The 2007 Fire Season is not finished. The Corral Fire near Malibu, CA is 2,200 acres at last report (this morning on InciWeb [here]). Thirty-five homes have burned, and an additional 200 homes have been evacuated in the Corral Canyon, Malibu Bowl, and El Nido neighborhoods.

Humidity is low in SoCal and Santa Ana winds are gusting to 60 mph. In late November of 2003, following the Cedar Complex Fires (750,000 acres, 3500 homes burned), Santa Ana winds rose up (again) and blew an ash storm across San Diego. This years SoCal fires (600,000 acres, 1600 homes burned) and the current wind storm are eerie recapitulations of 2003.

A second fire is burning near the town of Ramona in San Diego County. Ramona was the epicenter of the Witch Fire in October. Evidently not all the fuels were consumed. Ramona is still recovering from devastation, and additional disasters are untimely to say the least.

 U.S. Senator Dianne Feinstein last week introduced four bills designed to address fire suppression costs and increase federal aid to fire victims [here]. Careful examination of the bills will reveal that zero, zip, nada fuels management on federal lands is contemplated, encouraged, or funded. That’s right, sports fans, there is nothing in any of the bills that addresses fuels.

In the opinion of the US Senator from the late, great, fried and refried state of California, the fuels should be left untouched and the citizens should be forced to build bomb shelters for huddling in government-mandated firestorms. We can spend billions “rebuilding” Iraq, but not one penny to prevent holocausts in the good ole USA, because holocausts are good for America, I guess.

Feinstein and her ilk have burned millions of acres and thousands of homes, and they are quite proud of it. The stupid, nasty proles who have the unmitigated gall to live in flammable homes deserve federal “cleansing” fires to teach them a lesson, a lesson about who is on top and who is on the bottom. Old-growth chaparral is much more valuable to the power elite than the funky humanoid slobs who dare to live outside the concentration camps (which, by the way, are also quite flammable).

So let’s do absolutely nothing about the fuels. No touch, let it burn, and too bad you stinking proles. Big Dianne is on the job, and she wants more holocaust. Burn, baby, burn. Oh yes, and vote for Porky Dianne, lamebrain arsonist wacko from the Land of Fruits and Nuts.

It is very frustrating to watch one’s home burn down in a federal-mandated fire and then to observe the Beltway Circus shoot off into outer space afterwards. It also ought to be alarming to all California residents who have not been burned out yet to know that Dianne and the Lamebrains prefer the fires to your homes.

 The acreage totals for the 2007 Fire Season have been “adjusted” at the National Interagency Fire Center [here]. A month ago, during the Witch Fire and the others in SoCal, 2007 totals were reported by the National Fire News to be more than 9.2 million acres. Today the NIFC reports 2007 totals to-date are 8.9 million acres. Somehow 300,000 acres got erased. That’s a big number and it leaves this citizen extremely distrustful of any NIFC statistics.

Distrust is rampant, in fact. The government is lying (again) with the intention and outcome of wreaking disaster upon the citizery and our landscapes. It is a sad, sad day in America (again).

The dead tree media reported yesterday that U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has declared global warming “unequivocal” [here]. General Ban said:

“The world’s scientists have spoken clearly and with one voice,” Ban said, looking ahead to an important climate conference in Bali, Indonesia, next month. “I expect the world’s policy makers to do the same.”

Well, sieg heil, Ban. Shall we all march in lockstep with the pathetic U.N.? Could it be that the U.N. is wrong? Has the U.N. ever been wrong before?

Have they ever been right? About anything?

The imposition of fascist pseudo-scientific myths in the name of science is nothing new. Hitler did it. Hilter’s Holocaust was backed by a consensus of German scientists. An excellent review of Third Reich science is Ecofascism: Lessons From the German Experience by Janet Biehl and by Peter Staudenmaier [here].

[Warning: this essay is published by AK Press, “a worker run book publisher and distributor organized around anarchist principles.” There is spyware in the cookies. Do not visit the AK homepage unless you have powerful anti-spyware software.]

Some quotes:

In fact, ecological ideas have a history of being distorted and placed in the service of highly regressive ends–even of fascism itself. As Peter Staudenmaier shows in the first essay in this pamphlet, important tendencies in German “ecologism,” which has long roots in nineteenth-century nature mysticism, fed into the rise of Nazism in the twentieth century. During the Third Reich, Staudenmaier goes on to show, Nazi “ecologists” even made organic farming, vegetarianism, nature worship, and related themes into key elements not only in their ideology but in their governmental policies. Moreover, Nazi “ecological” ideology was used to justify the destruction of European Jewry. Yet some of the themes that Nazi ideologists articulated bear an uncomfortably close resemblance to themes familiar to ecologically concerned people today.

Continue reading this entry »

This guest column was written by Damien M. Schiff, an attorney with the non-profit Pacific Legal Foundation, which has represented a group of Tuolumne County organizations in forest management litigation against environmental groups. The essay originally appeared in the San Francisco Chronicle Nov 5th [here].

Tomorrow – Saturday afternoon, November 17 – tune in to San Francisco’s KSFO (AM 560) to hear PLF attorney Damien Schiff discuss how environmentalist lawsuits have helped magnify the horrific forest fires that California has experienced in recent years. Schiff will be interviewed on the Barbara Simpson Program starting at 5:05 p.m. PST.

Misguided Litigation Magnifies Wildfires

by Damien M. Schiff

The massive toll catastrophic wildfire exacts on human lives and property is well documented.

Since Oct. 20, the ongoing Southern California fires have scorched nearly 500,000 acres - roughly three-fourths the size of Rhode Island, prompted the largest evacuation since the Civil War, caused 12 deaths and injured hundreds, all at a cost yet to be determined, but some think will top $2 billion. And there are other consequences as well, including endangered wildlife dead, watersheds dramatically damaged by ash and erosion, and native plants wiped out.

But the underlying causes of these monster fires aren’t as well understood. Why do they keep happening at such intensity? One reason is that for years, groups that literally make a living by obstructing government efforts to manage forests have filed myriad lawsuits intended to delay, stall or stop anything resembling science. They seek to prevent the federal government from implementing balanced efforts to manage the land, including efforts to thin forests and brushland to help prevent catastrophic wildfire.

Continue reading this entry »

An excellent update on federal payments to rural counties may be found at The Rogue Pundit [here].

The Public Land Communities Transition Act of 2007, HR 3058, would reauthorize the county payments for an additional four years. The payments would decline by ten percent each year until 2013, when they would stop. The legislation has been approved by the House Natural Resources Committee and has been forwarded to the House Agriculture Committee.

Federal payments to counties are in lieu of property taxes, which the feds don’t pay, and in lieu of timber reciepts, the old program meant to offset the unpaid property taxes. Another purpose of the timber payments was to ensure that the land would be used in a productive manner and not abandoned to holocaust and ruin.

As everybody knows, that program has failed miserably. There are few active management projects, only a dribble of timber receipts, and federal land abandonment has been accompanied by environmental devastation and economic depression.

The fix proposed by Congress is HR 3058. The legislation does nothing, zero, nada to restart forest stewardship on federal lands. It merely calls for temporary monetary payments in lieu of actual solutions. What’s more (this is the special part) the money will come from offshore continental shelf oil and gas leases! That’s right, sports fans. As the esteemed Col. Pundit put it:

The bill, estimated to cost $2.7 billion over four years, will be paid for with fees from Outer Continental Shelf oil and gas leases.

Yes, thanks to the continued inability of the feds and environmentalists to find compromise, we may soon be getting our timber funds from fossil fuels, not the harvesting of a renewable resource (which could also reduce the fire risk).  Sadly, that’s probably the best that we timber counties can hope for any time soon.

Last year the plan was to fund the in-lieu debt by selling off isolated and superfluous parcels of USFS land, but that idea went over like a lead balloon. Every weepy-eyed numbskull in the country gnashed their teeth at the idea of selling one out of every 1,500 acres of the Federal Domain. The moaning caused Congress to crawl back into their spiderholes.

But the new plan is much better. The enviros ought to be all aquiver over the new plan. Or will they have another Groan-In?

Our guess is that HR 3058 is dead in the water, but stay tuned for more Federal Forest Follies, that long running realtime drama/comedy for the sedentary and the hanky-inclined.

In the case of the recent Southern California fires, and the Idaho fires, and the Montana fires, and all the megafires of this fire season, and every recent fire season, the firestorms that threatened and burned private property arose on unkempt, untended, fuel-laden Federal Government property.

Whether the fires were started by lightning, accident, or arson, the excess biomass on Federal property gave rise to fires that spread over millions of acres.

The culprit? Despite arguments to the contrary, it was the fuels.

Some folks blame decades of fire suppression for creating hazardous conditions. Yet eliminating fire suppression, or cutting fire budgets, will not put out a single fire. Not fighting fires will not make fires go away.

Some folks blame homes in the “wildlands.” Yet no one is allowed to build homes on government property. You can’t buy a lot on US Forest Service land and build your dream house. Government land is not for sale or lease to developers or homebuyers. If you believe you can buy a house lot in the wilderness, then I have a bridge to sell you, too!

Continue reading this entry »

In 2003 the Cedar Fire in and about San Diego burned 750,000 acres, destroyed 3500 homes, and killed 22 people. Now, a mere four years later, another complex of megafires of at least 600,000 acres has ravaged San Diego County.

The reason for the repeat preformance is that no lessons were learned in 2003, and no prevention activities took place during the interim.

The 2004 San Diego City Council was utterly corrupt. Three council members were indicted for taking bribes from strip clubs. Two were convicted and the third died before his trial began. In addition the primary focus of the City Council ever since has been Gay Pride, anti-Christianity, and the financial bankruptcy of the city coffers. USA Today branded 2004 San Diego as “Enron By The Sea.”

Hence there was no significant effort to reduce the fire hazard. Indeed, numerous “green” groups fell in love with chaparral, and declared tick brush to be a pristine ecosystem more worthy of protection than the homes of the resident humans.

Continue reading this entry »

[Bear Bait reports on the aftermath of the Egley Fire in Eastern Oregon]

I hauled some orchard grass seed to my friend whose ranch/tree farm got burned over, incinerated, in the Egley Fire north of Burns last summer. We put it in a storage unit for the seed, and he has a crew to put it on top of the first winter snow, whenever that happens.

Meanwhile, he went to all the meetings during and after the fire. Listened to all the BS, even to the USFS, who previously had promised they would strive to keep the fire from burning his ranch. They actually did do something. They sat on the road in trucks and watched.

Someone had left a camper trailer on USFS ground along Emigrant Creek. They wouldn’t even hook up to it and move it out of harm’s way. They didn’t know who owned it. Liability, you know [liability for somebody; the USFS is not legally liable for their negligence or any damage they do to private or public property- M].

The result of all those meetings and listening to the baloney, the last outfit he talked to was ODFW and they actually responded to him. They are helping him buy the grass seed through some habitat improvement board deal. ODF is also providing ponderosa pine seedlings, which he has to plant on his own dollar.

Continue reading this entry »

Wilderness designation is not “protection.” Wilderness designation is guaranteed destruction.

When Congress declares a parcel of land to be official Wilderness, invariably that land is consumed in a megafire shortly thereafter. Overlay a map of the megafires of the last 20 years on a map of our National Wilderness Areas. You will see how close they line up. Very few Wilderness Areas have escaped catastrophic, 100 percent mortality, “stand replacement” fires.

The forests, wildlife, scenic beauty, water quality, and general ambiance of our Wilderness Areas, prior to designation, has been turned into wastelands, devoid of trees, wildlife, beauty, and ambiance.

Charred and rotting snags dot the landscape like ugly pins in a pincushion, one that stretches as far as the eye can see in every direction. The ground is blackened, with drifts of choking ash. Here and there a sprig of brush struggles in the alkali. The silence is complete and deathly, because there are no birds chirping, no squirrels chattering, no mice scurrying, no deer leaping, no elk crashing.

Wastelands. Scorched earth. Mega-death zones. No Man’s Land. Nuked Land. Chernobylized.

That’s what wilderness designation means.

Continue reading this entry »

The 48,520 acre Castle Rock Fire near Sun Valley, Idaho is 100 percent contained, but the fallout from the burn is just starting. Area businesses, hard hit by shutdowns and evacuations during the height of tourist season, are having trouble making payrolls.

The Idaho Mountain Express of Ketchum reports that disaster loans are now available (here):

Disaster loan office opens to brisk business

Business owners seeking federal assistance in wake of fire

Pursuant to the U.S. Small Business Administration’s disaster declaration for Economic Injury Disaster Loans two days earlier, an SBA office opened at the Idaho Department of Labor on Main Street in Hailey at 8 a.m. on Thursday, Sept. 13, where it was immediately obvious that its services were in demand.

With the cancellation of Wagon Days, traditionally the greatest influx of dollars into the northern Wood River Valley during summer, and a significant drop in the amount of visitors to the area during the incident, it’s no wonder the local economy is beginning to realize the pinch.

“With the fire, everyone left town,” said Kinsgley Murphy, owner of Rickshaw restaurant in downtown Ketchum, during a recent interview. “What would normally be our busiest time turned out like slack.”

Because of the economic effects of the fire, Murphy, and approximately a dozen other business proprietors headed to the SBA office on its first morning to take advantage of federal low-interest loans. The office is offering loans of up to $1.5 million at an interest rate of 4 percent with terms up to a maximum of 30 years.

Continue reading this entry »

Nearly two million acres of Idaho have burned so far this summer, but the incineration of the Gem State is not over yet. Currently a dozen or more Very Large fires are burning, in total nearly a million acres, and nine of them are still zero percent contained.

A Red Flag Warning was issued this morning for SW Idaho by the National Weather Service (here):

A RED FLAG WARNING WAS ISSUED FOR A PORTION OF SW IDAHO. AN UPPER LEVEL RIDGE WILL BUILD TOWARD THE PACIFIC NW AND COMBINE WITH A PASSING UPPER LEVEL TROUGH OVER IDAHO AND SE OREGON FOR STRONG NORTH TO EAST WINDS THIS AFTERNOON AND EVENING. THE STRONGEST WINDS WILL BE ALONG THE IDAHO AND OREGON BORDER. TEMPERATURES WILL BE SIMILAR TO SATURDAY AND LATE DAY RELATIVE HUMIDITIES WILL DRY TO 15 PERCENT OR LESS EXCEPT ACROSS FAR EASTERN VALLEY/BOISE COUNTIES DUE TO SLIGHT MOISTURE WITH THE PASSING TROUGH.

This is a list of most of the fires active today in Idaho.
 
Cascade Complex Wildland Fire
Boise National Forest
30% contained, 281,692 acres, last report: 23 min. ago

East Zone Complex Wildland Fire (including the new Profile Fire, ~1,000 acs)
Payette National Forest
0% contained, 257,319 acres, last report: 1:08 hrs. ago
 
Grays Creek Wildland Fire
Payette National Forest
90% contained, 24,900 acres, last report: 1:28 hrs. ago

Chief Parrish Wildland Fire
Boise National Forest
75% contained, 3,690 acres, last report: 1:05 hrs. ago

Krassel WFU Complex Wildland Fire Use
Payette National Forest
0% contained, 66,209 acres, last report: 3 hrs. ago
 
Rattlesnake Wildland Fire
Nez Perce National Forest
25% contained, 99,800 acres, last report: 4 hrs. ago
 
Red Bluff Wildland Fire
Salmon - Challis National Forest
0% contained, 60,143 acres, last report: 2 days ago

Shower Bath Wildland Fire
Salmon - Challis National Forest
0% contained, 59,909 acres, last report: 2 days ago
 
Papoose Wildland Fire
Salmon - Challis National Forest
0% contained, 19,520, last report: 3 days ago
 
Clear Sage Wildland Fire
Salmon - Challis National Forest
0% contained, 20,566 acres, last report: 3 days ago
 
Bridge Wildland Fire
Clearwater National Forest
0% contained, 42,250 acres, 3 days ago
 
Moose Creek Wildland Fire Used for Resource Benefit
Nez Perce National Forest
0% contained, 35,680 acres, last report: 3 days ago

Trapper Ridge Wildland Fire Used for Resource Benefit
Boise National Forest
0% contained, 20,159 acres, last report: 4 days ago