Who or What Is to Blame for the California Wildfires?

If you ask one of California's congresswomen, Representative Linda Sanchez, it's global warming. She appeared on MSNBC's "Andrea Mitchell Reports" on September 1st and said the wildfires have increased "in magnitude" over the years.

"Yeah, it’s really interesting because I'm a native Californian, born and raised here and periodically we would have fought wildfires when I was younger, but nothing of the magnitude that we’ve seen in the last several years," Sanchez said. "And, obviously, a big contributing factor to that is that we’re in drought condition. We don’t, we aren’t receiving the amount of rainfall that we should or, quite frankly, that in years past we did." (1)

Sanchez blamed the lack of rainfall on changing weather patterns due to global warming. But let's look at some other possibilities.

Partly to blame is the federal government. Months before the huge blaze erupted, the U.S. Forest Service obtained permits to burn away the undergrowth and brush on more than 1,700 acres of the Angeles National Forest. But just 193 acres had been cleared by the time the fire broke out, Forest Service resource officer Steve Bear said (2).

Government firefighters set thousands of blazes each year to reduce the wildfire risk in overgrown forests and grasslands around the nation. Prescribed burns can also be used to improve overall forest health and increase forage for wildlife.

Slightly more at fault are the people who are building in the areas that are prone to wildfires. That and more restrictive environmental laws have hampered government efforts to make controlled burns.

But the most likely culprit is environmental whackos, who have been keeping the government from clearing underbrush. The brush has been allowed to build up for the past 40 years. I think that is long enough to make it seem to Representative Sanchez that it's getting worse.

"This brush was ready to explode," said Los Angeles County Supervisor Mike Antonovich, whose district overlaps the forest. "The environmentalists have gone to the extreme to prevent controlled burns, and as a result we have this catastrophe today."

"Special interest groups that don't want them to do it have appeals and litigation through the courts to stall or stop any project they wish. Consequently, the Forest Service is not able to put a dent in the problem," said Steve Brink, a vice president with the California Forestry Association.



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1. Poor, Jeff (2009, September 1). "Democratic Congresswoman Blames 'Global Warming' for California Wildfires". Business and Media Institute.
Retrieved September 3, 2009, from Business and Media Institute

2. Blood, Michael (2009, September 2). "Feds Didn't Clear Brush in Wildfire Area". The Associated Press.
Retrieved September 3, 2009, from The Associated Press