CA: Extreme Fire Hazard as 12.5 Million Trees Stand Dead

[Binkie The Clown]

[font size=5]California’s Great Wilting — Lake Mead Heading Toward Rationing Line, Extreme Fire Hazard as 12.5 Million Trees Stand Dead, Agriculture Under Threat[/font]

According to the California Government, State snowpack levels are now at 1 percent of average. That’s not just the lowest ever recorded. That’s about as close to zero as one can get without actually hitting zero.

“I don’t think the American public has gripped in its gut what could happen. We’re looking at a scenario where there’s no more agriculture in California.” — Stephen Chu in a public press release six years ago.

Remember those veggie we used to get from California? Well, don't count on them being there in the supermarket in the next several years.

ON EDIT: Forgot the all important LINK to the rest of the story.

[msongs]

1. let them burn and just protect housing etc. fire is the natural cleanser of the forests. some

large trees need fire to sprout their seeds.

[Binkie The Clown]

2. In this case it won't cleanse the forest...

it will remove the forest and replace it with desert. The trees are dying because there is no water. With them gone, the top soil will wash away, and when it does finally rain, the desert will claim another few million acres of once-fertile land. This is not a healthy natural process. This is a disaster.

[delrem]

5. That's in a natural cycle.

This isn't cyclic. This looks like global warming, an ongoing process, and this isn't a green forest burning then recycling, this is a deadscape burning.

[Mojorabbit]

3. k&R nt

[Trillo]

4. If those trees were on private "residence" land

the owners would be getting harassed and threatened by the fire department to cut them down and make sure any fire hazard is minimized. A fire chief is quoted in the text, but he's not threatening anyone, does he even know who owns that land?

Whose land do those 12.5 million trees stand on? "USDA"? Or "California Pine forest"? Why the f*ck aren't the owners being harassed in the same way little people get harassed?

[Hekate]

6. You think thirteen million trees are on private property?! They're the national forests.

Last edited Mon May 11, 2015, 01:36 PM - Edit history (1)

In other words, you and I "own" those trees. Uncle Sam "owns" those trees. What do you mean "harass the owners"? What does that even mean to you?

California is a mountainous state, and that's where the national forests are. It's a huge amount of territory. It's not all pine by any means, it varies by region. A lot of California is chaparral and is made to burn every few decades -- but we also have almost 40 million people living in this state, and you wouldn't believe how many are living on the interface between wild land and urban areas.

It's difficult to manage a major forest fire. You can look up the Zaca Fire from a few years back. It was in my region and it burned for months. I think it ended up consuming a quarter million acres. Fortunately for everyone the firefighters were able to drive it back from populated areas, and the decision was made to let it burn itself out in the forest. The air quality throughout the entire region was unsafe to breathe for anyone with asthma or other lung issues.

[Trillo]

8. It appears you have a reading disability. I wrote,

"Whose land do those 12.5 million trees stand on? "

You wrote, " You think thirteen million trees are on private property?! They're the national forests."

The article doesn't say "national forests" in print.

[SunSeeker]

9. Private residences with a fire hazard should be ordered to do a cleanup.

I am personally thankful when the fire department makes my neighbors clean up their dried kindling so that my house does not burn down along with theirs.

When we're talking about millions of trees in a forest, cutting down all those trees would do more harm than good, leading to soil erosion and turning the forests into deserts. People who live in rural areas in or near such forests know to maintain a clear fire perimeter around their property. I am right up against my neighbor here in suburban Orange County, California, so I don't have the space to do that and must rely on the fire department enforcing fire regulations to keep my neighborhood safe.

But hey, if you insist on hijacking this thread to pursue your own personal anti-government issues, knock yourself out. Clearly the real thing to be mad about here is fire department overreach, not the fact that California is running out of water.

[Trillo]

10. "Anti-government"? Yours is a logic disability, not a reading one.

Let me make this very simple for you, the fire cheif failing to go after whoever owns that land, presuming it is the government, is not "anti-government", it is "pro-government" and "anti-citizen". Their purpose appears to be to treat other government agencies with favoritism and citizens with contempt.

All I'm pointing out is the inequality in the different treatments.

Take your jerkishness over to free republic where it belongs, progressives believe in equality.

[SunSeeker]

11. Wow. All you can do is project and insult.

You totally ignore the reason we can't just clear millions of trees, all so you can keep beating on your "the government treats citizens with contempt" drum. This is a thread about how California is running out of water, which you don't express any outrage over. You reserve your outrage for DUers and the gubm't. If you are a progressive, we are in trouble. Thankfully, that does not appear to be the case.

[Trillo]

13. Your claim is false. You wrote,

bolding added by me,

But hey, if you insist on hijacking this thread to pursue your own personal anti-government issues...

I'm sorry, but the thread title is about fire and dead trees, but you say I'm hijacking this thread. That makes your claim false. The story is not about me.

[C Moon]

7. Wow. I'm shocked to see people on DU denying that this is a problem. It's a BIG problem.

[SunSeeker]

12. Yup. Sad really.

You look at this thread and one DUer says we should just burn the trees and the other goes off on a series of DUer-insulting rants about how the Fire Department shows "contempt for citizens" by forcing them to clean up their fire hazards while not making the feds clear cut the forests.




I'm hoping the reaction to this thread is just an anomaly.

[Trillo]

14. I never wrote "clear cut", that has a specific meaning in forestry.

You keep misrepresenting what I wrote. I did write that the dead trees should be cut down.

FYI, Clear cutting is removing all the trees from a designated area. You are the first to mention it in this thread.

[SunSeeker]

15. What the fuck else could you mean when talking about clearing millions of dead trees?

Entire swaths of forest have turned brown. And all you're pissed about is the fire department not going after those trees "equally" like it does fire hazards in someone's back yard.

Stop wasting my time.

[Trillo]

16. Exactly what I wrote, that's "what the fuck."

Cut down the dead trees, I did not write "clear" in anyway, that is the word you have repeatedly used. Let me add, now, that once cut down they should be left on premises to decay.

I suggest you put me on ignore.

[SunSeeker]

17. I won't put you on ignore. I want to be on your jury. nt

[Trillo]

18. You should stop the ad hominem attacks, you have just admitted to making DU suck.

17. I won't put you on ignore. I want to be on your jury. nt

Yesterday, I wrote,

All those military guys could be used to cut down dead trees in the forests

but it's so much more profitable to build bombs and bullets instead of chainsaws and shovels.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/?com=view_post&forum=1014&pid=1089903

[hatrack]

19. Trillo, you are really close to being blocked from E&E - I suggest you rein it in.

.