The Solution to Idaho Wildfires is Old Fashioned Common Sense

When the last tree burns, then where will the northern spotted owl call home? The question was raised by Jim Petersen, founder of the Evergreen Foundation. Writing in the latest edition of Range, Petersen argues forest management has reached a dead-end. A very charred one. He explained that for every tree logged, there are 26 dead trees in our western forests. Dead lumber is tinder for our yearly wildfire Armageddon. To borrow from a related cliché, radical environmentalists can't see the forest through the trees. The writer also explains, due to the drought, the water content in living trees is lower than in kiln-dried wood.

He allows for some impact due to climate change, but this is mostly a man-made catastrophe. Even if we were to reverse course tomorrow, the level of fuel on forest floors is so great that it may well take decades to clean up the mess.

Petersen says Forest Service morale has reached new lows. "Watch it Burn" could be the new motto of the service. Last week I posted the mad ravings of a leftist Washington Post columnist who recommended we simply let the trees and sagebrush go up in flames. These are the same numskulls drooling over the prospect of nuclear war with Russia as if that wouldn't alter the climate and foul the atmosphere. What is it that they want? We're not supposed to drive with internal combustion engines under the hood, but we can fill the skies with ash and radiation and somehow all will be fine.

The leftists are stupid, evil, or both. Bill Maher said last week that Democrats are a party of no common sense. I'll go even further. Their master likes flames and heat. They're the party of the underworld.