Thursday, June 28, 2007

Effort is ongoing for solutions to fight wildfires

By: Bruce Kranz

My deepest heartfelt sorrow goes out to those who have lost their homes, their memories and much of their lives to the Angora fire. My prayers are with not only those who have been affected, but with the firefighters on the front lines, so that they will be protected from harm and quickly gain control of this fire.

We all have been fearful of such an event occurring for years, knowing it was only a matter of time before a catastrophic wildfire rips through the Sierra Nevada. On Sunday, all of our worst fears came true.

We now hope that additional loss is minimized and that the affected communities can quickly recover. Unfortunately, it will be much longer before the burned forest can recover.

This fire could have just as easily been in the Nevada or Placer County portions of Lake Tahoe. Wildfire pays no notice to a state line or a county line. That is why Placer County has been working to reduce the threat of wildfire by reducing the fuels and encouraging defensible space throughout the region. We have made progress with the chipper program, lessening open burning of brush and encouraging practices that maintain healthy forests. Good progress has been made; however, it is apparent that we need to take a much more aggressive approach to dealing with fuel load reduction.

Both Sen. Dianne Feinstein's and U.S. Rep. John Doolittle's leadership and support for fire prevention methods, fuels reduction and healthy forests in Tahoe have been a driving force in our attempts to advert wildfires.

I am grateful to our friends in Nevada: Sen. Reid, Sen. Ensign, and Gov. Gibbons, for the consideration of the Southern Nevada Public Lands Management Act funds which would assist with fuels reduction and forest restoration in the entire Tahoe Basin.

Unfortunately, we must do more. The events of the last few days have strengthened my resolve to continue working aggressively for solutions to fight catastrophic wildfire.

In my district alone, 80 percent of the land is forest. I remain committed to do all we can to keep the public safe, homes secure and maintain the beauty of the Sierra Nevada, from the foothills to Lake Tahoe safe for this and future generations.

Placer County Supervisor Bruce Kranz represents the 5th District, which stretches from north Auburn to Lake Tahoe.