5/1/15

Wildfire Today blasts Thune's prescribed fire bill

Custer-based Wildfire Today lowered the boom on South Dakota's GOP senior US Senator.
Our position is that it is very appropriate for the legislative Branch to provide oversight of actions taken by the Executive Branch of government. However, that oversight should NOT be a knee-jerk reaction based on the quick assumptions and guesses of a Senator about what caused a particular outcome. Wait until the facts are in, THEN provide reasoned advice based on science. Politicians should take a breath, and resist the overwhelming temptation to criticize the administration of the other party before the facts are known. [excerpt, Wildfire Today]
Federal agencies always coordinate prescribed burns with local and state officials while using weather models to optimize fuel treatment effectiveness.

Hey, John: how is heaping another layer of bureaucracy on a federal agency, whose budget is pinched already by your political party's anal retentiveness, conservative or sustainable?

The US Bureau of Land Management, Montana/Dakota's Lewistown office just conducted the largest prescribed fire since Statehood.
The primary goal of the burn was to reduce hazardous fuel loads and return the area to its natural 35-year fire cycle. The prescribed fire also reduced density within the area’s tree stands and cut down on juniper and conifer encroachment on surrounding rangelands. “We accomplished all of our objectives for this burn,” said Josh Barta, who served as the burn boss. “We want to reduce ladder fuels and conifer encroachment into the rangelands. If we are able to do that, then we can prevent an unnaturally severe wildfire from happening. In turn, that increases the safety of our firefighters.” [press release, BLM]

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