ENHS Nature Trails September 2002 Article 4

Forest Fires and You

This summer has been the nightmare that I at least was anticipating last year. The summer of 2001 was relatively cool, however, and thus in spite of the drought of a century, the forests did not explode. Now we have had a second year of drought, which coupled with extremely hot weather for most of the summer, has brought the forests to a state of crisis. But has it? No, the crisis was long in coming as we have been told. A century of clearcut logging practices have given us a landscape of evenly aged industrial forests. Elsewhere, fire suppression without any forest treatment such as prescribed burns or tree thinning, has left fuel levels catastrophically high. In fact, our healthiest and least fire prone forests are the mature or old growth forests whose understory is suppressed by shade, and whose tall trees are fire resistant.

Congress is debating the president's and Idaho Senator Craig's proposals to make people and forests safe from fire. The plans will call for more logging and just the sort of logging which will destroy the oldest and healthiest [and most profitable to cut] stands of trees. Logging big trees will not stop forest fires. Logging out brush, thinning younger stands of trees, burning undergrowth where possible, these are the practices which will bring our forests back to health, protect our watersheds and preserve the numbers and diversity of wild species that we natural history enthusiasts love to learn about. The forests need your help. Please call or write our legislators now.

Save these numbers and please use them:

U.S. Capitol Switchboard
1-202-224-3121.
You can use that number to get a call to any senator or representative you want to contact.

For our own elected officials:
Senator Ron Wyden 1-202-224-5244
Senator Gordon Smith 1-202-224-3753
Representative Peter DeFazio 1-202-225-6416

A hand written letter or postcard is always effective. The address is simple:

The Honorable _, U.S. Senate, Washington D.C., 20510
or
The Honorable _, U.S. House of Representatives, Washington, D.C., 20515.

It really doesn't take long to write. No one will mark you for style or content, but they will take note of your opinion. Maybe if there are enough voices, they will be heard. Remember the vote on the Arctic National Wildlife refuge last summer? Legislators can listen sometimes.

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