In June, during a speech on the floor of the House of Representatives, Representative Steve Pearce, a Republican from New Mexico, heavily criticized the U.S. Forest Service, mentioning the name of Tom Tidwell, Chief of the Forest Service, many times. At that time he was ranting about what he saw to be a lack of aggressive fire suppression, which he felt contributed to the growth of the Little Bear Fire which burned 242 residential and commercial structures after it had been managed for four days while it was four acres in size. He also advocated more fuel reduction, especially near communities. But he did not offer to sponsor any legislation to restore the reductions in federal funds which have resulted in less money available within the land management agencies for fuel management.
Representative Pearce has put himself in the news again, this time by submitting an editorial under his name to the Albuquerque Journal. In the piece dated September 6, he continues to criticize the USFS, and again advocates more intensive fuel management, but fails to offer any funding relief. Here is an excerpt from the article:
…In support of the public’s personal safety, including that of our first responders, I continue to question why [New Mexico’s Little Bear and Whitewater-Baldy] fires were not extinguished before strong winds caused them to burn out of control. My office is working with retired Forest Service personnel to get answers to this important question.
As I have stated previously, my concerns are with Washington policies and not with our brave firefighters. Decades-long mismanagement of our federal lands has allowed the fuels to build into what we see today and explode into the raging blazes that we witnessed this summer.
Progress into changing these long established failed policies has been made. Just recently, on Aug. 7, Joe Walsh, a Washington spokesman for the U.S. Forest Service, said that the agency would “more aggressively extinguish small fires before they become larger ones.” This is the correct mindset that Americans need.
In another shift, on Aug. 16, Tom Harbor, the director of Fire and Aviation Management for the U.S. Forest Service, said that it was changing policy and would begin allowing helicopters to attack wildfires at night in Southern California.
However, here in New Mexico, in the Aug. 8 issue of the Ruidoso News, the chief ranger of the Lincoln National Forest’s Smokey Bear Ranger District said he “would do nothing different.”
It is extremely concerning to hear that locally, the Forest Service demonstrates no concern with existing policies. Policies that very likely allowed for the destruction of our local communities, impacting families, businesses and public health.
It is my intention to see that the Forest Service re-evaluates its policies and implements basic changes that can better improve prevention of these large out of control fires in the future. Nothing sweeping. Nothing radical. Just common sense, such as thinning areas that are overgrown, establishing safety zones around at-risk communities and aggressively/immediately putting out fires in these areas.
Thanks go out to Dick
State and National political elected officials work hard to fill a seat. Like death and taxes, those folks are not there to help you, but to help themselfs. Fact of life.
Pearce is apparently lacking in understanding of the concept of federal lands.
http://www.biologicaldiversity.org/news/press_releases/2011/pearce-09-13-2011.html
Dude was a C-130 pilot in Vietnam.
Not that the USFS shouldn’t criticized, but what does being a C-130 pilot in Viet Nam have to do with the price of tea in China?
Is Representitive Pearce running for reelection?