This could be the answer to Californians’ fire concerns

FRESNO COUNTY, Calif. (KSEE/KGPE) – The U.S. Forest Service is now accepting comments on a proposed rescission that could be the answer to Californians’ fire concerns.

If passed, the decision would open up forest lands, potentially reducing both the fuel load and firefighter response times.

The current 2001 Roadless Area Conservation Rule establishes prohibitions on new road construction, reconstruction, and timber harvesting on nearly 45 million acres of national forests and grasslands, including 4,416,000 acres in California.

In the Sierra National Forest, half of the 172,000 acres of the Inventoried Roadless Area (IRA) do not allow road construction and reconstruction – a concern that has been on the minds of many as the Garnet Fire rages through the Sierra.

In fact, a petition calling for the removal of the Sierra National Forest’s Forest Supervisor, Dean Gould, states that “Overgrown roads delay firefighting response times, putting lives and homes in danger.”

In addition to opening up roads and reducing response times, the rescission would also remove limits on logging, opening up the opportunity for thinner forests.

“With the [current] lack of logging and grazing, [forests] are completely overgrown, overpopulated with trees and vegetation to the point where a beautiful forest is now a disgusting overgrown eyesore with dead trees everywhere and becoming potential disasters waiting to happen! Log it, graze it, or watch it burn!” one of the petition’s comments read.

Comments on the proposed rescission will be accepted until Friday, Sept. 19. Comments can be submitted electronically here. Hardcopy letters can be submitted by mail to the Director, Ecosystem Management Coordination, 201 14th Street SW, Mailstop 1108, Washington, DC 20250-1124.