MY TURN: Fire disasters waiting to happen

Re: “Protecting Idaho’s forests and communities” by Sen. Jim Risch, published Aug. 7 in The Press.

In this article, Sen. Risch states that ¾ of the 21 million acres of forestland in Idaho are managed by the U.S. Forest Service. He then discusses all the efforts and partnerships necessary to manage this forestland.

It is important to understand that this article gives an optimistic picture of what is actually happening (or not happening). If a person wants to see the reality of our national forest lands, head east on Lancaster Road to the English Point Recreation Area, 200 acres of land that are managed by the U.S. Forest Service. As you observe the land, you will see the widespread diseased and dead fallen and standing trees. It is a prime area for a potentially devastating forest fire.

I am aware that the local U.S. Forest Service district has a 5-year plan to clean up English Point and improve the trails and parking lot, and in this plan they acknowledge the extreme fire danger. Earlier this year they appeared to be off to a good start by burning dozens of large piles of slash, but I have not seen any progress since. My concern is that this plan, already years overdue, will get sidelined and ignored like so many others, unless pressure is exerted on the Forest Service to finish what they start.

In the Aug. 7 article, Sen. Risch refers to the severe impact of catastrophic forest fires and he is correct. A fire in the English Point area would quickly spread to the private land and the hundreds of homes that are in the neighborhoods along the northwestern shores of Hayden Lake.

Over the years, I have tried in many ways to bring attention to the despicable condition of the English Point forest. Most recently, I met with an aide to Rep. Russ Fulcher at English Point. He promised to look into it, but I have had no follow up. The interesting question I have for our congressmen is that if they can’t manage obvious problems right in their backyard, how can we trust them to manage other major issues that are not so obvious to the average taxpayer.

William Tarnasky is Hayden resident.