Burn for safety
San Francisco Chronicle
Letters to the Editor
August 26, 2007
Editor - It is a rare day indeed that I would expect to agree with Craig Thomas (executive director of the conservation group Sierra Forest Legacy). However, his suggestion ("Unburned brush piles a concern", Sept. 23) that the Air Resources Board ease up on prescribed burning regulations is right on target.
While I do not dispute the notion that wood smoke is bad for people, the current regulatory standards attempt to hold wood smoke pollution below its natural level. Such an effort to regulate nature is a losing proposition, and a major contributing factor in the current, wildfire crisis throughout the West. Without substantial increases in prescribed burning of both landscapes and piles, our forest ecosystems will soon suffer irreversible damage.
JOHN NICOLES
Registered Professional Forester
Oakland, CA