Nick Smith

Sam Krop’s characterization of catastrophic wildfire on public and privately owned forest lands (guest viewpoint, Oct. 4) doesn’t match the reality of what Oregon experienced this summer. But I can see why Cascadia Wildlands and other special interest groups oppose solutions such as the Resilient Federal Forests Act. These bills untie the hands of our federal land managers, and provide them with more tools and resources to restore the health of our public forests, before and after a fire. I don’t know anyone who is proposing to “gut” federal environmental protections and expedite “irresponsible” logging. Yet I do know activist groups have enjoyed a stranglehold over federal environmental policy for the past quarter century, and it’s time to review the results.