Hacker News Reader

Comment by hokumguru | Hacker News Reader

I remember how it was a huge deal for weeks when our former president said something along these lines but to a large extent the administration was correct.

I hate the fact that these changes to forestry management are going to be delayed or shot down just because of partisan bullshit. I’d say we’re better than this but I’m not quite sure nowadays.

View on HN

Most of California’s forests are managed by the Interior Department. Why wasn’t federal forest policy changed if the last administration believed that was the primary cause of fires?

Maybe the areas affected don't actually benefit anyone in power? Probably not enough graft coming out of the timber industry.

I think Interior tends to defer to state and local interests rather than following national policies.

That’s not how it works. This is, literally, land owned and managed by the federal government. It’s on them to manage it.

The former president was very inarticulate about it, which I'd say was the problem. He told us California residents that we needed to sweep our forests and didn't acknowledge that the majority of the public forests were the responsibility of the Federal Govt. A more knowledgeable Republican president could have made a better case that wouldn't get ridiculed.

Trump blames California for wildfires, tells state 'you gotta clean your floors'

https://www.politico.com/states/california/story/2020/08/20/...

Trump's suggestions have prompted head-scratching from experts who say his prescriptions — more raking, less water released into the ocean for environmental purposes — suggest he does not understand the science of wildfires. Critics also point out that most of California’s wildlands are federally managed.

Can you honestly say that any president really understands the science of wildfires (or anything else -- perhaps Jimmy Carter excepted, he did understand the science of nuclear reactors).

Probably not, which is why all but one of them tended to defer to hired experts on many issues instead of spouting the first thing that popped into their head.

This is been a problem a hundred years plus in the making. You can't blame just one president

Let’s see, most of the giant fires, Shasta Trinity, Mendocino, Six Rivers, Lassen, Plumas are all National Forests. Lassen National Park, part of the Dixie fire.

I guess these people think Newsom was/is President or do not understand the difference between county, state and federal jurisdiction.

Not totally; they are intermingled with privately held land.

Okay, now that he’s gone who do we pin the blame on?

The post you are replying to did not blame Trump for the fires, it said he was incoherent and incorrect in assigning blame. He continues to do both of those things in his role of King of the GOP, so there's no reason to stop pinning blame on him for things he is doing.

Thank you. I sometimes wonder if it is that I don't write clearly enough or if some people have poor reading comprehension. Perhaps both.

Ad hominem attacks aside, the question remains. Now that #OrangeManBad isn't here, who, exactly is,as you say, "the problem"? From what I've seen, Californians have a bad habit of electing people who can't accomplish anything, and then blame their woes on people who are so far removed from being able to have any influence that it's laughable. The forestry service under Trump is the same forestry service that logged (pardon the pun) eight years under Obama. What did Obama do to mitigate the fires? The Dixie fire continues to burn without restrainnt, what's the solution? Frankly, as much as I don't like the man, Trump is right - when it comes to forest fires in CA, it's kind of your mess to clean up. Drive down any road on the coast and you'll find acres of arroyos full to the brim with deadwood - literal tinderboxes that nobody is cleaning up. Okay, 50x% of the forests belong to the Federal Government? Cool, don't build your houses within a half mile firebreak of them. The other 50%? Well, gosh, I guess you all should have a chat or something.

Reply on news.ycombinator.com