Wildfires: Why they're plaguing region

The science of forestry, practiced in France and Germany, was brought to America in the late 1800s. American forester Gifford Pinchot worked with President Teddy Roosevelt to create national forests on public domain in the West.

Pinchot, first chief of the Forest Service, placed foresters in national forests to regulate uncontrolled logging. These foresters successfully managed national forests under multiple-use policy until the early 1980s. At that time our forests were healthy and logging companies were under strict regulations in logging and harvesting.

Then in 1980, single-interest political environmental groups such as the Sierra Club and others started vilifying the forest management plan. The first attack was on "clear-cutting." Use of angled photos and misinformation led the public to believe that "clear-cutting" was an attack on the forest. Nothing was further from the truth.

Clear-cutting is a highly regulated form of harvest and re-seeding for the red fir. This tree, which grows in the 5,000 to 7,000 height mountains, needs special care for the seedlings and immature trees. The red fir, which is used as the main strength wood in house building, is harvested again under strict regulation and the tree harvested areas are cut in a bell shape for re-seeding. When the red fir is re-planted in the harvested area, the trees on the edge of the bell-shaped harvest area that were not harvested act as a barrier to protect the seedlings and immature trees from wind and other weather-related conditions.

Because the ill-informed public did not understand the care and regulations that go into harvesting, the public supported the political environmental groups. The red fir population declined as a result and housing costs went up. Just recently the estimate of the increase cost of housing is 600%.

The environmental groups also stopped the removal of unhealthy trees and thinning of the forests that previously kept the forests healthy. The forest without the maintenance built up excess brush, old dead trees and trees fighting over water. Enter the bark beetles.

There are four types of bark beetles that attack the coniferous trees in the western states. They are: Western Pine Beetle, Fir Engraver Beetle, Mountain Pine Beetle, Cedar and Cypress Bark Beetle.

Bark beetles have always been present and with proper land management and normal rainfall they are not a problem. The bark beetle places its larvae into the cambium layer (layer just under the bark) of the tree. The cambium layer is the layer of the tree where water is brought up from one part of the tree to all other parts of the tree for nutriment.

In normal years, the larvae drown in the water contained in the cambium. However, because of years of drought and the environmental groups' control of 55% of the public forest, more and more trees were fighting for water. Further, with these political groups refusing maintenance and harvesting of trees or "Don't touch my Tree," disaster struck. The California trees did not have enough water to drown the larvae. So the bark larvae ate their way through most of the cambium of the forest trees, thereby killing the trees. Once the water way of the tree is destroyed there is no way to repair the damage. The first sign of death is the top of the tree turning brown/gold.

Prior to the attack of the bark beetle, the Forest Service realized the danger and asked Congress for money to thin the forests of California, Oregon, and Washington state in 2012. I know the California Senators Boxer and Feinstein were lobbied not to vote for this by the environmental groups. So how did these senators vote? Did they vote for their constituents or did they take the favors from the lobbyists? Both California senators voted against the measure.

I don't know how the senators from Oregon, Merkley and Wyden, or from Washington state, Murray and Cantwell, voted. But the result was the measure did not go through and California, Washington, and Oregon are now faced with millions and millions of dead trees. Human lives and that of wildlife have been destroyed. Uncontrolled fires have destroyed communities and properties. And the fires are not over.

It will take at least a century to undo what these political environmental groups have destroyed through their arrogant actions. It is not if these forests will burn because of the dead trees, it is when. If you don't know your history, you don't know when you are being lied to.

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Terry Traub is a Hayden resident.