We need real forest management, not climate change blame – Loveland Reporter-Herald

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Mike Lynch (Courtesy photo)

By Representative Mike Lynch

As we drive around our great state, we quickly understand why Colorado experiences devastating wildfires. Whether we drive into the mountains via I-70, drive through the canyons of northern Colorado, or take the scenic drive south, we can see the fire scars left in our forests.

I recently visited the part of my district where last year over 200,000 acres, covering much of rural Larimer County, were burnt down in the Cameron Peak fire. If you had walked through Powder Canyon before the devastating fire, you would have seen an abundance of dead trees, beetles, and dead pines. This is one of the main factors contributing to the growth of the Cameron Peak fire.

It’s not just a problem in my district, over 40 percent of the state’s forests have been devastated by beetles. Add to that decades of bad federal forest management and fire suppression policies, leaving our forests to burn. And after that, the soil, without any support from living trees and other growths, is increasingly susceptible to landslides and erosion that can impact water quality and even damage. infrastructure seen at Glenwood Canyon this spring.

Unfortunately, without proper management, forest growth has reached an unnatural level of density, greatly increasing the fuel to sustain these fires. A study by the United States Forest Service found that active forest management could help reduce the size and severity of wildfires by up to 70%.

Wildfires have a myriad of impacts on our state, ranging from the personal devastation of people’s homes, to the enormous economic impact on our tourism industry, to the potential loss of not harvesting this great resource. The more they burn, the less we have to offer.

One of the main economic drivers is the devastation of the forest industry. Colorado has not used these agricultural resources for a number of years. Increased logging not only reduces the impact of future fires, but also helps firefighters looking to fight them, by having well-cut firestops to mitigate the spread of fires. It is estimated that for every dollar spent removing trees from fire-prone forests, about seven dollars will be saved in firefighting costs. This could be very useful in a state budget where millions of taxpayer dollars are used each year for fire mitigation.

So what can we do better?

A well-managed forest is a healthy forest. While we may never completely eliminate forest fires, we can work to reduce the severity and the frequency with which they burn.

By thinning forests, prescribing burns, and cleaning up dead undergrowth, we can move from managing already burning forest fires to improving healthy forest growth.

Unfortunately, the failed policies of the 1970s to not manage forests like any other agricultural crop come to haunt us with the current dilemma we face with the massive destruction of our air quality and our personal property. President Biden and Governor Polis are trying to find false solutions to a real problem. Instead of focusing on real forest management, they put all the blame on climate change. They simply ignore the problem and the factors that contribute to increased carbon emissions and disturbed wildlife habitat. By managing forests and proactively removing dead trees, the fire will have a lot less to burn and therefore a lot less fuel to keep it going.

If Joe Biden and Jared Polis are serious about helping reduce climate change, they should want to help reduce emissions from the wildfires that have devastated the western United States. But, addressing the issue would limit their talking points. Instead, they allowed so-called “environmental” groups to control policies and decisions that only delayed any sort of real solutions.

Forest management is a “common sense” policy that can help save Colorado’s beautiful forests for years and years to come. Together, we can work not only to save our beautiful state, but also to improve air quality and public health. To do this, we need action not only from the Colorado legislature, but from the federal government, especially when it controls over 36% of Colorado’s land.

Mike Lynch represents the 49th district in the Colorado House of Representatives. He is a Wellington resident and a Loveland businessman.

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