Australia's angry fire survivors blame council 'green' policy...

Drudge Report ^ | February 11, 2009 | the eagle has landed

[TheEaglehasLanded]

Angry survivors blame council 'green' policy Andrea Petrie, Arthurs Creek February 11, 2009 Page 1 of 2 | Single Page View ANGRY residents last night accused local authorities of contributing to the bushfire toll by failing to let residents chop down trees and clear up bushland that posed a fire risk.

During question time at a packed community meeting in Arthurs Creek on Melbourne's northern fringe, Warwick Spooner — whose mother Marilyn and brother Damien perished along with their home in the Strathewen blaze — criticised the Nillumbik council for the limitations it placed on residents wanting the council's help or permission to clean up around their properties in preparation for the bushfire season. "We've lost two people in my family because you dickheads won't cut trees down," he said.

[TheEaglehasLanded]

I think this says it all "We've lost two people in my family because you dickheads won't cut trees down," he said.

I hope they sue the environmental wacjob orgs around the world for this policy that leads to mass fire deaths just like in Killifornia.

[Flavius]

thats why they took their guns first

[DB]

Yes, we have the same problem here. You can't cut down a sacred oak tree to produce a safe distance around your home in the event of a fire.

You don't really have ownership of your own land is the bottom line.

[omega4179]

Legislate Registrate Confiscate Eliminate

[A message]

Liberalism KILLS.

[ikka]

Just another case of greenie-psychopaths reducing the "surplus population" .

Half a million Asians have died because Rachel Carson lied about the effects of DDT. You think they care about a couple of white people?

[wastedyears]

LOL!

Great comment

I wish some of our politicians had the fortitude of a few Australians.

[PistolPaknMama]

Exactly. Sticks and stones may break my bones but your guns will never hurt me.

Nanny nanny boo boo.

[allmost]

A link to the original article via Drudge, he'll take it down eventually.
Angry survivors blame council 'green' policy

Sad situation. These people haven't even started to get angry yet.

[TheZMan]

Assuming you’re in Cali... why not cut it down anyway?

[americanophile]

...finally. Something that can’t be blamed on George W. Bush.

[Gondring]

[...]Rachel Carson lied about the effects of DDT

In what way?

[DB]

Big fines and they’ll make me replace it.

[ikka]

Mis-interpreting scientific study results, raising false alarms about children getting cancer, etc.

http://www.reason.com/news/show/34823.html

[an amused spectator]

In what way?

You'd better do some serious Net surfing on DDT.

[penelopesire]

Never fear..Obama finally has issued a ‘statement’.

He is offering prayers and the full resources of our ‘Interior Department’.

Of course, only after they have consulted....reported...deliberated....reviewed...examined..investigated.....studied...evaluated....and determined it is neccessary.

/sarcasm

http://tvnz.co.nz/world-news/obama-offers-prayers-australia-2470736

[ak267]

Greenies Lie
People Die

[Attention Surplus Disorder]

“Assuming you’re in Cali... why not cut it down anyway?”

No laughing matter, my FRiend. If you’re talking about a so-called “Heritage” oak tree here in Contra Costa county of trunk diameter greater than 8” (IIRC) and you cut it down without a permit, you’re probably looking at a $10K fine. I wish I was kidding but I’m definitely not. And if you think they wouldn’t come down on you like a ton of bricks in this budgetary environment, go ahead and try it. Just don’t do it on MY property, LOL.

[Carry_Okie]

I think this says it all "We've lost two people in my family because you dickheads won't cut trees down," he said.

Agenda 21, Australia.

That says it all.

[GeronL]

good for them. speak up. not that it’ll do that much good.

[Steve Van Doorn]

Why not kill the tree and then say, “look it is dead”

[Tucson Jim]

Here! I’ll make it easy.

http://www.junkscience.com/ddtfaq.html

[Attention Surplus Disorder]

How do you kill a tree? Hook it up to a 2 gallon RoundUp intravenous drip?

Seriously, I believe if you want to just trim it, you probably can. If the limb you are trimming is greater than 8” in diam, though, I believe you need a permit. Trust me, it’s not worth playing games with this around here; it’d be like desecrating an American flag on a military base, maybe worse. If the town could figure out a way to fine you, they would make your life hell.

OK, I found it. Dead or alive makes no difference, LMAO!

http://www.ci.walnut-creek.ca.us/header.asp?genericId=2&catId=10&subCatId=941#tree

“Any tree, dead or alive, public or private, that measures 28 inches in circumference when measured 54 inches above grade is protected under the City’s Tree Preservation Ordinance (Ord. 1966). Homeowners, developers, and contractors should review the Ordinance and guidelines prior to developing plans.

Initial tree removal applications should be first submitted to the City Arborist. At no cost, the City Arborist may grant a Tree Removal Permit if he/she makes the findings related, but not limited, to disease, species (such as Blue Gum), form, structure, danger of falling, vector hosting, or utility interference.

Note: A tree that drops leaves or needles in not a valid reason for removal.

If the City Arborist cannot grant a Tree Removal Permit based on the findings and the homeowner still wishes to have the tree removed, an application must then be submitted to the Zoning Administrator (or the highest approving body based on the type(s) of application). The Zoning Administrator will hold a public hearing on the tree removal request and render a decision based on the findings contained in the Ordinance.

Back to top

[RobbyS]

Good idea. Just do it slowly.

[Spktyr]

That’s nothing in Asia, to be honest.

No, Rachel Carson’s lasting legacy is going to be the utter depopulation of Africa.

[Spktyr]

For starters, you can eat mass quantities of DDT with no ill effects.

And, it turns out most of the “DDT-caused” wildlife problems weren’t caused by DDT at all.

[Carling]

No spin from Spooner. Thanks for the new tagline!

[Carling]

Wait until Americans start paying $5 for gas again, while at the same time, their “President” is reversing policies that allow drilling on “their” own soil.

[LukeL]

Fire isn't the only problem, in the Midwest and other areas east of the Rockies trees often fall down onto homes during severe storms and tornadoes. People have been killed in their beds when a tree falls through their window.

But you can't chop them down without getting a permit and of course in some towns people fight this as it takes away from the "beauty" of the town. Tack on that the same trees crack roads and sidewalks and grow into pipes backing up sewers and storm drains. Which most insurance plans won't cover and good luck suing the city.

[penelopesire]

You guys need to learn to turn it around. Two years ago, a contractor for my ‘green city’, that was hauling cement, crashed into my lot and took out a huge oak tree. They offered me nothing and my insurance company was stalling.

I offered to ‘settle’ for a few thousand bucks and they laugh at me in the face like I was insane. Little did they know my background in horticulture and landscape architecture. I know the true ‘value’ of trees. It’s not mythical either....there is a dollar amount per caliber inch depending on species.

All I had to do was go out and get a replacement bid for a 24” diameter tree, planted in the exact spot(which would have taken a crane)..and suddenly they were offering me 10,000 bucks to settle....LOL

Moral of the story...use their silly laws against them at every opportunity. My final settlement after they pissed me off was over 15,000.

They scratched my driveway...took out some crepe myrtles...etc. I was willing to let that kind of silly crap go...but they pissed me off.

If I had been smart, I would have sued for the ‘toxic oil’ the cement truck spilled on my land in the crash and gotten damages for ‘future’ generations!

LOL!

[KTM rider]

I live in the mountains of southern california and i worked for the forest service for a while, one district had an all natural conservation policy of not cutting down bark beetle infested trees ( it stops the spread of the beetles) no thinning and no wood cutting.

the resulting beetle infestation followed by a few forest fires changed that policy.

[gleeaikin]

Is it the trees that are a problem, or is it a lot of uncleared underbrush? Also I heard that they have been having a twelve year drought and the temperature was 120 degrees. I guess all the global warming has gone down there, because we haven’t been having it up here this winter.

[Attention Surplus Disorder]

It’s both, per my read. Don’t forget they have Eucalyptus trees, which, if you’re not familiar, shed very thin layers of “bark” (it’s not coarse bark like oak/walnut trees, it’s like your skin, it sheds in thin layers and also hangs off the trees) in prodigious quantities; this would be like construction-paper in terms of how quickly even a tiny spark could catch it afire....and then the trees themselves are very gummy and flammable, much more so than oak, elm, etc; So, if you had a bunch of scrub brush, 120 degrees, and all the detritus from these trees, OMG, it will catch and burn like mad.

[Knitting A Conundrum]

Been told that Eucalyptus can spark up to 7 miles...makes it a hard fuel to deal with. And they tend to get hollowed out with age and blow up real good in wild land fires...

[penelopesire]

These people are no longer ‘believers’ in a ‘righteous cause’..they are cult members without the ability to think for themselves.

[Nextrush]

I knew there was a “green” angle to the brushfires.

We’ve heard the same about California brushfires and I assumed that Australia had the same idiotic policies.

“Greens” value plants and animals more than humans so they don’t give a rip for all those people who died.

[BlackVeil]

It is difficult to get permission to clear trees, and if one acts without a permit, fines are severe.

Of course, being alive and not burnt up by a fire is some consolation.

A family in Victoria was heavily fined because they cleared a firebreak around their property. They were dragged through the courts - treated like criminals.

Their house is now the only one standing in the area.

They were labelled law breakers, fined $50,000 and left emotionally and financially drained.

But seven years after the Sheahans bulldozed trees to make a fire break — an act that got them dragged before a magistrate and penalised — they feel vindicated. Their house is one of the few in Reedy Creek, Victoria, still standing.

...Although Liam Sheahan’s 2002 decision to disregard planning laws and bulldoze 250 trees on his hilltop property hurt his family financially and emotionally, he believes it helped save them and their home on the weekend. “The house is safe because we did all that,” he said as he pointed out his kitchen window to the clear ground where tall gum trees once cast a shadow on his house. “We have got proof right here. We are the only house standing in a two-kilometre area.”...Mr Sheahan is still angry about his prosecution, which cost him $100,000 in fines and legal fees.

“The council stood up in court and made us to look like the worst, wanton environmental vandals on the earth. We’ve got thousands of trees on our property. We cleared about 247,” he said.

[Riley]

Maybe if one has one of these trees in a position to pose a fire hazard to one’s house, and failing the permit process for removal, one could file some sort of legal statement (with a copy to the homeowner’s insurance company) that the homeowner attempted to remediate an obvious fire hazard and was prevented from doing so by City government- putting the responsibility on them if the house burns down as a result.

If it were me I really wanted to get unpleasant about it, I’d sift through their fire codes and set one department against another until I was such a PITA that they’d either grant a permit or at best, come cut the thing down themselves.

[sf4dubya]

ENVIROWACKOS LIED, PEOPLE DIED

This was (and still is) going on for YEARS in California.

[Riley]

We’ve heard the same about California brushfires and I assumed that Australia had the same idiotic policies.

Dr. Bill Wattenburg on KGO AM Radio in San Francisco used to talk about this. California's forests used to clear out the tinder-like underbrush with periodic fires. If I recall correctly, he pointed out that the fires would let many of the old-growth trees stand, and they would recover, while removing the accumulation of underbrush. Now, we put out those fires, and the underbrush becomes thicker and dryer- so now when there's a wildfire, it it's much hotter and destroys everything in it's path.

Now They Have Burned Los Alamos The “Let Our Forests Burn Policy” and So-Called “Controlled Burns” During Summertime are Criminal and Stupid. These Policies Must be Re-examined by the Scientists of This Nation

October 12, 1999 (with edits on November 7, 2001)

by Dr. Bill Wattenburg

[Fred Nerks]

“The council stood up in court and made us to look like the worst, wanton environmental vandals on the earth. We’ve got thousands of trees on our property. We cleared about 247,” he said.

I saw that couple interviewed on TV, they must have been in their 60's, to go through what they did, losing the court case, and having to pay costs, legal fees and fines to the total of one hundred thousand dollars at that age must have been dreadful. The woman never stopped crying during the interview. It was heart breaking to watch.

There have been firefighters who have commented that because they have been prevented from clearing fire-breaks and fire-trails, they have spent more time trying to access the fires than actually fighting the fires.

[manc]

I really do believe Liberalism is a mental disease much the same as homosexuals

[This_far]

In Montana there is legislation to mandate that homeowners in the outskirts cut down and maintain a fire zone around their houses... with potential fines for not doing so.

Pros and cons, especially if the GREEN factor is considered: plant trees to shade the house.

Darned if you or don’t.

[Truth29]

Officials who prevented reasonable protective measures and contributed to the current death and destruction should be held accountable for their action. There needs to be a way to charge them with something like contributory negligence or manslaughter. Suing municipalities doesn't deter because it is your own tax dollars being used against you. Individual liability and judgments would deter, but attorneys and judges have to figure out how to make it so.

[Malsua]

bttt

[MSF BU]

Drive a one inch steel pipe a few feet down as proximate to the root of the tree as you can. Pull the pipe out and pour in some “Blue Root” into the hole. Repeat as necessary. The old oak tree will become good firewood which will displace many btu’s of foriegn oil or domestic gas.

[InvisibleChurch]

how did so many people die? were there no warnings?

[dinasour]

Greenies say, you can't clear brush because it might disturb Bambi.

 

 

Bambi says, "Thank you".

[Quix]

INDEED.

. . . I hope they insist that the folks responsible have to leave their properties maximum tender-boxes.

Actually, I’m not quite that harsh but I wouldn’t protest, if they did.

[rawhide]

"We've lost two people in my family because you dickheads won't cut trees down," he said.

Says it all! The greenies are killing people with their asinine regulations.