Be agressive on forest fires

Stop letting these forest fires get out of control! Put them out in the initial attack!

After 30 years of non-management of our forest lands every fire that starts needs an immediate aggressive attack.

Please write USDA Secretary Sonny Perdue (usda.gov/tellsonny) and ask him to direct his USFS district rangers and other decision-making personnel to launch the larger firefighting fixed-wing tanker aircraft on the initial attack of any fire. Most USFS district rangers are refusing to do this as routine, giving several reasons that simply are not true. The most-used excuse is that in certain terrain the tankers would not be effective … this is not true according to the pilots who fly these aircraft. All fires start small. In the current volatile conditions of our forest lands all fires need this very aggressive aerial suppression action.

Let’s stop fighting these fires and start putting them out! In Okanogan County our local volunteer fire districts and the DNR now have a 100 percent suppression record for every fire. Not one fire has escaped their aggressive initial attacks in the 2016, 2017 and so far in the 2018 fire seasons. Thank you! The USFS does not hold this same record.

Please take five minutes and ask USDA Secretary Sonny Perdue to direct his USFS district rangers and other decision-making personnel to launch the most aggressive aerial attack on all fires when they are first discovered and put them out!

If everyone that reads this sends a request to Sonny Perdue … we just might make a difference and stop this continual senseless destruction!

Go to: usda.gov/tellsonny

Kathy Power

Okanogan