Letters to the Editor: California must learn from past forest fires and ban clear-cut logging

To the editor: The examine referenced on this article (“Private land used for logging is more prone to severe fire than public lands. A new study shows why,” Aug. 21) highlights how clear-cut logging transforms pure forests into flammable industrial tree farms. Because of this and others, a ballot proposition in California in 1990 known as for a statewide ban on the follow. It was, sadly, roundly defeated due partly to a well-funded and polished opposition marketing campaign by the timber and agricultural industries.

Had voters listened extra to the environmental coalition that authored the proposition, the devastation left within the wake of latest fires just like the Camp (2018) and Dixie (2021) fires, which raged by industrial tree farms, could by no means have occurred.

Thinker George Santayana famously said, “Those that don’t study from historical past are doomed to repeat it.” Now could be the time to heed these prophetic phrases and ban clear-cutting eternally.

Jennifer Normoyle, Hillsborough, Calif.