Thomas F. (hardtack) - , reviewed on 8/28/2018 + 2594 more book reviews

An interesting story of the birth of the U.S. Forest Service, the men who fought for it and the corrupt politicians who fought against it for personal gain. Makes you wonder if anything has changed in all these years. Especially, when you consider the fires ravaging the West in the summer of 2018. Have we really learned anything?

While earning a B.S. in Wildlife and Fisheries, I took a forestry course called "Forest Fire as a Management Tool." It was an interesting course despite the fact that all the basics you had to know, I didn't, as all the other students in the class were Forestry majors who had taken the basic courses. Despite that I did well and learned a lot. The course gave me the knowledge to 'manage the four acres of dense woodland adjoining the land my house sits on.

Today, the forestry services of the U.S. and the 50 states understand periodic controlled, and uncontrolled, burns are good for a forest. They even joke "Sparky the Owl" is now the forest service mascot and not "Smokey the bear."

To properly manage our forests we need to listen to the experts and not the bureaucratic politicians appointed to run (and rape?) them.

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