Western wildfires enflame conflict over forest management

line By Steve Geissinger ASSOCIATED PRESS WRITER>

The more than 20 major wildfires charring brush and timber on thousands of acres in five western states come after federal officials were warned to thin forests to prevent catastrophic fires, logging companies and environmentalists said Friday.

The blazes have raced across at least 190,000 acres.

Firefighters have carved bare-earth control lines around some of the smaller lightning-sparked fires so they can focus on battling uncontrolled blazes. More than half the fires were in California. Others were in Nevada, Oregon, Washington state and Texas.

"They've been able to handle the new starts and get a better handle on what they're already fighting. Things are looking better today," said Janelle Smith of the National Interagency Fire Center in Boise, Idaho.

Wildfires temporarily chased hundreds of residents from their homes in California and Nevada early this week but have burned few homes. There were no mandatory evacuations in effect Friday.

The fires have enflamed a longtime controversy over federal forest management.

Critics say they have long argued that the U.S. Forest Service should conduct more controlled burns and cutting to clear undergrowth that fuels wildfires, making them so hot they kill large trees that otherwise would likely survive.

Years of aggressive firefighting have allowed brush to flourish that would have been cleared away by wildfires, said Michael Paparian, a Sierra Club senior representative in Sacramento, Calif.

"The way the forests have been managed up to now can lead to more catastrophic fires than using a more rational approach," Paparian said.

Dave Bischel, president of the California Forestry Association, which represents the timber industry, said he agrees that the wildfires underscore the need for active forest management.

While the timber industry and environmentalists agree the forests need thinning, the timber companies want it to include more logging than the environmental groups want.

Federal policy calls for some brush and timber thinning, as well as prescribed burns.

"There's no magic solution to the condition of the forests. Our forests have gotten into their current state during 150 years of human manipulation," said U.S. Forest Service spokesman Matt Mathes.

"It will take us many years of thinning and prescribed burning to get the forest back to where it would have been if humans had not intervened," Mathes said.

More than 10,000 firefighters equipped with at least 700 fire engines battled Western wildfires Friday, assisted by scores of helicopters and air tankers. Several of the fires were sparked by lightning, and some have been burning since last weekend.

Gov. Gray Davis has declared fire emergencies in four Northern California counties, allowing them to recoup firefighting costs. He also ordered the California National Guard to help firefighters.

Fires have burned tens of thousands of acres of grass, brush and timber in Tehama, Glenn, Butte, Shasta, Lassen and Modoc counties, and in the Shasta-Trinity, Lassen, Klamath, Plumas, Modoc, Stanislaus and Angeles national forests. One fire claimed the life of a Butte County woman.

In Nevada, firefighters battled a 7,400-acre grass fire 70 miles northwest of Winnemucca, a cluster of fires totaling 36,000 acres in grass and brush 45 miles north of Reno, and a 2,000 acre-fire near Carson City.

Oregon firefighters fought a 30,000-acre brush fire in the Sheldon-Hart National Wildlife Refuge, 120 miles southeast of Lakeview.

Firefighters in Washington state battled a 350-acre blaze on the Colville Indian Reservation, eight miles south Okanogan.

In Texas, firefighters fought a 1,500-acre fire 20 miles northwest of Lampasas and a 580-acre blaze near Paris.

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