Governor Little Needs to Show Courage in the Face of Wildfires

The Wapiti Fire doubled in size over the weekend. Evacuations were underway in Idaho’s central highlands. People are grabbing a few clothes and medicines and fleeing. They may have nothing to return to when it’s over. My troubles in life are minor in comparison. In a post last Friday I made it clear this didn’t need to happen. People dictate forest management in a far-away national capital, and they’re listening to limousine liberals with no clue about life in Idaho, which is why there’s so little national news coverage about our plight.

Governor Brad Little unveiled an almost 70-page report on battling fires. It was in the works for a year, and it makes 10 recommendations.

The high point is a call for installing a series of warning cameras. These would certainly be cheaper than reconstructing watchtowers and dealing with all the three and four-letter agencies that would delay new construction by five years to study the impact on slugs and snails. After all, four posts and a ladder could bring about the end of the world.

The Governor’s task force calls for more interagency cooperation. I thought that already existed. He also wants a better early warning system. Don’t we already have the Emergency Activation System? It even works now on my smartphone and wakes me up when I’m sleeping.

Oh, and the state wants to pursue more grants. In other words, money from Washington, D.C., where the federal government is almost 40 trillion dollars in debt!

Can I offer a better idea? To heck with Caesar’s coin and Caesar dictating our approach. Just reclaim the lands managed by the deep state. What can the bureaucrats seriously do? Stop sending other people’s money. Okay, then we’ll make the land profitable once more, and limit the fuel currently burning the heart out of Idaho.