Get used to fires like the one that devastated Los Alamos, N.M. More fires are virtually certain under present federal land management programs.
Although our forests are beautiful, they are also vast energy storehouses. In the northwest, decomposition is slow, and as forests age, fuel builds until all that energy eventually releases. In managed, multiple-use forests, we use some of the biomass for wood products or forage. In unmanaged forests and wilderness, the release agent is fire. Prescribed fire is a valuable tool, but it requires great care, resources and experience. Today logging and grazing are largely gone from our national forests; with these programs went most of our experienced firefighters and equipment. Downsizing has left agencies with few qualified fire people and little response capability. We busily obliterate roads that could help us manage and suppress fires.
The stage for tragedy is set. All we need to generate a fiery disaster like Los Alamos in our back yards are a dry summer, wind and a hot lightening storm.
