Yup

Happens all over the west
One fire they willfully set over and over again creates a predictable snowstorm in June by blotting out the sun causing the temperature at night to dip to freezing

All because thinning out dense or bark-beetle-eaten forests and clearing underbrush fuel loading is considered “environmentally destructive” and “ruining animal habitat”. Better to allow that habitat to burn and release smoke/soot/carbon than to let it be logged and turning that biomass into something useful?

I used to work at the US Forest Service. My great grandfather was a forest supervisor. People do not understand how the lawsuits won by the Sierra Club in the 90s, ostensibly to “protect habitats”, are causing these fires 25-30 years later. We used to do controlled burns and even let some fires burn out on their own because that was how Mother Nature had done things for millions of years. Select cut logging also helped keep big fires at bay. The forest I mapped roads and watersheds for was gorgeous then. Now it’s charred and barren. Mostly because we weren’t allowed to spray to kill bark beetles. Those dead trees fueled million-acre fires for years.

@stackodev oh i agree thinning is good to some degree.

at the very least clearing some brush would be a good idea.

its the brush that gets dry and catches the easiest in dryer parts of the us

and dried underbrush is basically tinder.

@stackodev btw thank you for not arrestikng me for having to break into one of your cabins when the temperature was sub freezing a few years back and my car was stuck in a rut during a snowstorm :)

and you would probably greatly appreciate not having to do that again nor should you or will you.

@YouAllSuck Yes. That and trees that are too close together. The logging helps reduce the density of stands so the branches don’t act as pathways for fire to spread horizontally. If you want healthy forests you have to log them or else watch them burn uncontrollably.

@stackodev didn’t they just use to burn the undergrowth in various areas in a targeted fashion not harming the old trees in places like ca ?

Jackasses at one point commented on my tirade about Chomos the next day and they can’t anymore as it relates to a personally held trauma and if other people are going to rant about bs they are completely hypocritical about it would seem strange to go off on someone about something that is not

@YouAllSuck Controlled burns were definitely a tool for clearing undergrowth and getting rid of fuel. But trees have to be far enough apart and without wind or drought conditions or it gets out of control quickly. Another problem is that they battle more fires these days than they used to because of the need to protect homes and infrastructure that has encroached on forests. In the past when there were fewer structures (and more logging to separate trees and remove fuel) they would let fires burn more. Logging roads, which are less prevalent now, used to act as fire breaks to help contain fires. But now everything just burns and burns.

@stackodev that would make sense
Sure glad we don’t have forest fires under ordinary circumstances on the East’s coast heh

@YouAllSuck Yes, very fortunate they don’t happen much in the east. Unfortunately, all the decisions about no longer taking care of the forests in the west came from the east coast politicians who know nothing at all about how to do things in the west.

@stackodev no now they’re setting them intentionally in Canada

@stackodev so far as I can tell

@stackodev the area around Wyoming Colorado and Montana have been pretty bad catching on fire on a pretty predictable schedule

@stackodev if you ask me what you say and mandating planting more shade trees and parks in all us cities would be a nice move

@YouAllSuck Every bit helps. Preserving more of what we already have through better management is ideal.

@stackodev notice all the waste construction yet ? Tear down one building put it back up tear it down again while others crumble ?

@stackodev I just feel like our country is in the hands of crazy people determined to accelerate the death of people

@YouAllSuck The remodeling craze was invented by the entertainment industry. Before home makeover shows like HGTV and Chip and Joanna Gaines, people were only interested in remodeling if it made sense. Now it’s a huge competition to try to outdo the prior show with more outrageous renovations. People have lost the sense of “I have enough for my needs”. It’s NOT all capitalism’s fault. A BIG part of it is cultural corruption.

@stackodev culture of corruption it’s seeking

Man I could cry most days if I didn’t think the psychos around me would enjoy it

I was so happy in ordinary life
Proud of my progress just looking to accomplish more

I liked professional life and having things to hope for and being useful and productive

Now since the robot pod people no one is useful and nothing is necessary that is being done

And here we are all over again

They need to stop stressing me out and polluting me with memories of drama and bull shit and fear of people just spreading and intensifying general unhappiness where once things were cleaner prouder and not so shitty

I miss hope man
I miss hope and zest and interest

Now we’re almost to where they roll everything back and waste more time and money