'Environmentalists' Endanger Sequoias
NewsMax.com
Tuesday, July 23, 2002
You don't have to be a tree hugger to love California's magnificent sequoias. But thanks to environment-destroying "environmentalists," these towering symbols of the West could go up in smoke.
A 38,000-acre fire roared through Giant Sequoia National Monument today and came within two miles of the Trail of 100 Giants. This majestic grove features some of God's greatest work, among the largest and most ancient living things on Earth, 1,500 years old.
Nuisance lawsuits lodged by "environmentalists" have abetted the growth of the fire. "The courts have blocked the removal of much of the underbrush on the monument's forest floor," the Associated Press reported today.
"Every other project we've tried to do, the environmentalists have filed a lawsuit," said forest ranger Dale Pengilly.
All that underbrush, along with weeks of drought, has increased the danger to the "priceless" trees, said Forest Service spokesman Matt Mathes.
"These trees can withstand a lot of fire, but if there's a lot of fuel buildup on the forest floor, and temperature and humidity and winds are not favorable, we could have a problem," he said.
Oh, and human lives and property are in danger too. More than 1,000 people have fled the area. At least 10 buildings have burned and 200 homes are at risk.
"I was scared. I've never seen it so close. It was coming so fast," said Simone Wallace, who left her home in Johnsondale on Sunday.
Now, thanks to tree-hugging hypocrites, more than 1,000 firefighters are risking themselves to save the sequoias.
A product that might interest you:
'Let Freedom Ring' - Sean Hannity reveals how to triumph over the left