Slash and Burn. San Diego County's twisted approach to fire risk reduction

Rather than dealing comprehensively with wildfire risk and adequately funding a regional fire department, San Diego County has decided to blame nature. Their strategy is to masticate, burn, and graze protected wildland areas to "remove" native vegetation. This audio slide show is a summary of a 2009 hearing in San Diego where public officials ignored scientific and community opposition by forwarding an environmentally destructive vegetation "management" report to the County's Board of Supervisors.

Category:

Nonprofits & Activism

Tags:

• chaparral
• nature
• Richard Halsey
• San Diego
• wildfires
• clearance
• fire safety
• San Diego County
• ecology
• MSCP

[naturegirllori]

Some great comments here, and I agree. What can we do to halp?

[chaparralian]

The best thing to do right now is to write an email to every San Diego County Supervisor and staff member involved (you can write one and send it to the bunch). We can provide the email addresses and suggested comments. Please go to the California Chaparral Institute's webpage and send us an email. We'll send you back all the details. You can also find the necessary information to bring you up to date on it all by going to our website's "SD County Slash and Burn" page.

[BodhiSeeker]

The great problem with San Diego is that it is essentially owned by the big Developers. We live in a DESERT. There are too many people here. Period. Yes, it's wonderful for the greed, rich bastards who are ONLY interested in giant McMansions, collecting trophy wives and driving Porsches. We CANNOT live this way anymore. Period.

DON'T APPROVE BUILDING HOMES IN FIRE PRONE AREAS!

[Birddoctor1]

The planning commission voted this way because--to right wing political value systems--nature is the enemy. The more nature you can kill, the better. The sooner everything is paved over with cement the better, as far as these people are concerned. They will never make decisions based on doing the right thing, but will always vote for positions which hasten the demise of life on earth.

[85ranger10]

I live all the way in Ohio, and I can't believe how shortsighted the SD county gvt. is. Ugh, it's like the only thing their eyes see is money and economics. It's amazing how so many humans have become blinded to their world.

[yunleilei]

Finally, while I agree with providing more funding for equipment, tools, vehicles, training, & personnel, we cannot place sole responsibility for wildfire protection on the shoulders of the fire department. We need to recognize that NO ONE can stop a wind-driven wildfire, no matter how much we throw at it; & citizens need to take personal responsibility for preparing their property, having evacuation plans, & providing adequate, educated, & trained community defense when choosing to stay behind.

[yunleilei]

The volunteers are citizens, members of their communities, with jobs and families and lives, who take & make time to train to respond to the same things that paid firefighters do. The primary differences between them and the paid folks are: 1) they do it ON TOP OF the jobs they already have, 2) they're not compensated for it, 3) they have paltry budgets with which to make happen the same things paid departments have funds for, and 4) they get treated like "lessers" because they're "volunteers."

[yunleilei]

The County has been finding over the last year or so that this County Fire Authority is much more expensive than they had originally planned. You can't staff the backcountry with paid firefighters. It's simply too expensive. This is why you use the volunteers - and provide them with the same training and resources that you provide to the paid departments.

[yunleilei]

Further, California seems to have this backwater notion that "volunteer" means "untrained, unexperienced, and no clue what they're doing." 75%-90% of fire departments in the U.S. are volunteer. Most places simply don't have the funds to support paid departments. Paid departments are a luxury. Somehow, somewhere along the way was developed this elitist attitude that only paid fire departments are real departments. The fact is that they ALL do the same job - the only difference is some get paid.

[yunleilei]

I beg to differ about the volunteer departments. It is the backcountry volunteer departments that have defended the rural areas time and again, because the County hasn't had the money to fund staffing those areas. The seeming "ineffectiveness" needs to be considered within the context of the massive, wind-driven fires against which these men and women fight. Creating a County Fire Authority is a positive step, but the lack of one isn't the reason we can't stop massive fires.

[chaparralian]

I couldn't agree more! Unfortunately, the San Diego County Board of Supervisors doesn't understand that.

[sbar20]

No, this is not true. There are 2000 uniformed police officers and 1000 firefighter for SD City. San Diego Sheriffs receive many grants making them second to none. San Diego County is unprepared for major fires, because it does not have an County Department, unlike LA, OC and all other counties in CA. It relies on volunteer departments to protect the county, which has been not effective in the past. Spend more money on Firefighters, create a Paid Department to defend against the dangers CA fires

[adonian]

at least you corrected the misspelling, Just my opinion, but when I see 3 or 4 cars making 1 pullover traffic violation then there are too many police (this is Chula Vista by the way not San Diego).

I guess my generalized statement about less police was misunderstood. San Diego (the city) could use more officers, true.

I was hired as SDPD, but I was going to be placed in the Barrio on graveyard shift, sorry not gonna die in my first week :)

Seriously, they could afford more if you read my last.

[Aabicus]

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