By Jim Anderson, Stevensville
Does anyone know or even care where “Smokey the Bear” went? (Did he die along with his forest friends and all the beautiful green trees!)
Who is responsible??
(These are questions I have and… repeating what I hear!)
Is it we the people, standing by and doing nothing but grumbling and not reacting ASAP to stop the summer smoke?
Is it the one that knows were the lightning will strike and wants “The Let It Burn Policy”?
Is it the one that loves hugging black sticks and not healthy green tress with cones to seed the ground for baby trees as nature intended? Also, I think about all the happy squirrels and birds losing their homes and lives! (No clear cutting & fires!)
Is it the one that loves to ruin our summers? (We breathe smoke, have no sun for our gardens and fruit trees, soaking up smoke) Yum! Yum! No camping fun, just watch homes and wildlife burn or people and pets, horses and cows, etc, get evacuated.
Is it the one that stops logging? Stops jobs? I believe we need to use our beautiful Montana resources! What a great idea! We could have logging roads, instead of fireline roads! After logging is done, then the firebugs can come in to burn brush piles and dead trees (so valued as being fuel on the ground!). Logging leaves everyone green trees to look at, not black sticks! Logging year round could spend the millions of dollars for jobs (especially jobs for our children to earn money for college or have green trees to build their homes! Government’s millions could be spent on sawmills or helping existing sawmills instead of summer fire camps or more firehouses.
Is it the one that does not want us and the tourists to enjoy looking at the Big Skies of Montana and green forests and our wildlife?
Is it the one that forgets what Smokey the Bear represents: “Please prevent acres and acres being burnt; not next year, this year!” Am I the only one asking these questions? We do not need to teach our children to burn our green trees and wildlife. Fires and retardant kills everything. Why do we do it?
Is it the one that may not think our summers are too hot and dry for burning? Common sense tells me, in the fall works better!