Some forest fire facts
from prior article
on this blog:
(1)
At least 90% of fires
are started by "people".
and wind-downed power lines
would qualify as "people".
(2)
Conditions
would have been dry
with or without a
few tenths of a degree
of global warming, and
(3)
The lack of needed
forest management
does not start fires,
but does make them
more intense,
and more dangerous.
Interior Secretary
Ryan Zinke
correctly blamed
"radical
environmental
groups"
for a lack of
forest management
in California,
which he says
paved the way
for tinderbox
conditions,
that led to the
severe wildfires.
Zinke told reporters
"lawsuit after lawsuit by, yes,
the radical environmental groups
that would rather burn down
the entire forest
than cut a single tree,
or thin the forest" ...
prevented the state
from safely managing
its forests.
"We know the problem:
it's been years of neglect,
and in many cases,
it's been these
radical
environmentalists
that want nature
to take its course."
"We have dead
and dying timber.
We can manage it
using best science,
best practices.
But to let
this devastation
go on year after year
after year
is unacceptable."
Back in August 2018,
Zinke lambasted
"environmental
terrorists groups
that have
not allowed
public access,
that refuse to
allow harvest
of timber"
in an interview
with Breitbart Radio.
Zinke is taking
the conversation
away from
global warming
and bringing it back
to land management,
including the litigation
and environmental laws
that keep officials
from actively managing
the forests.
“This has nothing to do
with climate change.
This has to do with active
forest management.”
Wildfire experts
tend to see
land management
and urban growth
as prime drivers
of wildfires.
“The story can’t be
simply that warming
is increasing
the numbers
of wildfires
in California.
because
the number
of fires
is declining.
And area burned
has not been
increasing either,"
University of Washington
climate scientist Cliff Mass
wrote, in a recent blog post.
In California,
humans cause
95% of all wildfires,
with power lines
and utility equipment
becoming
a growing problem.