The next president should appoint to people review policies of the BLM and U.S. Forest Service and programs wit in the Department of Agriculture and Interior Department. For some of you, BLM stands for Bureau of Land Management, not Black Lives Matter. Much of the land owned in the western United States is owned by the federal government. No more land should be turned over to the federal government, because they can’t manage it.
BLM (Department of the Interior) and U.S. Forest Service ( Department of Agriculture) policies have allowed fuel to build for range and forest fires. Drought and lightening can’t be stopped but wind turbines are drying agents and bird killers.
Livestock can keep fire fuel from building, and new growth start. There is no gain for a rancher if they over graze. Part of the grazing fee is for fencing in certain areas and water. These people are on the front lines in the case of a lightning strike. The ranchers are not terrorist if a fire gets away and burns a relative few acres.
Some old growth timber needs to be cut to make way for new growth. Diseased trees need to be replaced, otherwise a fire hazard. Clear cutting is the best answer in some areas. Stumps and other debris has to be cleaned up. Fire salvage can’t take years accomplish, or the wood will be destroyed by insects. Fires can destroy fishing and salmon spawning beds.
For many years the national was a main force in fighting the fires, but now they are part of our regular military. George W. Bush took time to fly over the forest fires during his administration. Some of the problems originated years ago, but some came with the environmental push of Carter and Clinton.
The EPA blew a dam that was a holding pond for an old mine. The blowing of this dam caused major pollution in western Colorado and Utah.
The Department of Interior has control of any mining on federal lands, and some restrictions on private lands. In many cases is the BLM and EPA acting in unison. Controlling the minerals, controls energy and manufacturing. Silver and gold mines have a wide impact. We need to be mineral independent as much as possible.
This federal land is fly-over- country with fewer people to impact the election. Farming and ranching have a lot of cost and risk. Many of the farms are going corporate because of the cost, including equipment cost. Experience and education, plus funding is needed to run a farm large enough to create an income. There can be no special groups of people for general funding.
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