Commissioner Brandt,
I recently read an article in the Idaho County Free Press where you expressed your disdain for the way the Payette National Forest is sitting on their thumbs, regarding the Highline Fire.
I am admistrator for a site called Idaho vs USFS, which seeks to chronicle incidents of waste and abuse, especially by the Payette National Forest.
I thought you might be interested in the following conversation I had with Brian Harris, official Payette National Forest spokesman.
Apparently, the Payette National Forest believes that the [85,000] acre[and rapidly growing] Highline Fire doesn't even make smoke, because it is "natural caused" and "burning inside the wilderness".
It hasn't contributed to the dirty air we are forced to breathe, and it's actually "good" for endangered species getting incinerated by the Highline Fire, because it is mostly in the wilderness, and is "natural".
Of course the Payette National Forest deleted the entire thread shortly after group members of Idaho vs USFS pointed out how ignorant the Forest Service sounded....
But it gives insight into how dyed-in-the-kool-aid, high level Payette National Forest team members think(or don't), just the same.
Quite frankly, there is a rapidly growing segment of the public which is beginning to get tired of Forest Service lock-it-all-up-and-watch-it-all-burn management policies. That, and not being able to see the sun or mountains at least four months every year while the Forest Service uses taxpayer money to buy more of our forests, just so it can sit back and lock it all up, to watch it all burn.
Sincerely,
Scott Amos
Outdoor enthusiast and sensible forest management advocate.
208.297.0634
No comments:
Post a Comment