Enviromental Extremism Partly To Blame For Fires

For the past couple of weeks I have been spending more and more time inside as the air outside has gotten worse and worse. Looking into gray skies caused by literally hundreds of fires all over Northern California caused me to take a look at the causes of these fires.

Of course the primary cause of the fires was a freak thunderstorm that produced hundreds of lightning strikes. Also at fault was an unusually dry spring (one of the driest on record). But there is a deeper cause which allowed for the buildup of tons of fuel for this fire to grab hold of.

The dirty little secret that everyone wants to ignore is that another significant factor is the hard line enviromental movement. Just as they have contributed to higher energy and gas prices by fighting the building of any new refineries, they have also blocked reasonable efforts to protect against fires.

As outlined in the San Jose Mercury News recently, homeowners who have tried to clear the area around their homes have found those efforts burdened by these groups. One homeowner, named Mary Lou Samms, wanted to remove some trees that posed a threat but learned she would have to spend potentially thousands of dollars for a ‘biotic review’ to make sure that she did not harm a federally protected salamander and manzanita shrub.

Samms does not have a problem with taking care of the enviroment but at the same time she would like to make sure her home is safe from fire. In this case the restrictions were such that she was not able to clear the land and as a result her house is gone. Also gone are any of the plants or animals that were supposedly protected by the laws.

Like Samms I am all for a balanced enviromental program. But there is some middle ground between letting C. Montgomery Burns build condos on Lake Tahoe and what we have now.

It is time for a change.