Environmentalists Blamed for Wildfire Disaster
Jason Pierce, CNSNews.com
Tuesday, June 25, 2002
As the worst wildfire in Arizona history looks ready to consume the town of Show Low, Gov. Jane Hull is blaming poor forest management for the disaster.
"I know this country, and I have never seen anything like this fire," Hull said Sunday. "Mother Nature is saying to Arizona, to the West, that we have to clean up these forests. I hope the message gets across that we need to clean these forests."
Forests in Arizona, Colorado and other western states are full of dead wood and underbrush, the result of policies that dictate the immediate suppression of all forest fires. Instead of burning periodically, the underbrush has accumulated to the point where firefighters are helpless to stop the flames.
Some critics blame environmentalists for blocking timber harvests. More fuel equals more flames.
In Arizona, where two wildfires have now merged, some 322,000 acres have burned since last Tuesday, and about 180 homes have been destroyed. Eight thousand people in Show Low have fled their homes. As of Monday morning, heavy ash fell on the town, where the first house to burn was owned by a firefighter, wire services reported.
Copyright CNSNews.com
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