Forest Service chief calls for fires to be extinguished ASAP. Fire scientists have concerns

[Pivo]

Tom Schultz, the head of the U.S. Forest Service, is calling for wildfires to be extinguished “as swiftly as possible this season.” But aggressive suppression policies are widely believed to be one of the key culprits in the current wildfire crisis.

https://www.ksut.org/2025-06-02/forest- ... om-schultz

[DixieFlyer]

@Pivo
from what I have read Schultz is a former timber industry executive and lobbyist, which makes me wonder if he might have a biased view of things

[Jim]

There was something in Project 2025 about this. I read it back in the winter. Not sure if the EO got signed, but it was to direct the FS to pretend it was 1960 and put everything out, manage strictly with the notion that final harvesting and thinning is the only way, and perpetuate the backward and dysfunctional failed policies from the last century that were only ever really successful because there had been a long history of low intensity fire. We'll see what happens with the end of the bromance in the WH, but in less than 4 years the order will reverse. Maybe sooner, depending on who the congress fears more.

Nothing strikes me more these days than the magical thinking from the extremes of the political spectrum. This being an example.

[big_load]

"As swiftly as possible" may not be all that fast, depending on funding and leadership problems.

[SpiderLegs]

Guess it makes sense why the Cody fire was as short lived as it was. They put that out swiftly, it had the potential to take down half of the Catalinas like the Bighorn fire did a few years ago. I saw out of state reinforcements driving in the second day of the fire when it was still pretty small.

[Jim]

@SpiderLegs
Based on the winds, that was more of a threat to towns to the north and east. I guess, it could have worked its way back south to the summit, but that would have been upslope against the prevailing wind direction. I think it was pretty far out from the main body of the range.

If it had been a Bighorn repeat, that would have been within the typical fire regime for the range, and fuel loads are still rather low after only 4 to 5 years of growth. It may not have been able to carry up some of the slopes. Near and on the upper elevations it would have functioned as a maintenance burn, and perhaps in areas with sufficient herbaceous growth, pushed the cover more towards grasses and forbs over the shrubs. There wasn't any new conifer regeneration last time I was up there. It basically would have been beneficial, even if city people would cry about it.

[chumley]

“Americans expect the Forest Service to always prioritize saving lives and property.

This statement should be amended to say "private property."

And that's the biggest problem with the FS fire budget. When did it become expected that the FS should primarily focus on the private land that is adjacent to the public land? The private landowners who purchased property should be responsible for protecting THEIR assets THEMSELVES. Just like people who own property on the beach in Florida are responsible for hurricane preparedness or people who build on a flood plain need to prepare for the inevitable flood. The government should do their best to inform people of the risks and provide forecasts when a natural event is imminent and recommend evacuation routes.

The FS uniquely spends money to do something that it shouldn't be responsible for. If the FS prioritized firefighter safety and saving forest service land, they would have the budget to do that task much more effectively. And the result might actually be less risk for the adjacent private property owners to face on their own.

[RedRoxx44]

At one of the town halls on cody one of the homeowners wanted to know if she could also clear a small amount of footage from the edge of her property into the forest. I think it was 20-30 feet past her property line. One of the officials said they would see about a special dispensation for that. I thought " oh, boy".

[trekkin_gecko]

@RedRoxx44
that would fall under "better to ask for forgiveness than permission"