Science doesn’t lie—some scientists do. Up till the 1970s, California was building, cleaning, and maintaining fire breaks around residential communities in forested areas. Fire roads were bulldozed and kept usable for large firefighting equipment. This provided rapid access allowing fires to be fought while they were still small. Going back to Spanish times, controlled burning, backfires and removal of dead undergrowth in the forests all kept fires controllable. Up until the 1970s, any fire that burned 10,000 acres was considered a huge conflagration because fires were fought effectively and they were quickly extinguished.
Then came the radical environmental movement declaring with a religious zeal that nature is sacred. Mother Earth must not be alienated nor angered by bulldozing access roads through forests or by clearing underbrush. Today, fires regularly consume a quarter of a million acres.
However, the New York Times has a different explanation for the increase in both the number and the size of California fires: “…Scientists say climate change —
Then came the radical environmental movement declaring with a religious zeal that nature is sacred. Mother Earth must not be alienated nor angered by bulldozing access roads through forests or by clearing underbrush. Today, fires regularly consume a quarter of a million acres.
However, the New York Times has a different explanation for the increase in both the number and the size of California fires: “…Scientists say climate change —
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