W.I.S.E. Challenges USFS Let It Burn Program
*PRESS RELEASE*
LOCAL GROUP CHALLENGES NEW NATIONAL FOREST LET IT BURN PROGRAM
An Oregon environmental think tank has challenged the adoption of a Wildland Fire Use program on the Rogue River–Siskiyou National Forest.
“’Wildland Fire Use’ is a glorified name for Let It Burn” stated Mike Dubrasich, executive director of the Western Institute for Study of the Environment headquartered in Lebanon, OR.
“If the Rogue-Siskiyou adopts the WFU program, another Biscuit Fire is surely going to happen, possibly as soon as next summer.”
Dubrasich’s organization filed a 170 page complaint with the RR-SNF earlier this week.
The Biscuit Fire burned 500,000 acres of the then Siskiyou NF in 2002. It was the largest fire in recorded Oregon history and destroyed habitat for endangered species, including over 100,000 acres of prime spotted owl habitat (50 known nesting sites were destroyed).
The Rogue River and Siskiyou NF’s were merged in 2004. The RR-SNF is preparing an Environmental Assessment to evaluate inclusion of WFU fires in their Fire Plan.
“We have suffered enough forest destruction from mega-sized forest fires,” said Dubrasich.
“Allowing to wildfire to freely roam the landscape is a terribly destructive idea. Too much is at stake, including watersheds and wildlife habitat, as well as ranches, farms, homes, and entire communities that may lie in the path of Federal megafires.”
“Their job should be rapid initial attack and full suppression of mid-season wildfires. If the USFS wants to do prescribed burning, it should be done on prepared ground, under controlled conditions, and at safe times of the year.”
“One Biscuit Fire is plenty. We need stewardship and active management, not abandonment of our national forests to catastrophic incineration. Unchecked wildfires are wasteful, costly, dangerous, and sometimes deadly.”
W.I.S.E has posted the complaint [here].
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