CA: Extreme Fire Hazard as 12.5 Million Trees Stand Dead

[Hekate]

6. You think thirteen million trees are on private property?! They're the national forests.

Last edited Mon May 11, 2015, 12:36 PM - Edit history (1)

In other words, you and I "own" those trees. Uncle Sam "owns" those trees. What do you mean "harass the owners"? What does that even mean to you?

California is a mountainous state, and that's where the national forests are. It's a huge amount of territory. It's not all pine by any means, it varies by region. A lot of California is chaparral and is made to burn every few decades -- but we also have almost 40 million people living in this state, and you wouldn't believe how many are living on the interface between wild land and urban areas.

It's difficult to manage a major forest fire. You can look up the Zaca Fire from a few years back. It was in my region and it burned for months. I think it ended up consuming a quarter million acres. Fortunately for everyone the firefighters were able to drive it back from populated areas, and the decision was made to let it burn itself out in the forest. The air quality throughout the entire region was unsafe to breathe for anyone with asthma or other lung issues.