Re: closed for how long?

I understand the sentiment of people not wanting to see the bueatiful wildland areas burned but a critical situation has built up because of the suppression policies implemented in the last half century. I have a degree in fire suppression and have worked as a Forest Firefighter in Northern California and was a city fire fighter near Portland Oregon. The wildland areas are becoming overgrown which will continue to precipitate the kind of fires we saw last year given the right conditions. There is no way out of this situation now. It would take a very long time of changed policies and natural burns to return things to the conditions present before human intervention on these fires. As predicted, we will be seeing very large and devastating fires which will kill most everything in thier paths because of thier intensity. The public will continue to choose the option of putting fires out quickly but will also have to accept the consequenses ( very large, damaging and quick moving fires ) of this decision, and how it affects the balance of the wildland vegetation.