From
the Westerner -
By Stephen L. Wilmeth - From the news this week, it was clear that Arizona is on its own to resolve the issues that are ravaging its resources and decimating its civil union. Its border is the most dangerous border in the world, and two of the fires burning in the state are the first and third largest fires in state history. One of those fires, the Horseshoe II Complex in southeast Arizona in the Chiricahua Mountains, was likely started by illegal aliens. The common theme of the debacle is the fact citizens of Arizona have little private dominion. Government controls the state. It controls their lives. Government, in one form or another, owns 85% of the state. Today, the logging enterprises of the greater Southwest are almost a thing of the past. When asked what caused the Wallow Fire, the Forest Service indicated an unattended campfire. The fact is the fire danger in Arizona and across the West is the result of the ongoing and cumulative effect of massive fuel buildup. Fire has been suppressed and historic private enterprises that effectively reduce and remove dangerous fuel supplies have been vilified, suppressed, reduced, and evicted from federal lands. The total elimination of grazing with complexity (sheep and goats), the dramatic and systematic reduction of cattle grazing, and the wholesale elimination of logging have consequences. When these methods of fuel reduction are reduced or eliminated in the face of natural fuel expansion, large fires will and do occur! Western states must find, elect, and field leaders who recognize the insanity that has been heaped upon our landscape and is being manifested in the scourge of Arizona. Something must give and it can no longer be the citizens and the communities that have been altered and debilitated by the federal actions that are destroying the very resources they are pledged to protect. The current events also remind us there is an overlooked value that should be added to the Declaration of Policy of the management of these lands. That value is the promise of national security on our borders. That value must take precedent over any and all values. Without it . . . failure is assured.
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Arizona’s Undeclared War: The Desperate Need for Market Driven Management
From the Westerner - By Stephen L. Wilmeth - From the news this week, it was clear that Arizona is on its own to resolve the issues that are ravaging its resources and decimating its civil union. Its border is the most dangerous border in the world, and two of the fires burning in the state are the first and third largest fires in state history. One of those fires, the Horseshoe II Complex in southeast Arizona in the Chiricahua Mountains, was likely started by illegal aliens. The common theme of the debacle is the fact citizens of Arizona have little private dominion. Government controls the state. It controls their lives. Government, in one form or another, owns 85% of the state. Today, the logging enterprises of the greater Southwest are almost a thing of the past. When asked what caused the Wallow Fire, the Forest Service indicated an unattended campfire. The fact is the fire danger in Arizona and across the West is the result of the ongoing and cumulative effect of massive fuel buildup. Fire has been suppressed and historic private enterprises that effectively reduce and remove dangerous fuel supplies have been vilified, suppressed, reduced, and evicted from federal lands. The total elimination of grazing with complexity (sheep and goats), the dramatic and systematic reduction of cattle grazing, and the wholesale elimination of logging have consequences. When these methods of fuel reduction are reduced or eliminated in the face of natural fuel expansion, large fires will and do occur! Western states must find, elect, and field leaders who recognize the insanity that has been heaped upon our landscape and is being manifested in the scourge of Arizona. Something must give and it can no longer be the citizens and the communities that have been altered and debilitated by the federal actions that are destroying the very resources they are pledged to protect. The current events also remind us there is an overlooked value that should be added to the Declaration of Policy of the management of these lands. That value is the promise of national security on our borders. That value must take precedent over any and all values. Without it . . . failure is assured. Read more
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