What Matters to You – When Poor Policy Creates a Hazardous Reality

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Dry wood burns hotter and faster than wet wood. More wood makes a more significant fire than one with less wood. If you put your combustible things too close to a big fire, they will also get burnt. Things live, things die, and the lifespans of some things are longer than others, even amongst types of living things, plants, trees, animals, wild and tame, big and small. These are just known common sense truths. Weather changes, heck, we have four seasons here in our corner of the world. Some may argue 2… winter and road construction season, but most would agree on 4, with two major ones. Summer and Winter. Some winters are warmer than others, and some summers are colder. As most know, precipitation varies as well.

Forest management – an issue that will not go away

So why have we, over the last several years, thrown common sense to the wind and thought that because we changed some words on paper, if we changed policy, mother nature and common sense would change because we hairless monkeys put pen to paper? Is it ignorance, arrogance, or both? We are nothing on the time scale of the planet, and we are at the top of the food chain, but nothing in the face of nature. All the king’s horses, and all the king’s men as it were…

Over the last ten years, many people have been ringing the warning bell regarding forest management. This is not just an Alberta thing. It’s a western state and western province thing, but frankly, it’s a forested country thing. Recently, I attended a session in Oregon on the policies and protocols they and several western states have been using to deal with similar challenges.

We need to modernize how we manage our forests, not just with fancy new gear, computers, and all of the technology, but with common sense. Sometimes, what is old is new again. For example, if an infestation of beetles kills forests for miles around the towns, perhaps that material should be managed. This would include thinning removal of the dead trees at a reasonable distance so that when Mother Nature decides to clean it up…our towns are protected.

The layers of authority and the policies between the authorities need to consider one thing. That there is only one taxpayer, and there is only one fire. Neither the taxpayer will be saved by layers of red tape, inaction, or debate, nor will the fire be prevented by procrastination and ignoring the blatantly obvious.

Last, but not in the least

My hope for this year’s fire season is that we will not repeat mistakes, that we will learn, that politics will get parked, that the common sense items, and that the low-hanging fruit will be immediately implemented.

We can no longer stick our heads in the sand while the Green Gremlin takes the stage and tells us all about their vision because Mother Nature isn’t listening, and either we clean up this mess, or she will!

Take care and I’ll continue to care about “what matters to you”!

Sincerely,

Shane Getson