just the facts jack

Trump was right again

California burns every year for several reasons. One, there is very little humidity and two, the California government decided to waste the money that was allocated on maintaining their fire breaks on all sorts of liberal stupidity.

The South gets a lot more rain and is much more humid than California. That more than anything is the reason why forest fires are not as frequent in the South as in California. The times I have been in the South (Tennessee, Alabama and Georgia, mostly) I don't recall seeing any fire breaks like California had.

Even so, California gets fires every summer regardless of the fire breaks, they're just not as big when the fire breaks are maintained. In So. California it is either Laguna Hills, Malibu Hills, the Angeles National Forest or San Bernardino National Forest.

There are fire roads everywhere in the pine forests both private and federal here in the south….your correct about the humidity but are underestimating the flammability of the tree which is much higher down south.

Because environmentalcases think it's alright to keep forests worth of dead or dying trees around.

And those diseased and dying trees take precious water away from healthy trees, putting those healthy trees in danger. It's mismanagement on full display.

I've only visited family in the South. I really didn't spend much time going into the more heavily forested areas so that is probably why I didn't see them. The other and more important reason is I wasn't looking for them either. I could have driven right past hundreds of them and never even noticed they were there. It would be wise forest management to build fire breaks all over the place.

If my comment sounded in any way like I underestimated the flammability of trees, especially pine trees, let me apologize. Pine trees are extremely flammable. Anyone who has burned their Christmas tree after Christmas should know that.

I just think the South is less prone to forest fires than California, just because of California's low humidity and high heat.

I'm not saying it doesn't get hot in the South. With the humidity it gets unbearable in the heat. I've been in temps over 100 in high humidity and that makes you really appreciate air conditioning. I really don't know how my parents and ancestors survived in the South, especially without air conditioning. My dad grew up on a farm in the South, picking cotton and growing food to eat. He lived during the Great Depression. Years later, after he got married, he and my mom moved to California.

No worries…..the tree farms are scattered everywhere in rural areas. Go hunting in middle Georgia and you will be on fire roads all day that go for miles and miles. They are cheaper to build in Ga. Because of topography but if you have trees you have to do it to get insurance.

Cali burns bc they wouldn't be able to sell protected lands to the highest bidder if the trees were still standing

In addition, Dem President Bill Clinton affirmed congressional act which created 'low impact' activity in national forests...while he was in office. That included abandoning older service fire roads, clearing excess brush for access (fuel) and minimizing fire access for heavy equipment; let alone rural bridge repair and human 4x4 driving. That built up years of fire fuel....which I was near the Mendocino National forest fire and the Shasta/Siskyou fires in recent years. Thanks Bill (you idiot)

Explains a lot …..at least 2/3 of the trees in the south are held on private land and are properly managed the other third are on Forrest service land and are more of a crap shoot. The only big fire I can ever remember down here in 60 years was the one that skirted Dollywood and Gatlinburg 5 years ago.

Democrats are such idiots. You have to remove your brain completely to vote for them. Everything they have done to this country has been destructive. Destructive to the lives of the people, destructive to our freedom and God given rights and destructive to our economy.

Bill Clinton also gave advanced missile guidance technology to China when he was president. China hates us and always have. It's not the people of China, it's the Chinese government who hates us.

Okay, how about this:

Wildfires in forests managed by the Federal Government in Arizona vs Wildfires in forests managed by the Navajo Nation (and other tribes) in Arizona. Exact same climate conditions.

Common sense forest management wins.

I haven't heard about how the Navajo (and other tribes) manage their land with respect to fires.

I am not trying to start an argument or anything but I didn't know there was any forest areas in the Navajo reservation. I drove right through the middle of the Navajo Reservation in eastern Arizona on hwy 191. I suppose sage and tumbleweed can catch fire.

There's only a handful of places in Arizona where there are pine trees. The Flagstaff area. Prescott is near a forested area on the south west side of town. Show Low another another forest. There's probably a few more areas that I haven't been to yet. In the not so high elevations there's lots of juniper trees. On the west side of Az over between Kingman and the Nevada border there are millions of Joshua trees.

I think the Navajo Nation may be bigger than you think it is. The two or three major highways that cut across it don't really give you a sense of the size. But that wasn't really my point...

Whether its the Navajo or some other reservation, the difference in forestry management philosophy is evident the instant you pass a sign saying "Now Entering _____ Reservation". You can see the difference with the naked eye. Historically, wildfires that occur on the reservation(s) consume less acres and are extinguished more quickly than those that occur on federally managed land, with the exact same climate conditions in play. That was my point.

Contrary to what Hollywood would have you believe, Arizona has tens of thousands of square miles of forest, the majority of which don't have major highways cutting across them, which is probably why you haven't seen them. The largest stand of Ponderosa Pine in the world is in Arizona. There's more going on than poisonous snakes and cactus plants. But once again, not the point I was trying to make...

The key takeaway here is this; If you manage your forests properly as Col.Jack.Ripper suggests, you will have less wildfires, and the ones you do have will be easier to control and extinguish. Local temperature averages, relative humidity, and annual rainfall notwithstanding. California's wildfire problem is principally caused by ill-considered, political environmentalism, not hot dry air.

"I think the Navajo Nation may be bigger than you think it is"

I know it is. I just went through one part of it and I knew it was massive. There are several Indian reservations all over Az. It took about 2 hours to drive through, top to bottom. The area we drove through was all desert.

"Contrary to what Hollywood would have you believe"

I wasn't watching TV, I was driving my car when I saw Az. I've driven through a lot of Az. I've crossed through the state on the 10 and the 40. I've been to Phoenix, Kingman, Tucson, Prescott, Camp Verde, Sedona, Flagstaff, Snowflake, Show Low and I have even been to Meteor Crater and the Petrified Forest. And I've also been to the Grand Canyon. I've seen a lot of Az.

"Historically, wildfires that occur on the reservation(s) consume less acres and are extinguished more quickly than those that occur on federally managed land"

I don't doubt you at all. I think that governments are only good at three things, stealing, killing and enslaving, everything else they completely and utterly suck at. That is why government must be kept small and powerless and let the people have all of the political power. That is how our government was set up.

I think private individuals working in behalf of their own best interest, inadvertently work to improve everyone's lives. If all of Az was nothing by forest from all corners of the state then the Navajo and other tribes would still manage the land far better than the federal or state governments.

All I was saying is that most of what I saw in Az was desert. Everywhere. There are exceptions but the vast majority of Az is just desert. There are two major deserts that intersect in Az, the Mojave and the Sonora deserts.

I've never lived in Az, just drove through lots of it. I haven't been everywhere in Az. There are some really cool looking parts that look a lot like Southern Utah. I've also been all over Utah as well.

"The key takeaway here is this; If you manage your forests properly as Col.Jack.Ripper suggests, you will have less wildfires"

I agree.

They also keep a close eye out and punish criminals.

Glad I love in Michigan

HUMIDITY and Mountain Terrain with elevation matters
Besides forests, Deserts Burn too

Better to put them out early. That is the Management issue.
More Fire = More Relief money

Well to be fair, southern California is naturally a desert with hot, dry winds from central California desert. This yearly "climate" weather causes all of the trees, brush, etc. to be extremely dry, where literally just 1 match can set a whole forest on fire.