Mike Enzi: “Finally, in the area of forest fires and forest fire policy, Mr. H.B. Davis writes the letter to the editor where he…”

“Finally, in the area of forest fires and forest fire policy, Mr. H.B. Davis writes the letter to the editor where he explains in some detail how we are failing on our forests. Well, the West is again being managed by nature because a few people block the true management of our replenishable environment. Ignorance has again led us to ashes. Some of the very forests that have been 'protected' against harvesting for years, have this summer burned. To those who wanted their homes surrounded by the pristine (I'm sorry), do they look better in ashes? The pristine that we admire will never remain, for it changes by growing old, weak, and ravaged, by nature, not just man. We can help it by maintenance, with harvest, common sense use, and stewardship. Nature does it by random (and sometimes violent) ways but we (some) have the intelligence to do it selectively and sensibly unless our hands are tied. He goes on to explain how a sensible forest policy will allow us to enjoy the beauty of the forests rather than the devastation of forest fires, and even though forest fires help to rejuvenate forests, they do it in a very poor stewardship way.”