Posted on 08/01/2022 8:33:06 AM PDT by DFG
TIERRA MONTE, N.M., July 31 (Reuters) - After the U.S. government started the largest wildfire in New Mexico's recorded history in April, it is asking victims to share recovery costs on private land, jeopardizing relief efforts, according to residents and state officials.
The blaze was sparked by U.S. Forest Service (USFS) prescribed fires to reduce wildfire risk. The burns went out of control after a series of missteps, torching 432 residences and over 530 square miles (1373 square km) of mostly privately owned forests and meadows, much of it held by members of centuries-old Indo-Hispano ranching communities.
"Today I'm announcing the federal government's covering 100% of the cost," President Joe Biden said during a visit to New Mexico in June. Biden was announcing a disaster declaration that covered debris removal and emergency protective measures.
But federal cost-sharing statutes on other federal relief programs are limiting Biden's authority and exposing holes in the government safety net meant to help survivors and restore landscapes.
(Excerpt) Read more at reuters.com ...
This was bad. However, the controlled burns are necessary and while you should try to mitigate the risks of intentionally burning fuels it will never be perfect.
We can either try to do controlled burns and suffer the occasional uncontrolled burns or we can just wait for the uncontrolled burns which all happen at the same time.
The math does not lie. We need to continue to do controlled burns and selective timber harvesting.
It will burn. Period. That is the nature of the West and our forestry management has been hijacked by special interests.
Any criminal charges filed?
Yea, didn’t think so.
L
The winds were forecasted. They knew the burns could get out of hand. They did it anyway. They haven't learned from past "controlled" burns in NM in the spring. You simply don't. Springtime in NM is windy. Predictably so. This is on the USFS 100%.
Note that Reuters is usung Reyes Tijerina’s preferred label of ‘Indo-Hispano’, not ‘Hispanic’ or ‘Spaniard’ or ‘Mexican’ or ‘Latino’.
Surprising / Not Surprising
Surprising our government would do controlled burns at all. I would have expected the environmental whackos to have completely hijacked this sort of thing.
Not surprising the govt would screw it up.
Not surprising the govt wouldn’t cover the costs.
Poor forestry management is a disaster every time. You have to have proper cutting, thinning, and under-burning. If you don’t, one lighting strike on a dying tree will create an out-of-control fire that will wipe you out.
Another victory for the state and the proletariat!
Long live the Social revolution!
No matter what happens, they push the same agenda for more government power.
Baloney. Controlled burns have very exact rule. These were not even close. The humidity was extremely low and in a drought condition. That rule was wildly exceeded. It was late April when winds were gusting, and on the day in question the winds were forecast to be double and triple the legal limit.
This violated every legal and professional standard by a wide margin. It was way out of the borderline “judgement” “innocent error” zone.
This was criminal and there should be arrests on this one.
You do burns like this in times of extensive predicted calm, and not in the most wildfire prone time of the year.
:: Surprising our government would do controlled burns at all. ::
NM doesn’t have the population, and political clout, that Cali has.
They
Just
Don’t
Care
about New Mexico
I know some of the details for Rx burns. The permits, conditions, constraints, controls, and backup plans are detailed and exhaustive.
I am surprised to hear about a breakout. Maybe a sudden and unpredictable WX shift? I don’t know.
BUT our forests and rangelands are not healthy. This is because of two (maybe three) things: 100 years of bad management (interrupting natural burns), liberal tree-huggers interfering with good management practices, and it’s a big world (and there’s not enough money to overcome the first two)
“I know some of the details for Rx burns. The permits, conditions, constraints, controls, and backup plans are detailed and exhaustive.
I am surprised to hear about a breakout. Maybe a sudden and unpredictable WX shift? I don’t know.”
Every single one of those rules and conditions was violated by a very wide margin. Not even close. And it was not a sudden wind shift, the winds were predicted by noon that day to be nearly triple the allowed limit.
And for years they have ruthlessly prevented firewood gathering that keeps areas clean. Permits have vanished except in extremely limited areas and conditions.
USFS is the cause of the trashy forests, and the ensuing fire.
It’s not a “relief program”, the government was negligent. Pay up.
The blaze was sparked by U.S. Forest Service (USFS) prescribed fires to reduce wildfire risk. The burns went out of control after a series of missteps, torching 432 residences and over 530 square miles...
—
Another inept FedGov agency.
But Mother Earth! How can you disrespect Gaia so much? You racist rascal, you!
Take the handling of the forests out of their hands and give them something they can handle, like healthcare! (do I really need "/sarc"?)
Controlled burns in New Mexico in the springtime are high risk due to the winds that are a feature of that season. The same thing happened back in 2000 with the Cerro Grande fire that burned down half of the town of Los Alamos.
Exactly. Families in that area of the state have cleared the forest floors of downed branches and cut down dead trees for generations--doing the job of a burn and doing it better--and the federal government in recent decades forced them to stop. Then the feds go ahead with a planned burn when anyone with a speck of common sense would have postponed it by glancing at the weather report (hot, huge wind gusts). Those people lost everything because of massive federal arrogance and stupidity.
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