BAYVIEW: Let's fireproof town

The frenzied cry to log Farragut State Park is at a fever pitch. I fear precious Fire Smart dollars that should be used to fireproof the town of Bayview will instead be used to continue tree farming Farragut, creating a real danger to our town.

Waist high dry grass and tall brush in overly thinned forests is turning Farragut into one big fuse waiting to be lit by lightning or accident. And there will be no time to stop it. The wholly inadequate, poorly maintained fire break around town won’t do it. Areas in Farragut that were logged in the past are rapidly returning to thick young fir you can’t even walk through. Will it be cut? No, because there are no merchantable logs to be taken.

Cool shaded forests that may catch fire naturally three times a century are being converted to fire prone landscapes that burn every few years. When the first explorers traveled around Lake Pend Oreille they had to remove the packs from their horse to fit between the centuries old trees packed together in lush forests.

We must use precious federal funds to help residents remove the fir and pine trees from town then build and maintain a real fire break. Hire people to clean out the tons of sticks and needles from Bayview’s eye before we continue to defile the national treasure that is Farragut State Park.

Can common sense stop the mob? Not when there is Uncle Sam’s money to be wasted.

MIKE LEE

Bayview