The article “Wildfire legislation garners concern,”
(News, Nov. 12) addressed the legislation that President George W.
Bush and Sen. Dianne Feinstein pushed through, claiming that it
will protect communities from future devastation.Â
This bill is a version of Bush’s logging plan
inappropriately dubbed the “Healthy Forests
Initiative,” as it would mercilessly undermine forest health.
This bill would allow timber companies to log the most
fire-resistant (but most financially lucrative) trees while leaving
behind highly flammable (but not as lucrative) brush and slash.
Feinstein claims that the bill protects old growth, but there
are loopholes big enough to drive a herd of Hummers through. The
loopholes in the bill would allow loggers into much of the 58.5
million acres of pristine forest protected under the Roadless Area
Conservation Rule. This land contains most of the last critical 4
percent of old growth trees we have left in this country and stands
as a last defense against deleterious fires.
Old growth trees, like the ones in these roadless areas, have
thick bark that has been built up over centuries. This bark allows
them to withstand the fires that periodically run through forests
while the younger trees lack this resistance. According to the
Forest Service, fires occur twice as frequently when roads are torn
into pristine forests.
In the article, UCLA ecologist Philip Rundel is cited as saying
that legislators should put more money into thinning areas that may
not be commercially advantageous for private companies to log
instead of spending all money fighting the fires when they occur. I
also believe that this is where the most action is needed. Instead
of letting his campaign contributors in the timber and oil
industries cut down naturally fire-resistant trees, President Bush
should be focusing on clearing dangerous brush and slash.
Unfortunately, it’s becoming painfully clear that
prevention is not the president’s priority.
Just six months ago, Gov. Gray Davis asked the White House for
federal aid desperately needed to reduce a build up of flammable
brush in a half-million acres of dried-out forest. The areas that
needed the most help were San Diego, Riverside and San Bernardino
counties where trees damaged by bark beetles left the areas
particularly vulnerable to fires. The toll was paid dearly by
Californians in well over $2 billion of damage and the unfortunate
loss of lives.
Hindsight allows us to point out the president’s mistake
in this situation but when will the White House learn that
prevention is key to averting future environmental disasters?
In the future, will we look at the “Healthy Forests
Initiative” as a contributor to another instance of
widespread devastation?
I am glad the Daily Bruin realizes the importance of this
issue. It is important that students in
California send the message to Sen. Feinstein and President Bush
that we value sound environmental practices and prevention over
special interests, regardless of the creativity involved in the
naming of a proposal.
Wakefield is a third-year English student.