Carl Pope writes: The Sierra Club is deeply concerned about the families who have been put in harm’s way by the recent fires in Southern California



n the wake of this tragedy, there have been some people willing to place blame on environmental groups. There is no need to sensationalize this tragedy for political gain. Americans deserve better. The Sierra Club has long supported responsible fuel reduction around communities and fully supports any wildfire policy that makes community protection its top priority. This week’s fires, which are taking place largely in brush and chaparral, underscore the need to focus our fire prevention efforts in the areas around communities, rather than deep in the backcountry forest. Not a single fuels reduction project has been appealed in these Southern California forests in a decade. In fact, the vast majority of Forest Service fuel reduction projects nationwide--97 percent, according to a 2003 GAO study--move forward without litigation. Sierra Club President Carl Pope served as a Peace Corps Volunteer in India in the 1960's.

Carl Pope writes: The Sierra Club is deeply concerned about the families who have been put in harm’s way by the recent fires in Southern California

Statement of Sierra Club Executive Director Carl Pope on Southern California Wildfires
Thu, 10/25/2007 - 12:57 — newsdesk

October 23, 2007 -- The Sierra Club is deeply concerned about the families who have been put in harm’s way by the recent fires in Southern California, and about the firefighters courageously working to protect homes and lives.

In the wake of this tragedy, there have been some people willing to place blame on environmental groups. There is no need to sensationalize this tragedy for political gain. Americans deserve better. The Sierra Club has long supported responsible fuel reduction around communities and fully supports any wildfire policy that makes community protection its top priority.

This week’s fires, which are taking place largely in brush and chaparral, underscore the need to focus our fire prevention efforts in the areas around communities, rather than deep in the backcountry forest.

Not a single fuels reduction project has been appealed in these Southern California forests in a decade. In fact, the vast majority of Forest Service fuel reduction projects nationwide--97 percent, according to a 2003 GAO study--move forward without litigation.

With dangerous conditions caused by global warming only increasing, we can unfortunately expect to see more and more of these types of catastrophic wildfires.

Experts agree that focusing on the area immediately around homes should be the first priority of any wildfire policy, and the situation so many are facing in California today reinforces this need. We can all agree that removing brush and small trees immediately around homes and communities will help save homes and lives, and we must dedicate the resources needed to do this most important work first. Forest Service experts have shown that this can be accomplished.

Now the Congress and the Bush Administration need the will to protect communities, not the timber industry.

Links to Related Topics (Tags):

Headlines: October, 2007; RPCV Carl Pope (India); Figures; Peace Corps India; Directory of India RPCVs; Messages and Announcements for India RPCVs; NGO's; Environment; California

When this story was posted in November 2007, this was on the front page of PCOL:




Peace Corps Online The Independent News Forum serving Returned Peace Corps Volunteers

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