Cantwell wants more prescribed fire

Wind Cave National Park is greenest in its history after a prescribed burn took even more invasive grasses than was planned.

Senator Maria Cantwell (D-Washington), the highest ranking minority member on the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, just released a white paper forecasting her Wildfire Management Act of 2015, which she intends to introduce soon. Building homes out in the woods, often right up against federal forest lands and far away from public services and firefighters, makes matters that much worse. The white paper recognizes that shortcoming of rural county planning and promises to “provide financial incentives to counties that prioritize development in areas with lower risk.” [Conservation Northwest]

Frank Carroll has more knowledge about forest management in his middle finger than John Thune has in his entire closet.

South Dakota Public Broadcasting interviewed Carroll who spoke about the Cold Brook Fire and how additional acres burned beyond what was prescribed is 6 times better for Wind Cave National Park than fire managers had expected.

But South Dakota's vulnerable senior senator wants to control how science fights fire with fire by introducing grandstand legislation that would hamper those efforts.

Wind Cave Chief Interpreter Tom Farrell has said the park has performed thousands of prescribed burns and successfully burned millions of acres to prevent more catastrophic wildfires. He also has said weather conditions were appropriate for a prescribed burn. [Associated Press]

In the words of one Republican:

Thune is acting like a moron. So they stop burning when it is needed and a much larger fire happens…..Let me guess: you’ll look to the feds for monetary support. [comment, Daniel Buresh]

Couldn't have said it better myself.

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?