In a 2007 wildfire case involving a large logging company, the US Forest Service was found to have repeatedly lied under oath and falsified its investigation regarding a wildfire in the Plumas and Lassen National Forests.
The Forest Service Ranger manning the fire lookout was too high on marijuana to call the fire in during its initial stages when it could easily have been put out.
The investigation initially wrongfully blamed a logging company for starting a fire which destroyed 65,000 acres of California's Sierra Nevada mountains. Which is small peanuts compared to the 850,000 acres of wildfires that same year the Forest Service let go virtually unchecked across Idaho, Oregon and Montana in a single wildfire event that would have been easy to stop in its initial stages.
The same Forest Service that lets 850,000 acre wildfires roam freely across private, state, city, county and public lands does not like being blamed for a 65,000 acre wildfire in California. Especially when it can kill two birds with one stone and try to use its clout to sway public opinion against a logging company.
Nevermind the fact that the Forest Service ranger in the lookout tower was too high on marijuana to call the fire in during its initial stages. The Forest Service thought it could just lie about who was responsible for the fire, rather than do their jobs and actually fight it.
A decision which would ultimately force a multimillion dollar judgement against the Forest Service and rob them of what little credibility an agency known for burning down little old ladies' homes might have.
"On October 9, Sierra Pacific filed a motion asking the federal court to vacate the settlement because prosecutors allegedly allowed fire investigators from the U.S. Forest Service and CalFire to “repeatedly lie under oath about the very foundation of their investigation” into the origins of the Moonlight Fire."
Read more:
http://www.cnsnews.com/news/article/barbara-hollingsworth/federal-prosecutors-accused-corruption-california-wildfire-case
The Forest Service Ranger manning the fire lookout was too high on marijuana to call the fire in during its initial stages when it could easily have been put out.
The investigation initially wrongfully blamed a logging company for starting a fire which destroyed 65,000 acres of California's Sierra Nevada mountains. Which is small peanuts compared to the 850,000 acres of wildfires that same year the Forest Service let go virtually unchecked across Idaho, Oregon and Montana in a single wildfire event that would have been easy to stop in its initial stages.
The same Forest Service that lets 850,000 acre wildfires roam freely across private, state, city, county and public lands does not like being blamed for a 65,000 acre wildfire in California. Especially when it can kill two birds with one stone and try to use its clout to sway public opinion against a logging company.
Nevermind the fact that the Forest Service ranger in the lookout tower was too high on marijuana to call the fire in during its initial stages. The Forest Service thought it could just lie about who was responsible for the fire, rather than do their jobs and actually fight it.
A decision which would ultimately force a multimillion dollar judgement against the Forest Service and rob them of what little credibility an agency known for burning down little old ladies' homes might have.
"On October 9, Sierra Pacific filed a motion asking the federal court to vacate the settlement because prosecutors allegedly allowed fire investigators from the U.S. Forest Service and CalFire to “repeatedly lie under oath about the very foundation of their investigation” into the origins of the Moonlight Fire."
Read more:
http://www.cnsnews.com/news/article/barbara-hollingsworth/federal-prosecutors-accused-corruption-california-wildfire-case
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