Tuesday, July 3, 2007 11:06 PM PDT

Promote biomass program to reduce wildfire fuel

By: Jim Ruffalo

Lighting the fuse on the notebook while thanking all of those troops - past and present - who made this day possible. ...

Another set of heartfelt thanks goes out to the firefighters, most of whom have already spent more time than they should have in battling mostly man-made blazes throughout the foothills. Foremost among those fires was the Angora blaze that will be polluting Lake Tahoe for years.

Funny thing is, that fire may have been touched off by an idiot who unthinkingly started a campfire in that area, then compounded his stupidity by leaving it unattended. But add to that clown's sins, those collectively gathered by the stupidos who decided that pine needles and other forest-floor debris were a necessary - and legally protected - part of the landscape and couldn't be eradicated without special dispensation from envioros who really should have known better.

Makes one wonder just how many more homes need to be reduced to cinders before the biomass program becomes a reality.

For the uninitiated, contact Rocklin City Councilman Brett Storey, who also doubles as the county's honcho for the Wildfire Protection/Biomass Program.

A few weeks ago, Storey and 5th District Supervisor Bruce Kranz visited the Meddlers and - as tactfully as possible - described the bureaucratic bungling and governmental jigsaw puzzle they experienced in trying to get a biomass program up and running.

To put it simply, biomass seeks to reduce the lower rungs of the insidious fuel ladders that not only keep wild lands fires going, but actually increase the chances of experiencing such conflagrations at a nearly regular rate.

And as an added bonus with biomass, those fuels are then utilized to produce power.

My description obviously is much more simplistic than the presentation Storey makes to various service clubs and the like, but the concept is correct.

Kranz and Storey have spent more than a year officially - and much longer than that in unofficial capacities - trying to make our movers and shakers understand the idea. However, there are still those in power in the foothills who equate anything that improves forest health and fire safety with some sort of invitation for growth.

Even if that canard was true, it should be meaningless. On the other hand, there's no doubt in this humble scribe's mind that just as soon as a couple of firefighters get killed in a foothills wild lands blaze, those elected and appointed leaders will waste absolutely no time in running to the front of the biomass parade in order to provide an image of leadership. ...

Add Kranz: Speaking of Kranz, as we just were, he raised some interesting points in a recent interview he had with the Journal's Gus Thomson. The supe told Gus of the trials and tribulations he plans on going through in finding a replacement for the sacked Planning Commissioner Michelle Ollar-Burris.

Kranz expanded those points after a recent Board of Supervisors meeting, saying that he'll not accept any applications from current real estate brokers, developers or title company folks. And, yes, he's fully aware of the downside of that fiat.

"One problem is that land-use matters have become increasingly sophisticated, what with policies, rules and regulations being added or changed regularly," he said, adding that in order to get somebody with some necessary expertise to match the need to keep pace, the tendency in the past was to get people who worked with developers, in real estate or with title companies to become commissioners.

"But in light of recent developments, it just doesn't look right to keep doing it that way," he said.

Kranz said he's already received applications from "highly-qualified" people in those areas, but will not consider them.

However, he will consider "people with municipal advisory commission backgrounds, or from chambers of commerce, and will also look at people retired from the real estate or title company world, although in no way will I consider an application from somebody who has current business in front of the Planning Commission." ...

Jim Ruffalo appears Wednesdays and Sundays in the Journal. His e-mail address is jmruffalo@yahoo.com.