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When a wildland fire is nature's best friend
For years, the Forest Service suppressed forest fires, but that just created more problems. Fires that don't threaten people and property can create habitat for wildlife, regenerate plants and trees, clear out brush, and provide ecosystem building blocks such as moisture and sunshine by opening the forest canopy and returning nutrients to the soil.
Let's encourage the Forest Service in its effort to do forest fighting the right way.
Click here to see a slideshow about the Trapper Ridge fire and how that fire can regenerate the ecosystem.
Tell me more
| Sample Letter for Campaign |
Subject: Nature's Housekeeper
Dear [ Decision Maker ] ,
People never hesitate to criticize the government when it makes a mistake - so it's only fair to commend it when it does something good. This is why I wanted to thank you and everyone at the Forest Service for the new way you're approaching wildfires.
Your agency is starting to get it right by increasing your practice of allowing certain kinds of fires to perform their natural role in the landscape. I know the Forest Service and other agencies do and always will suppress fires that threaten people and property, and I agree that should always remain the policy.
But a lot of fires don't fall into that category. Some fires are actually good for the environment. Your own Smokey Bear even calls them "Nature's Housekeeper." Fires that don't threaten people and property create habitat for wildlife, regenerate plants and trees, clear out brush, and provide ecosystem building blocks such as moisture and sunshine by opening the forest canopy and returning nutrients to the soil.
Allowing non-threatening fires to give nature a boost also makes fiscal sense. I know the percentage of the Forest Service budget alone that is spent on fire management has skyrocketed from 13 percent in 2001 to 45 percent in 2008. If you are forced to spend ever-increasing portions of your budget suppressing every fire, the expense will come at an unacceptable cost - your agency losing its ability to do the kinds of things we all love, such as providing recreational opportunities for people and managing habitat for wildlife.
I know your agency is always in a tough spot during fire season, but I did want to take a moment to let you know that I am one of the great many people who support your increasing use of wildfires as "Nature's Housekeeper."
Signed by:
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