I can only address the California forest management argument detailed at length in the Sacramento Bee[1] from a systems theory perspective. The result elucidates but does not resolve the question.
I might begin by dispensing with Donald Trump’s malign nonsense: Trump blamed ‘radical environmentalists’ for apocalyptic California wildfires but, in fact, many environmentalists accept some thinning projects.[2] Trump, indeed, has said a few asinine things about California forest management,[3] exposing himself an ignorant, malicious ass who, on this topic, is best ignored. This dispute,[4] thankfully, is not about him.
Now, to our story: Once upon a time there was a forest ecosystem. This system had its own feedbacks that maintained it. American Indians include themselves[5] among those feedbacks but then we also have to wonder how the system functioned prior to their arrival. (Here, we also get into indigenous creation myths in which people think, despite considerable evidence of successive migrations, they were in these places from the beginning.)
Since then, humans have dramatically modified this ecosystem, sometimes minimally as American Indians did, sometimes with clearcuts like those that can often be seen a mere few feet through the woods that line U.S. Highway 101 in Oregon (in California, there seems to have been some effort to replant such areas), sometimes with less severe “thinning” projects, for lumber or with “control burns.” The ecosystem that now exists is not the ecosystem that existed once upon a time; a real question is just how much the feedbacks environmentalists like Chad Hanson rely on[6] continue to function as before. The opposing wildfire scientists’ claim seems to assume they operate not at all and therefore aggressive human action is needed to contain wildfire threat. Other factors, undiscussed here,[7] are Pacific Gas and Electric’s criminal negligence[8] and the climate crisis.
I can’t resolve this dispute. What I can say is that the ideal for the forests would likely have been that humans had never encountered them. Second best would likely have been that indigenous people, who lived in greater harmony with those forests, had themselves been left unmolested by western civilization.[9] But neither of these preferences coincides with the reality we have today. And that’s a tragedy.
- [1]Ryan Sabalow and Dale Kasler, “‘Self-serving garbage.’ Wildfire experts escalate fight over saving California forests,” Sacramento Bee, October 14, 2021, https://www.sacbee.com/news/california/fires/article254957722.html↩
- [2]Dale Kasler, “Fact Check: Trump administration blames ‘radical’ environmentalists as Camp Fire toll rises. Experts disagree,” Sacramento Bee, November 20, 2018, https://www.sacbee.com/news/california/fires/article221953750.html↩
- [3]Associated Press, “Finland’s president rakes memory for source of Trump remark,” November 18, 2018, https://apnews.com/article/donald-trump-ap-top-news-international-news-ca-state-wire-sauli-niinisto-3179a22c09714899aace1c8b6265e9c5; British Broadcasting Corporation, “California wildfires: Finland bemused by Trump raking comment,” November 19, 2018, https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-46256296; Cassie Dickman, “Firefighters call Trump tweet on California wildfires ‘reckless and insulting,’” Sacramento Bee, November 10, 2018, https://www.sacbee.com/news/state/california/fires/article221486490.html; Andrea Germanos, “California Wildfires Hit Grim Record Amid Trump’s Clueless Tweets,” Truthout, November 13, 2018, https://truthout.org/articles/california-wildfires-hit-grim-record-amid-trumps-clueless-tweets/; Matthew Hurteau, “What Trump gets wrong about wildfires, by a fire scientist,” Guardian, November 14, 2018, https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2018/nov/13/donald-trump-wildfires-science-forest-management; Peter Wade, “Wildfire Evacuees Not Impressed With Trump’s Rake Remarks During California Visit,” Rolling Stone, November 18, 2018, https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/politics-news/trump-tours-wildfire-757956/↩
- [4]Ryan Sabalow and Dale Kasler, “‘Self-serving garbage.’ Wildfire experts escalate fight over saving California forests,” Sacramento Bee, October 14, 2021, https://www.sacbee.com/news/california/fires/article254957722.html↩
- [5]Ryan Sabalow and Dale Kasler, “‘Self-serving garbage.’ Wildfire experts escalate fight over saving California forests,” Sacramento Bee, October 14, 2021, https://www.sacbee.com/news/california/fires/article254957722.html↩
- [6]Ryan Sabalow and Dale Kasler, “‘Self-serving garbage.’ Wildfire experts escalate fight over saving California forests,” Sacramento Bee, October 14, 2021, https://www.sacbee.com/news/california/fires/article254957722.html↩
- [7]Ryan Sabalow and Dale Kasler, “‘Self-serving garbage.’ Wildfire experts escalate fight over saving California forests,” Sacramento Bee, October 14, 2021, https://www.sacbee.com/news/california/fires/article254957722.html↩
- [8]Howard Blume, “PG&E reaches $13.5-billion settlement with victims of devastating California wildfires,” Los Angeles Times, December 6, 2019, https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2019-12-06/pge-settlement-fire-northern-california; Katherine Blunt, “Judge Orders PG&E to Respond to Journal Article,” Wall Street Journal, July 10, 2019, https://www.wsj.com/articles/judge-orders-pg-e-to-respond-to-journal-article-11562799414; Katherine Blunt, “PG&E to Plead Guilty to Involuntary Manslaughter Charges in Deadly California Wildfire,” Wall Street Journal, March 23, 2020, https://www.wsj.com/articles/pg-e-to-plead-guilty-to-involuntary-manslaughter-charges-in-deadly-california-wildfire-11584962649; Katherine Blunt and Russell Gold, “PG&E Knew for Years Its Lines Could Spark Wildfires, and Didn’t Fix Them,” Wall Street Journal, July 10, 2019, https://www.wsj.com/articles/pg-e-knew-for-years-its-lines-could-spark-wildfires-and-didnt-fix-them-11562768885; Peg Brickley, “PG&E Loses Challenge to Law Holding It Liable for Fire Damage,” Wall Street Journal, November 27, 2019, https://www.wsj.com/articles/pg-e-loses-challenge-to-law-holding-it-liable-for-fire-damage-11574910091; Russell Gold and Katherine Blunt, “PG&E Had Systemic Problems With Power Line Maintenance, California Probe Finds,” Wall Street Journal, December 2, 2019, https://www.wsj.com/articles/pg-e-had-systemic-problems-with-power-line-maintenance-california-probe-finds-11575338873; Richard Gonzales, “Federal Judge Imposes New Probation Terms On PG&E To Reduce Wildfire Risk,” National Public Radio, April 2, 2019, https://www.npr.org/2019/04/02/709248544/federal-judge-imposes-new-probation-terms-on-pg-e-to-reduce-wildfire-risk; Dale Kasler, “PG&E says its equipment may have caused a fourth California fire in the past week,” Sacramento Bee, October 30, 2019, https://www.sacbee.com/news/california/fires/article236841498.html; Dale Kasler, “PG&E makes deal to pay California wildfire victims. What it means for utility’s future,” Sacramento Bee, December 6, 2019, https://www.sacbee.com/news/california/fires/article238138009.html; Dale Kasler, “PG&E pleads guilty to manslaughter charges for Camp Fire, deadliest in California history,” Sacramento Bee, June 16, 2020, https://www.sacbee.com/news/california/fires/article243571597.html; Dale Kasler, “California investigators blame PG&E for massive 2019 Kincade Fire in wine country,” Sacramento Bee, July 16, 2020, https://www.sacbee.com/news/california/fires/article244283752.html; KPIX, “Federal Judge Calls PG&E ‘Recalcitrant Criminal,’ Delays New Probation Ruling,” May 28, 2020, https://sanfrancisco.cbslocal.com/2020/05/28/regulators-approve-pge-bankruptcy-plan-despite-safety-fears/; Ivan Penn, “PG&E Ordered to Pay $3.5 Million Fine for Causing Deadly Fire,” New York Times, June 18, 2020, https://www.nytimes.com/2020/06/18/business/energy-environment/pge-camp-fire-sentenced.html; Ivan Penn and Peter Eavis, “Report Detailing PG&E’s Failures Raises New Hurdles for Utility,” New York Times, December 3, 2019, https://www.nytimes.com/2019/12/03/business/energy-environment/pge-camp-fire-report.html; Randi Rossman and Will Schmitt, “Broken PG&E tower discovered near origin of Kincade fire on The Geysers geothermal power property,” Santa Rosa Press Democrat, October 25, 2019, https://www.pressdemocrat.com/news/10216601-181/kincade-fire-starts-inside-the; Joe Ryan and Mark Chediak, “PG&E stock craters after ruling Tubbs fire suit can proceed,” Santa Rosa Press-Democrat, August 19, 2019, https://www.pressdemocrat.com/business/9924652-181/pge-stock-craters-after-ruling; Joseph Serna and Taryn Luna, “PG&E power lines caused California’s deadliest fire, investigators conclude,” Los Angeles Times, May 15, 2019, https://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-paradise-camp-fire-cal-fire-20190515-story.html; Kanishka Singh, “PG&E failed to inspect transmission lines that caused deadly 2018 wilfdfire [sic]: state probe,” Reuters, December 3, 2019, https://www.reuters.com/article/us-california-wildfire-pg-e-us-idUSKBN1Y70N8; Hayley Smith, “PG&E charged with manslaughter in Shasta County fire that killed 4,” Los Angeles Times, September 24, 2021, https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2021-09-24/zogg-fire-charges; Reis Thebault, Kim Bellware, and Andrew Freedman, “High-voltage power line broke near origin of massive California fire that forced thousands of evacuations,” Washington Post, October 25, 2019, https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2019/10/24/fast-moving-wildfire-ignites-northern-california-wine-country-prompting-evacuations/↩
- [9]Max Oelschlaeger, The Idea of Wilderness (New Haven, CT: Yale University, 1991); Alice Outwater, Water: A Natural History (New York: Basic, 1996).↩