The forest needs fire

The Forest Service blew it and they know it.

Failure to discuss mop up in detail, lack of clarity about who was responsible for what, maybe a little complacency, led to an escape of a prescribed burn in the Metolius Natural Research Unit this fall. The Wizard Fire ended up covering 1,840 acres and costing $4 million.

That's a big mistake.

But this mistake can't be allowed to send a valuable program up in smoke. We need prescribed fire in Sisters' forests. Prescribed fire has protected local communities from destruction by wildfire. The GW Fire west of Black Butte Ranch hit a treated area and dropped down like it had been hit by a left hook. The evidence is clear on the ground.

Beyond the safety considerations, fire is a necessary natural element of the health of our forests. The more we mimic natural fire patterns, the healthier our forests will be.

Hike through any area of Sisters' forests and you'll find acres of land choked with vast stands of small, unhealthy trees. Those acres won't be healthy until they burn.

Sure, you can cut trees and mow underbrush, but that's not efficient and it's not natural. Fire is nature's tool and it must be ours.

Nobody likes dealing with the smoke and brown needles, and blackened trunks don't look like the picturesque forests we tout to visitors. But they're worth putting up with for the benefits, which aren't so long in coming.

There's no excuse for lapses in patrols on a burn and the Wizard Fire is a violation of public trust the Sisters Ranger District has worked hard for the past decade to earn. They must do better and they owe it to us to demonstrate that they will do better.

But we need to give them the chance. Our forests need the fire.

Jim Cornelius, News Editor