Time to start agitating to get our Nat Guard back before fire season

[politicat]

As this thread: http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=102&topic_id=1972739&mesg_id=1972739 and the RMN article mentioned note, our fire fighting capability for 2006 is going to be severely reduced.

2005 was a dry year, and there's no reason to believe that 2006 is going to be any better. We're currently 3 inches down from normal on precipitation, and that's on top of last year, when we were an inch down. Also, the spring snows in 2005 lead to excessive growth of the underbrush, which then died due to dry conditions. In other words, our forests are again at tinder stage, putting Colorado at greater risk than normal for wild-fires. In fact, logging won't help the situation, because it is not the trees that are the problem - it's the underbrush.

Thus, we need to petition our legislature and the Gov to demand our troops and especially our bulk lift equipment back in time to refurbish for the Summer fire season. The lesson of Katrina is simple: The National Guard is meant to protect the homeland from all threats to our shores, not to serve as police and replacements for the regular forces. A hurricane may not be predictable, but forest fire season is, and the probability of a bad season next year is high.

Time to write those letters and make those calls because we can't afford to be the nation's next major disaster.