The problem is, they go way too far. Learn how and when to remove this template message, "Longtime KGO radio host and scientist Bill Wattenburg dead at 82", "CHRONICLE PROFILE / Bill Wattenburg / Radio host keeps creative lines open / Inventor, best-selling author creates simple solutions to complex problems", "Bill Wattenburg's Background: BART Bay Area Rapid Transit System", "2. There was a time when most of our forests were fire tolerant. Media blogger Rich Lieberman said Wattenburg was a crusty, cranky grumpy old man but it made for great radio.. But many self-proclaimed standing rotten in our forests and of no value as lumber. U.S. Wildfires have some benefits: EDIT: to clarify that the following is a quote from a web site, not a continuation of Erik's quote above. fires at dangerous times and help manage controlled burns at proper times for But they, the self-styled sensible management into insane controlled burning projects during high Trees are a wonderful renewable resource and as long as replace what is taken there shouldn't be a problem. Phone . Forest fires are a natural accuring event, and nature has dealt just fine with renewing it's forest. The problem is, it is going too far to the other extreme - no logging or proper forest management. Senators such as Barbara Boxer from California to stop the bill in Those who know the environment best -- the scientists who devote their careers to it -- say environmental groups often twist fact into fantasy to serve their agendas. Hundreds if not thousands of homes and businesses I would like to add that California is perhaps the most beautiful state in the union and isnt it in everyones best interests that it be preserved with the utmost care and dilligence? To characterize lumber companies as willing participants in the destruction of the land is another lame statement. "A lot of environmental messages are simply not accurate," said Jerry Franklin, a professor of forest ecology and ecosystem science at the University of Washington. KGO hired him to host a three-hour show on Saturday and Sunday nights. Alcohol Beverage Licenses its once rich ecology is a ghastly example of horrible judgment that the let The enviroloonies want to limit cities' growth, and build only high-density housing. The 1988 fire that destroyed almost 40 percent of the Yellowstone forest and Patrick Moore the original founder of Grenpeace left that organization when it was taken over by the earth first types. . returned to experienced, professional foresters who actually work in the forest Then controlled burns can be safely attempted in isolated sections and lightening fuel load on the forest floor. to build campfires next to the gas pumps at service stations. The let did to Yellowstone in 1988 than would have been required to first construct He is a former nuclear weapons designer [] Compare the images below of a burned forest, an overgrown forest, and one that has been logged. As was mentioned this problem is exacerbated by absurd land use laws that drive up the cost of land near the cities where people work. My prayers to his family, it must have been quite a ride all these years. There is good and bad in thinning forests. Wattenburg openly suggested having standing armies on American streets and within American homes for law enforcement purposes, once remarking to a San Francisco Chronicle reporter, in regard to high urban violence in Oakland, California, "Our troops are going house to house removing weapons in Bosnia. As an engineer, Wattenburg discovered many of the original problems with the Bay Area Rapid Transit system, including such flaws as easily decipherable fare cards (which could have fare value fraudulently added to them), trains that would not show up on the computer screen, and other deficiencies. The Instead, if you want to buy a house, you have to go 60-100 miles away. His wife Carol is also a very nice and kind person. He remained a consultant to the Livermore Laboratory until his death.[4]. Yep, The Shrub is doing everything he can to satisfy the timber lobby by opening up the little bit of virgin old-growth forest we have left to clearcut logging in the name of preventing forest fires. natural fires of a century ago and unchecked forest fires of today can be disastrous for is then allowed to spend tens of millions of dollars of scarce research funds to cover up Bill Wattenburg, circa 2000. protecting, eventually will be burned to blackened stumps if there is no way to stop MZ is joined by Dr Eric Wattenburg and Dr Joel Wallach to discuss the cause of the record number of forest fires that are ravaging California this year.Micha. They know that all our forests, even the few The 1988 fire that destroyed almost 40 percent of the Yellowstone forest and its once Better fire code enforcement in home building, large pre cut fire lanes in timber & brushy areas, controlled logging- all this will have to play a part. based on unforgivable ignorance of the consequences of inappropriately applying of officially burning them to the ground as Nero fiddled over Rome. without burning down the house. I doesn't suprise me that the term money comes up in articles such as these. ------------------Question wonder and be wierdare you kind? The articval fails to provide any evidence for it's allegations. Well thats whats going on now. these groups claim that approval of any activity by man in our national forests will lead The lumber companies are not in business to wipe out the forest's in this day and age. that the Clinton White House would buckle [see fifth paragraph in previous link] under to the power-hungry, It's nature's way. Why should they have fewer rights than anyone else? equilibrium, firefighters must have defensive fire breaks. Otherwise, massive crowning wildfires will quickly spread out press reports, then President Clinton praised the plan as an example of what he wanted Nature needs protection from those that would destroy the forests otherwise. their let forest fires burn dogma. They often throw caution to the winds in order deliberately set by government agents get out of hand. Here is a link to a series of articles done by an investigative journalist at the Sacramento Bee. Offering expert fire sprinkler, alarm, & extinguisher services. Bill Wattenburg, a former nuclear weapons designer at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory who hosted a popular late-night show on KGO radio for 39 years, has died of cancer at age 82. Such is the case with Bill Wattenburg, an accomplished Indian Valley resident, who died Aug. 2. Massive Lame to who? Ironically, many national groups that call themselves environmentalists without doing the damage that old methods (lots of roads for trucks, dragging bundles of logs with bulldozers) cause. I don't advocate getting rid of environmentalists. [13] His program was called The Open Line to America. It certainly does no more damage to the land and especially the environment than these fires. its acts of horrendous negligence based on unforgivable ignorance of the consequences of Dr.Bill Wattenburg - Open Line To The West Coast - YouTube 0:00 / 44:10 Dr.Bill Wattenburg - Open Line To The West Coast 7,473 views Jul 29, 2015 74 Dislike Share Save Jnas mir Jnasson 73. It was formulated by Steep areas with a combination of brush and trees. Then controlled burns can be safely attempted in isolated sections and Unfortunately, a fire storm is what usually happens in forest fires during peak fire This is what happened in Yellowstone in the fires. Wattenburg was married to his third spouse, Carol Wattenburg, 28 years his junior. Clear cutting doesn't acheive this same result, which could also be used as a arguement for controled burning over logging. and will survive a fire because it is not filled with brush and small trees that would provide a means for the fire to leap to the taller trees. So, in the interest of allowing nature to take its course, why would we supress wildfires? Why not use them to do that in West Oakland or South Central Los Angeles?"[17]. Neither is the Sierra Club responsible for these fires. Your arguement is really lame. Actually, yes. Suburban sprawl is mans doing, not natures and needs to be solved by intelligent management, rules and regulations, not be controlled by greed and profit as it now is, brought to you by your corporate world large land developers whos only interest is to make money. we can now replace Yellowstone with Los Alamos. It's obvious the sited artical has a pro logging agenda. Bill had a gruff, suffer-no-fools attitude with adults. Yup, now you're catching on. to stop these fires before they joined up and became an unstoppable fire storm. I am waiting to see how much financial help CA will get for this horrible disaster. Art UvaasLake Elsinore, California. amounts of precious top soil is then washed away from hillsides before new root structure I watched some of my favorite places burn in the Ice House basin east of Sacramento and another area west of Reno, along I-80 in the mid 90's. Fact of the matter is that you have no proof that these fires are caused by liberals yet you still have to insinuate that they are. lightening fires can be allowed to burn in off-peak times because they will be He inspired me so much. example of what will eventually happen in all of our forested areas unless we mount a the last forty years. Wattenburg was fired by KGO, along with most of the station's other talk hosts on December 2, 2011 as the station, owned by Cumulus Media decided to abandon the long-time and listener-appreciated talk radio format and switch to a mostly news format in competition with #1 KCBS. It used to surprise me that people repeated the same mistakes made in history. The trees they plant are not natural types indigenous with the area. rich ecology is a ghastly example of horrible judgment that the let forest fires He broadcast from his home in the Sierras. with sensible thinning and firebreak construction like the Quincy Library Plan. old-growth forest and wilderness areas that are the most explosive and approved overwhelmingly in the House of Representatives by both parties. To protect our national forests and parks until they can be returned to fire our national forests will lead automatically to expanded exploitation of the require only thinning excessive numbers of small trees and removing the brush, They also are looking for two men who were seen throwing flares into the bushes. [This message has been edited by Erik (edited 10-28-2003). fire season. I heard that one of the fires was started by a "lost" hunter you shot off a signal flare. mastered the mysteries of fire and know when and how it should be applied. Foundation, California State University Chico (Chico, CA 95929). conditions of our forests is as stupid and irresponsible as teaching boy scouts Only a fraction of the local news stories covered by the Daily Post appear on this website. Clinton Administration. They now put the icicle plants back. Typical drive-by comment! You people can't be satisfied with anything. Willard Harvey Wattenburg (February 9, 1936 August 2, 2018)[1] was an American inventor, engineer, author, and talk radio show host from California. I hope I don't have to get into what happens to top soil and the atmosphere when large qauntity of trees are desrtoyed. small trees on the forest floors. doubts this should take a look at the forest of blackened carcasses and scorched landscape its National Park Service dogma of let fires burn did to Yellowstone in 1988 They claim that we are disturbing the habitat of the animals when we do so. destroy far more than can be renewed. Native I don't know when this happened only that it was from a previous fire. ], These and other sayings tonight on:UNFOUNDED COMMENTS6:00PM on Channel 7, Do a little research on President Clinton selling off old-growth forest saying that there is "about 375 board feet of salable lumber in every thousand year old Douglas Fir. From the first linked article that some chose not to read. They insisted that there was some divine Groups like the Sierra Club like to pass slow (or no) growth measures, limiting the supply and driving up prices. their funding agencies. Spacing apart trees properly? These monoculture "forests" are completely unsuitable for any sort of ecological diversity, and in no way make up for the destruction of the thousand year old forests they replace. That was the case not too long ago, when he disapproved of how Plumas Unified School District was handling a project in Portola. So that they can harvest them (the logging companies)sooner? Privacy Policy. That's worth up to nearly $5,000, at today's prices." Nature is logical. lightening strike. of the ignorant and incompetent who claim to be the saviors of our environment. Look, I'm not saying "rape the environment", just use science and logic, not emotion, when passing legislation. All rights reserved. wisdomor an act of such incredibly low-grade stupidity that it must be covered This is the Quincy Library Group inappropriately applying their let forest fires burn dogma. BTW, did you know that when forests are clearcut and replanted, they're typically replanted with fast-growing hybrid pines who's only purpose is for paper pulp? The Daily Post has been adjudicated by the Superior Court of Santa Clara County as a newspaper of general circulation in the City of Palo Alto and County of Santa Clara, and is qualified to publish legal notices, including: Fictitious Business Name Statements (FBNs) I had the honor of speaking with Dr. Bill twice, providing him some information on coal mine fires from my experience with the industry. Yet many groups use science selectively to oppose thinning efforts that could reduce fire risk. The Fan Fire ballooned to cover about 1,800 acres by July 2, but then slowed. But come the weekend, Dr. Bill was the counterbalance. ], ------------------ Fiero-Performance.com - New mods for your Fiero from Fiero Performance Bayern in Germany. [14] The program aired Sunday nights from 8 p.m. to 11 p.m. Pacific Time. The full article was sent in 1999 to all government agencies managing our forests. who insist that they are the only ones who have Same for the fires that tore through the Walker River area near the CA-NV border last year. equilibrium, firefighters must have defensive fire breaks. national forests. the Senate because these groups claim that approval of any activity by man in That paper is definitely not a bastion of conservatism. 369. Calif. With a good antenna and radio and great skip from the clouds I often received him clearly and never left the radio when he was on. Congress in 1995 ordered The logging industry in the early 1900s was certainly no example of good management, but we've come a long way since then. There are no trees on these mountains so none of this conversation even applies down here. Same bunch of dopes have caused global warming since the end of ice age to be worse thanks to burning coal instead of nuke power. The DEP had fined some guy for renting a bobcat and making a fire break to save his home. The reason the logging industry wants to get at the large growth, because of the higher profit margin. I think about him all the time now. and national park managers are struggling to get with the program and Otherwise, more of It seems as if each generation must relearn the most basic lessons. This was mother natures way of cleaning house This compromise pleased no one. [3] His scientific talent was discovered by a teacher, who encouraged him to apply to several schools, including the University of California, Berkeley where he completed his first year with honors. called a religion because there is no science that says that a forest totally destroyed is American radio has lost a sensibly prudent interlocutor. Logging interests? For fire protection services in Lansing, MI call Fire Systems of Michigan! This was mother natures way of cleaning housewithout burn promoters are still trying to rationalize (with tens of millions of dollars of But too many don't care about that as long as they can win their debate. The problem is, they go way too far. Lightning strikes cause natural fires in the wild. government would have been paid millions for the dead trees.). case today, as described below. that all our forests, even the few remaining old growth forests that they claim they are William S. 1/31/23MV . Thanks for the educaiton Dr. Bill, it didnt cost me a thing but time, time well spent! The opposition groups and officials who call themselves environmentalists Missed his Sunday night shows as I would drive and tune in! Yellowstone forests in 1988. fires do promote forest renewal, but only when the fires do not destroy far more than can A bill to implement this plan Advertizing on PFF | Fiero Parts VendorsPFF Merchandise | Fiero Gallery | Ogre's Cave Last week he was owned by someone else. Letting forest fires burn during high fire load creates intensely hot forest fires that ignite the big trees and destroy KSCO aired a two-hour retrospective of Wattenburgs radio career, Brian Copeland sues KGO radio over firing, claims race and age bias, Councilman says surplus should have been disclosed when officials knew about it, Judge faults PAUSDs policy on math placement. RIP. That undergrowth are the next generation of forests as the older trees die if left alone. the most dangerous fire season in decades. burn, or setting fires during high fire season with the present incendiary If it wasn't fires, it'd be some other reason, like preventing excessive shade or something. If done correctly, it can be very helpful in a lot of ways. with the conditions of today. as compared to man-caused fires. Interior, National Park Service, and the U.S. Forest Service to pay for That is not the case today, as described below. Obviously there are disadvantages as well. man-caused fires. God Bless Doctor Bill. On the show, he answered questions about science, talked about politics, current events, and discussed some of his ideas. After the Clinton signed the timber salvage bill, the White House Has Climate Change Made a 'New' Forest Fire? No lumber company will Notices of Trustees Sale After all, this so called overgrowth is habitat for many creatures that would not have it if it was removed. Many of his ideas, such as using flatbed rail cars as temporary bridges,[6] unenergized electric water heaters for storage of emergency potable water, and converting plow blades into minesweepers are deceptively simple variants of prior art or folk technology. He was a strong supporter of former Governor of California Arnold Schwarzenegger, as well as former president George W. Bush and the invasion and occupation of Iraq.