Keep Debate about Wildfires and Forest Policy Bracketed by Reality

By Matthew Koehler, Unfiltered 11-26-07

Now that western Montana has been covered with a deep blanket of snow it’s a good time to look back on the wildfire season and examine some of the myths and facts associated with wildfires and federal forest policy.

You see, around here, rationally talking about these issues during the summer months is akin to talking politics or religion around the Thanksgiving table…it just doesn’t work. But hopefully now that the immediate threat of wildfire has passed we can take an assessment of the situation that’s bracketed by reality.

First, let’s begin by putting these wildfires in perspective. Whether or not you accept the scientific evidence about global warming, the fact is that, on average, 78 days has been added to the fire season since the late 1980s. Think about this folks. That’s the equivalent of having a second summer.

To date, wildfires have burned 9.4 million acres this year nationally and while virtually each fire season since 2000 has been called “record setting” by the media that’s not true. During the “dust-bowl” era of the 1920s to early 1940s an average of 37 million acres burned in the US every single year. In fact, the true “record setting” fire season was 1930, when 52 million acres burned nationally. But somehow, burning about 9 million acres in 2007 qualifies as “record setting.”

Next, let’s look at the claim that these wildfires are caused by lawsuits from environmental groups. This has become a mantra of sorts for timber industry lobbyists, some politicians and within a steady stream of letters to the editor. A mantra that gets printed in the paper largely unquestioned, unchallenged and uninvestigated by the news media.

One recent example is the Missoulian’s coverage about the formation of a group in the Bitterroot calling themselves “Environmentalists with Common Sense.” This group, which has also been running ads in the Ravalli Republic against the county’s proposed streamside setback ordinance, doesn’t like wildfires and smoke in the Bitterroot Valley and blames the current situation in large part on lawsuits from environmentalists.

This claim was printed in the paper without any evidence and despite the fact that the newspaper was previously given information that of 500 plus timber sales on the Bitterroot National Forest since 1985 0.03% have been litigated.

Folks, while it is true that organizations such as the WildWest Institute make sure the federal government follows the law and best science when managing our public lands, the reality is that the vast majority of timber sales and fuel reduction projects in Montana go forward without litigation. Currently, there is only one timber sale – ONE – in the entire state that’s under a court ordered injunction. Are we really expected to believe that this one injunction on a small timber sale is the reason that 800,000 acres burned in Montana this summer?

While a handful of other timber sales may currently be under litigation, there is nothing preventing the Forest Service from moving ahead with these logging projects and in nearly every case they are.

Ironically, however, the Forest Service is even having a hard time selling these timber sales because logging companies are simply not bidding on them. Reasons for this are varied, and while it may be politically convenient to blame environmentalists, the logging industry is faced with the lowest lumber prices in 35 years, a nation-wide slowing of home construction and potential bursting of the “housing bubble” and cheap lumber imports made possible by questionable trade policies.

The Forest Service is even having a hard time literally giving away timber. For example, the Forest Service’s logging plans following the arson-caused Gash Fire in the Bitterroot National Forest have gone un-bid upon despite a bargain basement price of $1,497 for over 9 million pounds of timber. There is also plenty of evidence that logging contractors are sitting on numerous timber sales currently under contract in hopes of riding out the historically low lumber prices.

Finally, implicit in the claim that lawsuits are causing wildfires is also the notion that logging in the backcountry can prevent these wildfires and protect homes and communities. Such claims not only ignore the latest scientific research, but they also ignore the fact that some of the most significant Montana fires last year burned through heavily logged and roaded landscapes.

The Jocko Lakes Fire that was bearing down on Seeley Lake ripped through Plum Creek Timber Company lands that were among the most heavily logged and roaded in western Montana. Likewise for Montana's largest wildfire, the Chippy Creek Fire north of Plains. And the Black Cat Fire near Frenchtown burned through heavily logged forests, including a recently logged “healthy forest” timber sale on the Lolo National Forest that was burnt to a crisp.

Trust me, I hope that we never lose another home to wildfire in Montana, yet I also know that logging large trees in the backcountry has nothing to do with it. That’s why it’s so important for any fuel reduction work on national forests to be targeted where it will do the most good – near homes and communities, not in the backcountry.

The WildWest Institute is currently working with community members, county commissioners and business leaders from Lincoln County, Montana to Lemhi County, Idaho – and points in between –to help craft positive, sustainable solutions that create jobs in the woods protecting our communities from fire through careful and strategic fuel reduction.

We also helped form FireSafe Montana, which serves as a clearinghouse for homeowners seeking information, resources and assistance on community fire protection. And for the past two years we have literally rolled up our sleeves and joined forces with the DeBorgia Volunteer Fire Department for successful workweeks that created defensible space around the homes of elderly members of the community using proven “Firewise” principles.

As we all move forward, please know that our organization welcomes any help, ideas and solutions from interested members of the public, including those Bitterroot folks with so much “common sense.” And we would also ask that the news media take seriously its duty and responsibility to more truthfully and accurately report on wildfire and forest policy issues so that public has all the information it needs to make informed decisions.

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Matthew Koehler is a former wildland firefighter and avid backcountry hunter who is the executive director of the WildWest Institute. Learn more at http://www.wildwestinstitute.org.

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