Submitted by: W.G.E.N.
Every time I read or hear of some major forest fire my thoughts go back to that time in Washington State when THE SPOTTED OWL was the beginning of wild fires in our forests here. No, the Owl didn't strike the match but this fiasco caused the timber companies to no longer be able to MANAGE the forests as they had been doing because they might disturb an owl. Instead of keeping the forests CLEAN and keep the logging roads open they had to back off and the fires then had lots of FUEL and no roads to get in to fight them. All this to protect the SPOTTED OWL. The entire way to manage forests then changed - in more than just Washington State. Just like our waterways became little more than flowing sewers due to the ENVIRONMENTALISTS. What it all says to me is that the HUMAN lives lost in these fires have no meaning if clean forests mean upsetting a few owls. The lives of OWLS are far more important than Human lives. Tell that to the families who lost loved ones.
