“Black Forest, CO, gets 19 inches of rain per year.”
I live here, stupid. Stop trying to argue what we get. 19 inches? Get real. This week was the first week of any rain in months.
Now you are proven dishonest. You portrayed 9 inches as if it was usual for where you live. I gave you the example of Bonnicksen's description of the San Bernardino National Forest because THAT area has similar precipitation and humidity (or less), more frost free days, and higher temperatures than your area in Colorado. You should have taken Bonnicksen's description of historic stand density in that area to heart, as he is perhaps America's foremost authority on pre-Columbian forest structure. So AGAIN, you refuse to incorporate that information because you think you know what you're talking about.
I'll bet your acquaintances who "mitigated" that area followed Forest Service specifications. If so, they are fools because those specs are generated by people who WANT them burned out. I've photographed fires from Southern Arizona to Idaho. I've studied repeat photography of forests from Utah to California. Don't sit there like a dumbass pretending you know what you're talking about. You don't.
I've authored two books that include cited studies of catastrophic wildfire, including a pine forest that was thinned prior to a catastrophic wildfire and survived unscathed (the Cone Fire). Hell, if you had the brains of a toad you'd have checked my FR page. These people think I know what I'm talking about and they know a lot more about forestry and catastrophic fire than you do.
The only reason I bothered tolerating your foul, arrogant, and ignorant ranting unworthy of any FReeper was to explore a mind quite apparently characteristic of these freaking idiots who build in mesic Western forests thinking "natural forests" should look like Europe or Canada. LOL, they even named the development "Black Forest" ("The" Black Forest is in Germany), so it is obvious what type of forest structure they are using for the pitch. None of you have any concept for what your area looked like when the Indians ran it and (frankly), nobody else understands that in sufficient detail to know exactly how to manage it.