Taken from the Serria club site
Forest Fires: Beyond the Heat and Hype

It's time for the Forest Service to make protecting our communities from fire its number-one mission.

Every community at risk deserves to be protected. If the Forest Service focuses enough resources and manpower on the job, and gives this mission top priority, we can make communities safer in 5 years.

This campaign will cost $2 billion a year, but by reducing the cost of fighting fires and the expense of replacing damaged structures in Community Protection Zones, this program will save far more money than it costs. For example, every dollar spent on prescribed burning saves seven dollars on fighting large fires later.

Communities need three kinds of measures:


Cut brush and small diameter trees to remove flammable materials in the Community Protection Zone (500 yards around a community), creating a fire break so firefighters can control future fires and keep them away from structures.


Use controlled burning around communities wherever we can to reduce the dead wood and small brush that fuel large fires. Every dollar spent on prescribed burning saves seven dollars on fighting large fires later.


Help homeowners protect their homes by removing hazards like brush, small trees and overhanging branches, and moving firewood and other flammable material away from structures. The goal is to secure the immediate vicinity 35 yards around an individual home.

It is time to stop pointing fingers and to find common ground. Whatever our differences with the timber industry, the Forest Service and the Bush Administration on other forest management issues, we should all agree that every community at risk deserves protection and that the highest priority is providing protection where it is needed most: in the Community Protection Zones.

No community should be left at risk because the Forest Service has chosen to divert funds and personnel away from projects to secure Community Protection Zones and left workers in lower-priority backcountry areas.


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The 7-point Plan for Protecting Communities

To secure the perimeter around the Community Protection Zones, the Sierra Club is releasing a seven-part plan modeled on research by Forest Service fire scientists. We are calling on the Bush Administration and the Forest Service to adopt it as a blueprint for the next five years.


Do the most important work first. Make protecting communities from fires the Forest Service's Number One Priority. Reduce fuels in the Community Protection Zone-the first 500 yards out from buildings.


Provide meaningful funding. This program should be a minimum of five years and funded at $2 billion a year to go directly to fireproofing homes and removing hazardous fuels in the Community Protection Zones. This funding should be secure so the Forest Service bureaucracy cannot shift it to other activities.


Match personnel to work. Shift Forest Service personnel skilled in preparing brush clearing and thinning projects away from backcountry, low-priority areas to Ranger Districts near the Community Protection Zones.


Immediately carry out the vast majority of fuel reduction projects in Community Protection Zones that raise no significant environmental issues. Work together with communities and environmentalists to plan fuel reduction activities that may involve critical wildlife habitat.


Restore fire's natural role. Prescribed burns can help to reduce fuel buildup and restore healthy forest habitats. Every dollar spent on prescribed burning saves seven dollars on fighting large fires later. Restore the natural role played by small fires that periodically sweep across the forest floor, add nutrients to the soil, clear out brush and trigger trees to release new seeds.


Protect our ancient and wild forests from logging and logging roads. Forest Service studies show that 80 percent of fires in western forests start in areas with roads. Focusing around the Community Protection Zones will produce quicker results and less controversy.


Stop the attack on forest protection safeguards. Ensure full public participation in decision-making in National Forest management as the best way to deter bad logging practices that increase fire risk



Restore fire's natural role. Prescribed burns can help to reduce fuel buildup and restore healthy forest habitats. Every dollar spent on prescribed burning saves seven dollars on fighting large fires later. Restore the natural role played by small fires that periodically sweep across the forest floor, add nutrients to the soil, clear out brush and trigger trees to release new seeds.

Like the forest service has not tryed to do this type of work!!
but these Enviro-people won't let them do it!!!
Here thay are pointing there green finger at the Forest service when most of the fire problems are due to law suites stoping the forest service from doing just what thay are posting on there web site.

Every dollar spent on prescribed burning saves seven dollars
on fighting large fires later.

YEAH! But the law suites cost tens of thousands of $ to get the OK!!! from the Enviros to do any work > SO tell me where is the savings in this: Serria club

Jerry

80% of the fires start near roads?

What kind of dumb ass fact is that?

So if we eliminate all the roads there won't be any fires?

YOu morons :flipoff2: the roads are all over the damn forrest so the forrest service can get to right away access to private lands ,power lines crossing millions of acres of blm land and to control growth and do those burns you keep stopping them from doing.

Geez let just leave the fucking forrest and all the open alone and no one set foot on it,no animals for grazing, no forrest service to control fires , no power line companies so we have when lightning strikes a power pole and knocks it down shutting off power to millions of homes. Lets just do a land lock nobody goes near the forrest or blm land say for 5 years . Then after the all the trees and shrubs burn down and landslides cause millions of $ in damage from erosion caused by mountain side not holding together any more. Then the Sierra Club can say "see we told ya to take of the forrest and you didnt ,look what happened". They don't want a middle ground ,they don't want it any way but thier way ,so I got a great idea lets give the Sierra Club and the Center For Bio-Diversity the job,hand them a 3 billion dollar budget and say here protect the land ,the trees and all the surrounding communities,oh and make sure no animal is harmed in any way.
Oh and if you don't do it perfectly,we are going to take you to court every week for a $million for every time someone comes near a sucker fish , or a milkweed plant . And don't you dare let any of those trees burn,they are houising for wild life,what are you some kinda commie ,animals need homes too.

Geez These Organizations have gooten to big for thier own good,i were a judge i would throw them out of court and say go home and volunteer to help you moron stop complaining!

MY 2 fucking Amercan ,son of a WWII Veteran off road driving ,camping fishing ,hiking coomon sense!!!!!!!!!11