You can blame the Bark Beetle..and the USFS...they never sprayed for it..now millions of acres of trees are dead..
You can blame the Bark Beetle..and the USFS...they never sprayed for it..now millions of acres of trees are dead..”””
1. Remove all grazing by sheep & cattle==LADDER FUELS are abundant.
2. Stop all timber harvesting....lose revenue from timber sales-—and see Douglas Fir timber age out at about 30 years and decline to unusable within 3 years..
3. Dead & dying trees that have aged out are now a banquet for the bark beetles.
4. Bark beetles also attack adjacent trees.
5. Clinton & Bruce Babbitt—his Sec of Interior—closed the access roads into the National Forests. LARGE gates are put into place to prevent entry. LARGER holes are dug right inside those gate for further prevention.. Fire crews CAN NOT access the fire when it is small. They can ONLY walk in or be parachuted in-—HOTSHOTS—so fire gets a head start.
6. Politicians refuse to address all of these facts.
7. Costs of fighting fires skyrockets & loss of property & homes mounts.
8. EVERYONE’S home owner insurance goes up nationwide as those replacement cots are spread out.
9. Home owner’s get to fight for months with insurance companies over their losses “You cannot prove what you had inside your house”, is their mantra. Construction companies want a premium price to rebuild the exact same home.
This is a dance that has gone on for years.
The ENVIROS need to also be blamed. The Spotted Owl is no more endangered than I am.
Fires are what keep the bark beetle in check. Also no fires and duff keeps building up. In the early 80’s the duff was way to thick but there was not the infestation there is now. I do not remember the forest as being half dead back then.
And you are correct - USFS to blame.