[PCA] NEWS: Guest Opinion: Native, not invasive plants, are best to curb wildfires

[Kwong, Olivia]

http://www.idahostatesman.com/2015/06/08/3842325/guest-opinion-native-not-invasive.html

Guest Opinion: Native, not invasive plants, are best to curb wildfires
By Wayne Padgett
June 8, 2015

I am a recently retired ecologist, having worked 25 years for the U.S.
Forest Service and my last five years as the program lead for the BLM’s
Colorado Plateau Native Plant Materials Development Program in Utah. I am
writing in response to the May 11 article, “BLM decides to build fire break
network along Interstate 84.” Many of our Western landscapes are broken.
Much of the original wound happened many years ago when unmanaged livestock
numbers grazed in harsh desert climates. But then populations grew, and
along with that, the demands for natural resources, both renewable and
nonrenewable, grew. Non-native plant species were introduced intentionally
and unintentionally. Once-intact landscapes became fragmented through
development. And sage grouse numbers, once in the millions, dwindled to
somewhere between 200,000 and 500,000. Today, many of these broken
ecosystems are on life support; some say they are beyond repair and that we
must learn to live with something less. I still hold out some hope, and I’m
not alone.

See the link above for the full text of the opinion piece.
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