Treehuggers International » California Chaparral Institute

Blaming Wildfires On Environmentalists

tommy — Mon, 18 Jul 2011 02:41:35 +0000

Aggravated by drought, the legacy of timber-driven forest policies continues to affect the west.

A special guest column from Treehuggers International friend and fellow conservation colleague Rick Halsey, the director of the California Chaparral Institute and a member of the San Diego Regional Fire Safety Forum.

Rick is currently putting together a talk for the International Mediterranean Ecosystems (MEDECOS) conference in Los Angeles in September, and shares a response he wrote to Mike Rogers, a retired Forest Service supervisor, in response to an e-mail Mr. Rogers sent to Jack Cohen, at the Fire Sciences Laboratory in the U.S. Forest Service’s Rocky Mountain Research Station.

Rick was last on Treehuggers International during the midst of the Station Fire on September 27, 2009. An archived edition of this show is available above. Click HERE to see the page for this show.

Angry Man Blames Environmentalists for Wildfires (again)

By Rick Halsey

Another chapter in the endless parade of fire propaganda. In relation to the common extremist rant blaming wildfires on those who care about the environment, below is a note I wrote in response to a former Cleveland and Angeles National Forest Supervisor’s rage against environmentalists (along with immigrants, drug runners, and President Obama). In the past, Mike Rogers has also included what he considers to be liberal judges, the “Greenies,” and the so-called “Berkeley crowd” in his sights.

From: Mike Rogers
Sent: Sun, July 17, 2011 12:34:28 AM

Dear Jack,

I am absolutely disheartened when I see articles put out by Audubon quoting you and Jerry Williams, both of you whom I have the up most respect for writing about the Mega Fires like the recent Wallow Fire, that never acknowledge that we have had management of our national resources severely constrained by so called “environmentalists” over the last 40 years. This is never mentioned. There is a very distinct reason that these wildfires are now unmanageable and unconquerable and it is not all about climate change or fire suppression policies of the last 100 years. We are reaping the tragic results of 40 years of extreme bankrupt environmental policies that restrict management of any kind in favor of letting mother nature manage our National Forest resources. I have been monitoring the environmental rhetoric following on the heels of many well written and referenced articles that have come out after the Arizona and New Mexico wildfires that point to the increasing stand densities and fuel build ups due to the lack of any management and the total insanity of the current situation on the National Forests in the west. They, the environmentalists, continue to blast management of any kind and defend their “Hands Off Policies”, even though the the endangered species and their habitats they were adamant about saving have been completely destroyed by these recent stand replacement wildfires. The restrictions on Forest Management are bad enough, but what galls me even more is the FACT that many of these wildfires were started by illegal immigrants and drug runners diverting Federal Authorities by starting fires in one location so they could cross in another. This issue has been totally suppressed by the current Obama administration that is bent on pushing through an amnesty bill and does not want any bad publicity getting out to the nations voters. This is indeed a very sad state of affairs.

Unfortunately the mention of your and Jerry Williams names give these articles credibility that is totally misplaced.

Mike Rogers
Wildfire Protection Planner

- – - – - – - – - – - -

Mike,

I am not sure why you have descended into hyperbole and divisive rhetoric. Creating straw dogs to promote your view of the world and impugning the reputation of outstanding fire scientists like Jack Cohen are not rational choices.

As so many of us have pointed out to you before, there is no scientific evidence to support your claim that “environmentalists” are responsible for what you call “unmanageable and unconquerable” wildfires. Nor is there any scientific evidence to support your claim that endangered species have been “completely destroyed” by stand replacement fires.

The politics of hate and fear of the type you are unfortunately exhibiting in your e-mail only lead to divisiveness and alienation, not solutions. Please reconsider your approach.

Rick Halsey
Director
California Chaparral Institute
www.californiachaparral.org

- – - – - – - – - – - -

From: Mike Rogers
Sent: Sunday, July 17, 2011 9:49 PM

Hi Rick,

Thank you for your response. However, you have totally misunderstood my e-mail message to Jack Cohen and Jerry Williams. I wanted them to know how their excellent work is being mis used to expresses a view that neither one of them agrees with or supports. I did not know if they had seen it. I too have been misquoted or have had statements used that were and are totally taken out of context and have appreciated others that have seen this and have taken the time to give me a heads up. I was in no way demeaning the fine reputation of Jack, a personal friend, whom I have worked with since 1977.

There are a number of us monitoring the aftermath of the wildfires in the southwest. Efforts are already underway to block any and all efforts to salvage any of the fire killed timber and create much needed jobs. These individuals and groups are the same ones that have blocked all forms of management that have led to stand densification and unacceptable fuel build ups, resulting in the current situation in the southwest. Those that preceded us handed us a well cared for natural renewable resource to pass on to the next generations, however, what we have been witnessing since the mid 1960′s and 70′s is the locking up of these resources in the name of preservation only to see them decimated since the mid 1990′s by destructive stand replacement wildfires that take the affected ecosystem back to zero and in the process destroy local economies and livelihoods. This has been going on for far too long and it is time to right the ship. If you disagree so be it.

Mike

- – - – - – - – - – - -

Mike,

Besides your choice of language, my disagreement over your perspective is focused on how you characterize the entire fire situation. From the e-mail you originally sent, you made no attempt to quantify what you were talking about. You have taken studies which have dealt specifically with the dry ponderosa pine forests of Arizona and New Mexico (which you didn’t explain), and incorrectly applied them across all the National Forests in the west.

Clearly you know lodgepole pine forests of the type in Yellowstone (and many other areas) have natural fire return intervals of upwards to 300 years and stand-replacing fires are the norm. There is no evidence fire suppression, environmentalists, or President Obama have had any impact on fuel build up in those ecosystems. Clearly you know the Fir-spruce forests in the Rocky Mountains also have fire return intervals of 300 years plus. Many of the Piñon-Juniper woodlands have fire return intervals in excess of 400 years. Then we have the wet Pacific Northwest; I’d be glad to provide the references for these numbers if you wish.

I know you adhere to the Baja California hypothesis to claim there is an unnatural fuel build up in California chaparral ecosystems. However, you should know by now the hypothesis has been rejected by the majority of fire scientists. Here is a review of the literature and an objective summary of the points leading to the rejection.

I cannot comment on your characterization of “locking up” resources other than to say that viewing forests from a forester, timber exploitation perspective is not necessarily applicable in the broad-based manner you are using. This is the same perspective that the USFS has used to justify:

- The wholesale spread of herbicides and animal poisons to “restore” burned forests in Northern California.

- The logging of the huge “wall of wood” which once existed within the Olympic National Forest. In fact, up until a few years ago the joint USFS/NPS visitor center informed visitors: “A mature stand of timber is largely stagnant. Some liken it to a desert. Decay and death of individual trees diminish what’s there. Nothing much happens until management begins.”

- Dragging huge chains between tractors to uproot old-growth junipers in the southwest to “improve” rangeland.

We obviously need lumber and there are definitely some forests which have unnatural fuel loads, but nowhere near what you are suggesting.

I’m not an economist, but if your intent is to create jobs, which you seem to continually champion, perhaps a better approach would be to encourage outdoor enjoyment industries. I suspect those would provide longer lasting and more satisfying careers than those based on uncertain government dollars which fund huge vegetation management projects and the firms which conduct them.

Best,

Rick

West of the Wallow Fire near Greer, Apache-Sitgreaves National Forest.

Development Arrives at the Door of Rancho Guejito

tommy — Wed, 03 Feb 2010 07:11:39 +0000

Early morning in the valley called the "jewel of San Diego conservation" and "Shangri-La."

Rancho Geujito is the largest tract of privately-owned, undeveloped land in Southern California. At about 21,000 acres, or some 36 square miles, it is an enormous island of wild San Diego County east of Valley Center, just north of the San Diego Zoo’s Wild Animal Park, and northeast of Pine Mountain near the La Jolla Indian Reservation. A relic of the Mexican land grant system, Rancho Guejito has survived for the past 200 years by virtue of its location in a remote pocket of northern San Diego County, and a legacy of determined, loving stewardship which the ranch’s succession of owners have felt compelled to give the property. Until now.

From the land’s earliest owners to visitors fortunate enough to visit the area today, all are touched by the valley’s unique, wild qualities. At one point in the 1970s Rancho Guejito was slated to be protected and set aside for the public to enjoy as a California State Park, but due to funding dilemmas, this never came to pass.

Endangered animals like the Golden Eagle and mountain lion make this huge expanse of land their home, and as a rare, intact habitat in Southern California, Rancho Guejito continues to function as a vital wildlife corridor. Unfortunately, like the recently piecemealed Tejon Ranch in northern Los Angeles and Kern County, the fate of Rancho Guejito is now in the hands of developers, and further dissection of the area’s habitat may not be far off.

Eden Valley Road at Rancho Guejito.

After years of publicly stating their desire to keep the valley’s wild character intact, the family which owns Rancho Guejito has recently made an about-face on developing the area. The newly-christened Rancho Geujito Planning Group has proposed a development plan for all 22,000 acres of the ranch, including the construction of 10,000 houses.

We at Treehuggers International wonder if this is sensible or sustainable growth. In the wake of the collapse of housing prices and overdevelopment in San Diego’s North County and other areas of Southern California, along with the proposed Merriam Mountains project similarly located in a remote area of northern San Diego County, is this kind of project even necessary or responsible?

Water issues certainly come to mind. At a time when nearby farmers in northern Escondido, Valley Center, and Pauma Valley have been forced to literally decapitate avocado trees due to water shortages, what kind of message does it send to build an enormous tract of 10,000 houses nearby? It would seem developers are, once again, enjoying free reign in San Diego County despite mandatory water cutbacks and limited access to a potential development site, which has burned over time and time again in regular wildfires.

A February 2nd meeting in Pauma Valley with the Rancho Guejito Planning Group provided few answers. Rick Halsey, the Executive Director of the California Chaparral Institute and a good friend of Treehuggers International, attended the meeting with several reporters, Native American representatives, and a number of concerned residents. According to Rick’s notes, question after question apparently resulted in glittering generalities, false empathy, and no concrete answers or plans from a developer spokesperson.

Non-answers akin to stonewalling were given to reasonable concerns regarding the need for wildlife corridors, water and sewage services, and infrastructure plans other than Highway 78, which is the only major access in road in the area. According to Rick, Native American concerns were given especially short thrift. Apparently a person

from the Pauma Indian band reminded [the spokesperson] about the importance of cultural issues and that Indian bands want to be involved. At this point [the spokesperson] appeared to be getting tired responding and saying nothing, so she didn’t say much more than “I don’t know from here on out.” She was especially silent whenever a Native American spoke.

Another Native American representative

explained the importance of the spiritual connectedness local Indian bands have with the land, especially land that hasn’t been destroyed yet by development. [The spokesperson] said nothing of consequence.

When asked about preliminary environmental impact studies, the spokesperson talked about the maps of the area they had (topographical and vegetation maps any citizen can request from the county). When asked about rare stands of Engelman Oaks on the property, rapidly vanishing from Southern California, the spokesperson agreed they were “important,” but failed to explain what plans were on the table to preserve them once development commences.

When pressed by a San Diego Union-Tribune reporter on why the family which owns Rancho Guejito has decided to develop the area after decades of resistance, the spokesperson claimed ignorance, explaining the family’s previous conservation commitments were made before she became involved with the project. Another representative of the Rancho Guejito Planning Group denied they had ever been approached by environmental groups about how to potentially manage the site without development, even though Treehuggers International first broadcast the show linked here about the future of Rancho Guejito some 16 months ago.

Rick finally asked the spokesperson

“I just wanted to get a few things straight. It is my understanding you haven’t done any environmental studies / reports concerning the property?” [The spokesperson] replied they had vegetation maps, topographic maps, etc. [I then] asked if I heard correctly that the owners never drilled any wells or examined the water resources on the property, and [the spokesperson] said she didn’t know.

I [asked her] if she could give us two things:

1. A time line when she will be able to come back and actually provide us with useful information.

2. A commitment to bring in the local Indian bands as be part of the process.

[The spokesperson] mumbled on about this being a complicated process, then I asked again my second request. No commitment on anything.

Obviously this is a developing story, and in addition to the links provided below, we invite you to listen to the discussion with Bruce Coons from the San Diego Save Our Heritage Organization (who first visited Rancho Guejito as part of a research trip in 1969), and Dan Silver from the Los Angeles-based Endangered Habitats League. Both Bruce and Dan talk about why it’s best to preserve all of Rancho Guejito, as is, often referred to as the “jewel of San Diego conservation.”

You can also read more about Rick Halsey‘s efforts to raise awareness about Rancho Guejito at the California Chaparral Institute.

(program originally broadcast October 19, 2008; revision broadcast November 1, 2009)

Benjamin Coates prized the view from his home at Rancho Guejito.

Consequences of the Station Fire

daley — Sun, 27 Sep 2009 23:36:51 +0000

Vetter Mountain Lookout, 1937 - 2009

Wildland firefighter and fire ecologist Rick Halsey returns to Treehuggers International to discuss the impact of the Station Fire. The founder and director of the Escondido-based California Chaparral Institute, Rick is also a member of the San Diego Regional Fire Safety Forum and the author of the book Fire, Chaparral, and Survival In Southern California.

The steep slopes of the San Gabriels make firefighting difficult.

With major wildfires having blackened scores of acres in the Golden State this year in the Santa Cruz Mountains, Gold Country, and the counties of Santa Barbara (four times in the last 12 months), Mendocino, Sonoma, Sacramento, and elsewhere, it seems every season has become fire season in California.

Nevertheless, few in the Southland were ready for the size and duration of the fire which swept down the canyons into Altadena, La Cañada Flintridge, and Tujunga. Ultimately the Station Fire set a notorious record, as the largest wildfire ever in Los Angeles County.

After claiming two lives, destroying over 80 homes, and burning through 154,000 acres of the Angeles National Forest, the Station Fire is at last nearly under control, and conservationists, fire professionals, outdoor recreationsists, and (regrettably) political leaders are beginning to take stock of what was lost and what can be done.

Of concern to Treehuggers International are the dozens of prized outdoor recreation spots in the Angeles National Forest now consigned to memory, obliterated in the furnace of the wildfire. Locales like the famous Vetter Mountain Lookout served as havens for generations of Southern Californians eager to recharge in the “good tidings” of the San Gabriels’ chaparral-covered slopes, meadows, streams, forests, and Mojave Desert and L.A. Basin views.

Lonely watch on the fire line.

While the Station Fire did not make major penetrations into the San Gabriel high country, thousands of acres of old-growth chaparral were lost, and as is the case with the frequent fire pattern currently at work in Southern California, the way has been cleared for aggressive, non-native grasses and other plants to move in, thereby increasing the risk of fire in the near term, and making it more more difficult for the natural ecosystem of the region to re-establish itself. As fires become more frequent in our ongoing drought, it seems California’s chaparral wildlands are burning themselves into oblivion.

Is all of this a calamity? Are even more firebreaks and brush clearing in the backcounty necessary to avoid another disaster? Should these fires simply be allowed to burn themselves out? Rick Halsey again explains why the solutions to avoiding disaster in California’s year-round fire season come first with the understanding large fires are completely normal for our environment. We’re not being “victimized” by fires, we’ve simply built into their path, again and again. And when you try and beat nature long-term, you lose.

While the frequency of fires remains a concern in the ongoing drought, wise management, defensible space, and an appreciation for the Mediterranean climate of Southern California is the cornerstone to respecting the region’s wild side, and understanding fire is a natural, normal part of California’s ecosystems.

A member of the Dalton Hotshots grabs a few minutes of sleep.

Treehuggers International » California Chaparral Institute

Blaming Wildfires On Environmentalists

Angry Man Blames Environmentalists for Wildfires (again)

More about this post at:

Development Arrives at the Door of Rancho Guejito

More about this post at:

Consequences of the Station Fire

More about this post at: