Tag: california

redbloodedamerica:

BACK IN JANUARY, THE NEW YORK TIMES AGREED WITH PRESIDENT TRUMP THAT CALIFORNIA NEEDED TO IMPROVE ITS FORESTRY MANAGEMENT

Editorial by Kevin Ryan

The deadliest and most destructive fire in California’s history was finally brought under control by firefighters yesterday, more than two weeks after it erupted. So far 87 people are confirmed to have been killed in the blaze, and many are still missing.

But the media firestorm continues over President Trump’s assertion that poor forest management contributed to the disaster. After Trump tweeted that better forest management could have prevented, or at least mitigated, the damage caused by the devastating wildfires, the media and California politicians said his assertion was false.

A spokesman for California Governor Jerry Brown said that the president’s assertion was “inane” and “uninformed.” The New York Times wrote a piece entitled “Trump’s Misleading Claims About California’s Fire ‘Mismanagement’”

Yet just a few months back, both Governor Brown and The New York Times said basically the same thing as Trump.

In a January article, the Times wrote that “A group of scientists warned in the journal BioScience that [100 million] dead trees could produce wildfires on a scale and of an intensity that California has never seen,” and that “scientists say they cannot even calculate the damage the dead-tree fires might cause; it exceeds what their current fire behavior modeling can simulate.”

“‘It’s something that is going to be much more severe,’ said Scott Stephens, a professor of fire science at Berkeley and the lead author of the study. ‘You could have higher amounts of embers coming into home areas, starting more fires.’”

The Times article even pointed the finger at California’s forestry regulations, saying “California forests are much more vulnerable now because, paradoxically, they have been better protected. In their natural state, forests were regularly thinned by fire but the billions of dollars that the state spends aggressively fighting wildfires and restrictions on logging have allowed forests to accumulate an overload of vegetation… That’s a scenario that could nudge the state into rethinking its forest management.“

And yet, fast forward to today, and The New York Times is suddenly interviewing “experts” to contradict its previous assertions now that President Trump has also questioned California’s forest management.

“President Trump’s statements, which drew outrage from local leaders and firefighters, oversimplified the cause of California’s wildfires.” The Times says that the logging advocated by Trump, Republicans, and, apparently, The New York Times last January, would not have helped because “logging gets rid of trees, but it does not get rid of the kindling — brush, bushes and twigs. Logging does, however, enable the spread of cheatgrass, a highly combustible weed, which makes a forest more likely to burn.”

That’s basically the opposite of what the Times’ said earlier this year.

And it’s not just the media reversing itself to discredit Trump. Governor Brown’s office was calling for the same changes to logging regulations just a few months ago. In order to mitigate the fire danger from dead trees, Brown proposed that landowners be permitted to cut trees up to 36 inches in diameter, a jump from the current 26 inches, on properties that are 300 acres or less without getting a timber harvest permit and would also be able to build roads up to 600 feet long.

Of course the environmental lobby opposed it. And now huge swaths of land that environmentalists were “protecting” are now embers.

But Brown, and the media, would rather reverse their recent calls for safer forestry management than to agree with the president.

SOURCES: https://www.nytimes.com/2018/01/19/us/california-today-100-million-dead-trees-prompt-fears-of-giant-wildfires.html
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/11/12/us/politics/fact-check-trump-california-fire-tweet.html
https://www.foxnews.com/politics/trump-hammered-for-california-wildfire-claims-but-gov-brown-has-also-backed-new-forest-management-measures

Holy Love Message – 11/14/2018

Once again, I (Maureen) see a Great Flame that I have come to know as
the Heart of God the Father.  He says: “Your country* is experiencing a
historic fire** on the West Coast.  Once again, I remind you that every
adversity is allowed by Me for the good of souls and towards their
salvation.  I am the Master Architect of every soul’s journey towards
Heaven.  I put just what he needs in order to pursue personal holiness
in every present moment.  Never waste time in asking ‘why’ something is
happening.  Trust in My Grace to see you through every challenge.”

“Mankind often does not understand My Will, as he sees only the
cross and not the victory that the cross leads to.  Every sin carries
the soul farther away from understanding My Will.  If you concoct
notions of how you would do things differently, then you are not living
in My Will.  In your acceptance of present moment events, is your
surrender to My Will.  Consider the innocence of the little child who
accepts everything readily and trusts in his parents to see him through
troubles.  Imitate this attitude.  You will find peace therein.”  

* U.S.A.

** The “Camp Fire” in Northern California has scorched some 130,000
acres and is 35 percent contained, according to officials Tuesday
(11/13/2018) night.

Read Psalm 4:3+

But know that the Lord has set apart the godly for himself;

the Lord hears when I call to him.

Read Matthew 19:13-15+

Jesus Blesses Little Children

Then children were brought to him that he might lay his hands on
them and pray. The disciples rebuked the people; but Jesus said, “Let
the children come to me, and do not hinder them; for to such belongs the
kingdom of heaven.” And he laid his hands on them and went away.

+ Scripture verses asked to be read by God the Father. (Please note:
all Scripture given by Heaven refers to the Bible used by the
visionary.  Ignatius Press – Holy Bible – Revised Standard Version –
Second Catholic Edition.) 

http://holylove.org/messages_printer.php?msg_id=10732

that-silly-little-girl:

prolifeproliberty:

libertarirynn:

???

I don’t… think that’s how localized funding works? Like just because something receives federal funding doesn’t mean the mismanagement of funds isn’t happening on a local level. I’m not saying Trump is right about that being the case here (I’d have to look more into it or maybe some California followers have some insight), but it’s kind of nuts to say “the mismanagement must come from the top of the federal government.”

So maybe the federal government shouldn’t be involved at all…

Plus don’t forget the contribution of California’s eucalyptus trees to this issue.

I am a native Californian, who lives in the Central Valley. However, I have many ties to the Sierras, so I know a little bit about forest management.

First thing of all, that “98% of the lands burning is fed land” isn’t accurate. Only 57% of all Californian land is owned by the federals – the rest are a mixture of public, family, business, and state-owned land. (In fact, you can even see a map of this if you Google “Ownership of Forest and Ranchlands in California,” and the real hooter? This map is hosted by CalFire!)

According to this map, most of the lands currently burning are public, business, state, and family-owned. Some of the land burning belongs to the feds, yes, but not all.

And secondly, California has made it REALLY HARD for the feds to carry out their forest management. Last year, Governor Jerry Brown passed a law (here’s the ugly secret about California’s politics: despite it actually being the LAW that the voters has to approve laws first, the legislature still get around this with creative loopholes, so the legislature and the governor still manage to pass a butt-load of laws without approval from the voters) which MANDATES the feds to seek permission from the state before they’re allowed to work on THEIR OWN LAND!

Not to mention, a few years ago, Jerry Brown ALSO reduced the budget for forest management in California – from $200 million to $20 million. (When it’s been projected for years that the cost of clearing out all the dead trees – and keep in mind that between one half to two-thirds of all the trees in California are dead – and the extremely overgrown undergrowth… would cost billions. Billions.)

So… yes, technically you could, and should, blame the government for the horrendous land management. The catch is, it’s the STATE government, not the feds.

EDIT: Eucalyptus trees? No, they’re nowhere close to cracking the top five reasons for the terrible wildfire problems. It’s the pines… and the bark beetle. Specifically, the vast majority – like 80% to 90% – of all our dead trees are the pines, because they’re especially and particularly vulnerable to the bark beetles. The bark beetle population has seriously EXPLODED over the last few years thanks to the drought (which is both climate- and man-made). A healthy pine tree can repel the beetles with its sap. But when a tree doesn’t get enough water, it produces less sap than usual. And so, the beetles kill those trees. Seriously, just go for a drive through California’s forests and you’ll see that about one third to half of those trees are orange and red, which shows that they’re dead.

And the catch? When a pine tree dies, it doesn’t lose its green luster for a few years. That’s right, those green pine trees? They’re ALSO dead. It’s such a mess.

EDIT AGAIN: I forgot to add another important bit – overgrowth is seriously a problem. A healthy forest would have around 200 trees in a square mile. The forests in California has 2,000 trees in a square mile. We have literally 10 times the healthy threshold of trees.

persona4:

hurricanekelsea:

so Paradise California is gone

i haven’t seen any noise about this on tumblr yet, but a fire has completely wiped out a small town in california.

they’re calling it the camp fire. over 20,000 residents have been evacuated so far, the last area estimates i heard were over an hour ago at 18,000 acres and its still zero percent contained.

this is the smoke from about 18 miles away from the fire three hours ago. if you know anyone near chico, paradise, oroville or durham california you might want to check they’re okay

UPDATE: 4PM FRI NOV. 9, 2018

the fire has completely walked over paradise, magalia, and much of the rest of butte county. it’s under 10% containment and moving towards chico, which was been mostly evacuated as well. it’s been documented as one of the top 20 deadliest fires seen in california. i know many of the people personally whose lives have been destroyed by this fire. my aunt and uncle’s home, of whom we’re very close to, was demolished last night, same goes for family friends and others who lived in paradise– which is completely gone. there are 5 confirmed deaths, several dozen missing people.

EVACUATION SITES STILL OPEN AS OF 1 HOUR AGO:

  • Butte County Fairgrounds (199 E Hazel St, Gridley, CA 95948)
  • Yuba-Sutter Fairground (442 Franklin Ave, Yuba City, CA 95991)
  • Glenn County Fairgrounds (221 E Yolo St, Orland, CA 95963)
  • Chester Memorial Hall (22 Gay Street, Chester)

HOW TO HELP/DONATE:

  1. “Currently the best way to contribute is to make a monetary donation via the North Valley Community Foundation website.” -abc7news.com
  2. “Supplies: Hope Center in Oroville (1950 Kitrick Ave Ste. A) is taking donations. Hours: Friday and Saturday 8 a.m. – 5 p.m., Sunday 9 a.m. – 5 p.m. Needs: warm clothes, shoes, socks, coats (primarily for elderly residents).” -abc7news.com

the majority of those affected by the fire in paradise were elderly people. and having known paradise and magalia myself for years, it’s not a wealthy part of california. these people will need help, and lots of it.

if you have any questions, you can message me personally or seek information online or from the above references personally.

if you cannot help yourself, please spread the word and reblog. so many wonderful people are going through a terrible thing and need your help.

spooniestrong:

Jerry Brown — so perhaps you’re going a bit too far. There are disabled people who NEED to use plastic straws.

The plastic straw users aren’t the problem. The companies that dump trash illegally in our oceans are. Stop demonizing disabled people. We know who the real monsters are.