting forest fires increases so that now, firefighting accounts for close to half the Forest Service's budget. The cost to taxpayers has risen to billions of dollars. May 3 Where there's raging wildfire, there are often calls from the public for an air show - a sky full of air tankers and helicopters squelching the flames - state and fire officials say. "It's kind of a misconception of the public sometimes - that aircraft are going to be the panacea and save the day," said Dennis Brown, regional aviation safety manager for the U.S. Forest Service in California. But while firefighting aircraft usually are much more visible than the crews laboring below, they need ground support to extinguish fire. May 1 Californian Department of Forestry and Fire Protection firefighters James Vincent of El Dorado tires to keep flames out of trees on a controlled burn set by Cal Fire in hopes of burning out a section of the Moon Fire off Rainbow Lake Road in Ono, June 27, 2008.
-------------------- FUSEE is a non-profit organization dedicated to public education on fire ecology and management issues. We believe this news service to be 'Fair Use' of the cited copyrighted material for educational purposes and will advance awareness, understanding, and public discussion of issues relating to firefighter safety, ethical land management, environmental protection, ecological restoration, and other issues in the public interest.
The Alleged Benefits of Wildfire
Western Institute for Study of the Environment Commentary
Environmentalists fear for Tahoe amid logging in burned Angora area
Sacramento Bee
Policymakers need to find new solutions to wildfire risk
Record Searchlight
Secretary Salazar Announces $15 Million Investment in Hazardous Fuel Reduction Projects, Biomass Production on Public Lands
7thspace.com
Obama Stuns with Forest Service Nominee
New West
Who's minding the forest?
The Miami Herald
The way forward: There's little agreement among policymakers on solutions to reducing fire risk
Record Searchlight
Book investigates California's fire history
The Salinas Californian
Obama names nominee to oversee national forests
Seattle Times
Press-Enterprise
Agriculture Secretary Vilsack Announces $224 Million In Funding To Reduce Hazardous Fuels
To fight fire, fight forest development
Record Searchlight
Are firefighting 'air shows' effective?
Record Searchlight
Firefighting methods questioned
Record Searchlight