First, do no harm, should be the ethical standard for USFS.

Wood smoke, similar to secondhand cigarette smoke, spreads fine particulates less than 2.5 microns, lethal for elderly, disabled, or infirm people. All forest fires create wood smoke from incomplete combustion, a well-known chemical process. Unlike carbon dioxide, one of the gases created by combustion, PM does not stay in the atmosphere: 100 percent of the PM comes down near or far away from the source. Butler Hollow residents and neighbors will die or move. 

According to medical science, if you smell smoke you are inhaling PM and you will die a slow painful death. Once PM is in your brain or lungs, you are doomed. Humans have no defense for highly toxic fine particulates: our eyes, nose, and mouth are unable to block them. It sounds like a science fiction story, but it easily understood by anyone with an open mind. If you are a forester, you won’t get it, you have been trained to believe the fire myths. If you are an expert forester, you can’t afford to accept the facts, unless you are willing to use Prescribed Goats to manage the forest! 

USFS and the Forestry industry denies the high risk to public health of prescribed burns, using misinformation like the Tobacco industry did in the 1960’s. We all knew people who died from secondhand smoke.

 This project ignores public health, an Environmental Injustice violating EPA/NEPA regulations, with a flawed EA pretending wood smoke is a minor inconvenience. Killing people is a crime; pretending no harm will be done is beyond comprehension, just to sell timber.

USFS Fire Management Officer Jim Cornelius, says on the MTNF website on Prescribed Fires: “Even under the best circumstances, local residents may notice smoke from these prescribed burn projects for a few days following the ignition, particularly in the evening hours. Drivers and residents are reminded of the possibility of unexpected shifting winds that could increase the risk of smoke along roadways near burn areas. Whether it’s prescribed fire or wildfire, if the public encounters smoke on the highways, slow down, turn on your lights and drive appropriately under the conditions.” 

USFS warnings are useless. Fire dates can change at the last minute: “Dates for these prescribed fires may change based upon weather conditions. We monitor weather and fuel conditions up to the very moment the match is lit, and if all conditions are not right, we will cancel or reschedule some of these prescribed fires to make sure we can safely meet our objectives.”

The proposed Alternative #4 is the First Phase of the original project. A February 2015 Nature Conservancy letter sent to all newspapers in the area makes it clear: the 2015 Butler Hollow Project is a radical initiative to use public land for commercial use and logging.

USFS plans an Environmental Analysis (EA), ignoring the public comments on permanent damages outside of Butler Hollow MO. Eureka Springs, Beaver Town, Holiday Island, and anyone near Butler Creek, three miles from Butler Hollow, are at high risk. Table Rock Lake will be contaminated.

The August 8, 2013, Butler Creek flash floods, devastated Carroll and Benton Counties a $5.6 Million federal emergency declared.

Burning all the cedar trees and 14,000 acres of forest would devastate anyone in AR downstream and downwind. An independent Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) for AR and MO and 30 days for public comments is in order. There are no mediation measures, plans or budget to deal with the man-made wildfires and hazards from this project.

Why would the people in charge of our National Forest even think about selling our trees? BUDGET CUTS. This project is a last ditch effort to keep USFS jobs at any cost to the environment, to benefit TNC investors.

To avoid the heavy use of industrial strength Round Up on steep karst landscape, USFS increased the frequency of fires, with Butler Creek feeding Table Rock Lake?

Budget problems are solved with federal funds, not destroying our last natural resources: wildlife, trees, clean air, and clean water.

The Nature Conservancy's Goldman Sachs legacy is to make a windfall from west coast wildfires, insect infestation, and severe droughts. The strategy used in 2008 during the housing crisis may be legal, but is clearly immoral. China, Korea and Japan's insatiable timber demand, does not justify the "Butler Hollow Fire Sale."

Please protect the public health and property rights of the Ozarks. USFS jobs & TNC profits do not justify taking our trees, health, and safety.

Respectfully,

The People of the Ozarks