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At least we saw it coming and made some preparations. I think climate change is a massive problem but we can't put it all on climate change because droughts are

At least we saw it coming and made some preparations. I think climate change is a massive problem but we can't put it all on climate change because droughts are part of California history and we can put some of the blame on forest management practices. 100 million dead trees in the Sierra are a massive risk for unpredictable wildfires https://news.berkeley.edu/2018/01/18/sierra-wildfire-risk/ https://news.berkeley.edu/2018/01/18/sierra-wildfire-risk/ Fire Suppression — And Climate Change — Is To Blame For California’s Megafires https://www.capradio.org/articles/2020/09/12/fire-suppression-and-climate-change-is-to-blame-for-californias-megafires-experts-unpack-the-term/ https://www.capradio.org/articles/2020/09/12/fire-suppressio...

pwarner 5y ago
It's not just one or the other? Who knew things were complex and sometimes didn't align with one political ideology?
- acomjean 5y ago
  Like many things, the "blame pie" chart contains multiple reasons and no solutions.
hokumguru 5y ago
I remember how it was a huge deal for weeks when our former president said something along these lines but to a large extent the administration was correct. I hate the fact that these changes to forestry management are going to be delayed or shot down just because of partisan bullshit. I’d say we’re better than this but I’m not quite sure nowadays.
- jdavis703 5y ago
  Most of California’s forests are managed by the Interior Department. Why wasn’t federal forest policy changed if the last administration believed that was the primary cause of fires?
  - bthazos 5y ago
    Maybe the areas affected don't actually benefit anyone in power? Probably not enough graft coming out of the timber industry.
  - pasttense01 5y ago
    I think Interior tends to defer to state and local interests rather than following national policies.
    - mikeryan 5y ago
      That’s not how it works. This is, literally, land owned and managed by the federal government. It’s on them to manage it.
    - deleted 5y ago
      [deleted]
- okareaman 5y ago
  The former president was very inarticulate about it, which I'd say was the problem. He told us California residents that we needed to sweep our forests and didn't acknowledge that the majority of the public forests were the responsibility of the Federal Govt. A more knowledgeable Republican president could have made a better case that wouldn't get ridiculed. Trump blames California for wildfires, tells state 'you gotta clean your floors' https://www.politico.com/states/california/story/2020/08/20/trump-blames-california-for-wildfires-tells-state-you-gotta-clean-your-floors-1311059 https://www.politico.com/states/california/story/2020/08/20/... Trump's suggestions have prompted head-scratching from experts who say his prescriptions — more raking, less water released into the ocean for environmental purposes — suggest he does not understand the science of wildfires. Critics also point out that most of California’s wildlands are federally managed.
  - rcurry 5y ago
    Okay, now that he’s gone who do we pin the blame on?
    - thinkcontext 5y ago
      The post you are replying to did not blame Trump for the fires, it said he was incoherent and incorrect in assigning blame. He continues to do both of those things in his role of King of the GOP, so there's no reason to stop pinning blame on him for things he is doing.
      - okareaman 5y ago
        Thank you. I sometimes wonder if it is that I don't write clearly enough or if some people have poor reading comprehension. Perhaps both.
        rcurry 5y ago
        Ad hominem attacks aside, the question remains. Now that #OrangeManBad isn't here, who, exactly is,as you say, "the problem"? From what I've seen, Californians have a bad habit of electing people who can't accomplish anything, and then blame their woes on people who are so far removed from being able to have any influence that it's laughable. The forestry service under Trump is the same forestry service that logged (pardon the pun) eight years under Obama. What did Obama do to mitigate the fires? The Dixie fire continues to burn without restrainnt, what's the solution? Frankly, as much as I don't like the man, Trump is right - when it comes to forest fires in CA, it's kind of your mess to clean up. Drive down any road on the coast and you'll find acres of arroyos full to the brim with deadwood - literal tinderboxes that nobody is cleaning up. Okay, 50x% of the forests belong to the Federal Government? Cool, don't build your houses within a half mile firebreak of them. The other 50%? Well, gosh, I guess you all should have a chat or something.
morio 5y ago
These extreme fire events extend across the entire Northern hemisphere right now (Oregon, Washington, Montana, Greece, Turkey, Siberia etc.). Blaming California specific forest management practices is disingenuous at best.
- BobbyJo 5y ago
  How does the fires being common across the region absolve California of the accusation of mismanagement? Isn't that more damning?
  - saghm 5y ago
    Calling "the entire northern hemisphere" a "region" is a bit of a stretch; GP is presumably referring to the summer season (which is not shared by the southern hemisphere at this time), not proximity to California.
- sgc 5y ago
  They are mainly Federal lands and so it is mainly Federal policy and practice that would be to blame in the US for that aspect of the causes. But the most obvious international common denominator is hotter, drier, windier weather - although I would not be surprised if many countries have similar "modern" responses to forest fires.
  - loopz 5y ago
    Forest management is bad overall, who will pay for it? In US/Canada the heat dome made for extreme weather. In Europe, record heat and rainfall causing extreme floods. We're having both, bad mitigation and climate catastrophe, going on. Plus Covid, pretty much following Hopi prophecies.
- s1artibartfast 5y ago
  There are two problems that required to Solutions. Many of the areas that are burning now had a burn interval I'm less than 5 years prior to Federal wildfire suppression. They haven't burned in the last 150 years because of this. This is a real problem that needs to be addressed on top of climate change.
throwawaysea 5y ago
Here's a great talk from a Forest Service expert on why wildfires have become worse. The TLDR is that forests have become much denser, particularly after old trees were logged, and this creates large areas of fuel. Additionally, forests need active management - prescribed burns, dry fuel cleanup, pest management, etc. Climate change may be aggravating or amplifying the intensity of wildfires but there are other causes that are potentially more important, and they present opportunities for wildfire prevention that are currently ignored by governments/news media/social media. https://www.ted.com/talks/paul_hessburg_why_wildfires_have_gotten_worse_and_what_we_can_do_about_it https://www.ted.com/talks/paul_hessburg_why_wildfires_have_g...

pwarner 5y ago

It's not just one or the other? Who knew things were complex and sometimes didn't align with one political ideology?

acomjean 5y ago
Like many things, the "blame pie" chart contains multiple reasons and no solutions.

hokumguru 5y ago

I remember how it was a huge deal for weeks when our former president said something along these lines but to a large extent the administration was correct. I hate the fact that these changes to forestry management are going to be delayed or shot down just because of partisan bullshit. I’d say we’re better than this but I’m not quite sure nowadays.

jdavis703 5y ago
Most of California’s forests are managed by the Interior Department. Why wasn’t federal forest policy changed if the last administration believed that was the primary cause of fires?
- bthazos 5y ago
  Maybe the areas affected don't actually benefit anyone in power? Probably not enough graft coming out of the timber industry.
- pasttense01 5y ago
  I think Interior tends to defer to state and local interests rather than following national policies.
  - mikeryan 5y ago
    That’s not how it works. This is, literally, land owned and managed by the federal government. It’s on them to manage it.
  - deleted 5y ago
    [deleted]
okareaman 5y ago
The former president was very inarticulate about it, which I'd say was the problem. He told us California residents that we needed to sweep our forests and didn't acknowledge that the majority of the public forests were the responsibility of the Federal Govt. A more knowledgeable Republican president could have made a better case that wouldn't get ridiculed. Trump blames California for wildfires, tells state 'you gotta clean your floors' https://www.politico.com/states/california/story/2020/08/20/trump-blames-california-for-wildfires-tells-state-you-gotta-clean-your-floors-1311059 https://www.politico.com/states/california/story/2020/08/20/... Trump's suggestions have prompted head-scratching from experts who say his prescriptions — more raking, less water released into the ocean for environmental purposes — suggest he does not understand the science of wildfires. Critics also point out that most of California’s wildlands are federally managed.
- rcurry 5y ago
  Okay, now that he’s gone who do we pin the blame on?
  - thinkcontext 5y ago
    The post you are replying to did not blame Trump for the fires, it said he was incoherent and incorrect in assigning blame. He continues to do both of those things in his role of King of the GOP, so there's no reason to stop pinning blame on him for things he is doing.
    - okareaman 5y ago
      Thank you. I sometimes wonder if it is that I don't write clearly enough or if some people have poor reading comprehension. Perhaps both.
      - rcurry 5y ago
        Ad hominem attacks aside, the question remains. Now that #OrangeManBad isn't here, who, exactly is,as you say, "the problem"? From what I've seen, Californians have a bad habit of electing people who can't accomplish anything, and then blame their woes on people who are so far removed from being able to have any influence that it's laughable. The forestry service under Trump is the same forestry service that logged (pardon the pun) eight years under Obama. What did Obama do to mitigate the fires? The Dixie fire continues to burn without restrainnt, what's the solution? Frankly, as much as I don't like the man, Trump is right - when it comes to forest fires in CA, it's kind of your mess to clean up. Drive down any road on the coast and you'll find acres of arroyos full to the brim with deadwood - literal tinderboxes that nobody is cleaning up. Okay, 50x% of the forests belong to the Federal Government? Cool, don't build your houses within a half mile firebreak of them. The other 50%? Well, gosh, I guess you all should have a chat or something.

morio 5y ago

These extreme fire events extend across the entire Northern hemisphere right now (Oregon, Washington, Montana, Greece, Turkey, Siberia etc.). Blaming California specific forest management practices is disingenuous at best.

BobbyJo 5y ago
How does the fires being common across the region absolve California of the accusation of mismanagement? Isn't that more damning?
- saghm 5y ago
  Calling "the entire northern hemisphere" a "region" is a bit of a stretch; GP is presumably referring to the summer season (which is not shared by the southern hemisphere at this time), not proximity to California.
sgc 5y ago
They are mainly Federal lands and so it is mainly Federal policy and practice that would be to blame in the US for that aspect of the causes. But the most obvious international common denominator is hotter, drier, windier weather - although I would not be surprised if many countries have similar "modern" responses to forest fires.
- loopz 5y ago
  Forest management is bad overall, who will pay for it? In US/Canada the heat dome made for extreme weather. In Europe, record heat and rainfall causing extreme floods. We're having both, bad mitigation and climate catastrophe, going on. Plus Covid, pretty much following Hopi prophecies.
s1artibartfast 5y ago
There are two problems that required to Solutions. Many of the areas that are burning now had a burn interval I'm less than 5 years prior to Federal wildfire suppression. They haven't burned in the last 150 years because of this. This is a real problem that needs to be addressed on top of climate change.

throwawaysea 5y ago

Here's a great talk from a Forest Service expert on why wildfires have become worse. The TLDR is that forests have become much denser, particularly after old trees were logged, and this creates large areas of fuel. Additionally, forests need active management - prescribed burns, dry fuel cleanup, pest management, etc. Climate change may be aggravating or amplifying the intensity of wildfires but there are other causes that are potentially more important, and they present opportunities for wildfire prevention that are currently ignored by governments/news media/social media. https://www.ted.com/talks/paul_hessburg_why_wildfires_have_gotten_worse_and_what_we_can_do_about_it https://www.ted.com/talks/paul_hessburg_why_wildfires_have_g...