This petition is not political.  It is not pro or anti environmentalist.  Our country MUST come together in order to stop the devastating fires that are burning our forests & communities.  

If you don't live on the west coast you might think this doesn't affect your life, but the timber that grows in western Oregon is some of the best timber in the entire world, and the loss we have recently suffered will have a global impact.

There have been "forest management" lawsuits for years between private interest groups, the government, corporations and the list could continue.  There has been MUCH debate & research.

The current policy is:  within wilderness, the Forest Service aims to permit lightning-caused fires to play a natural ecological role and reduce the risks and consequences of wildfire both within and outside the wilderness. (FSM 2324.21). The Forest Service seeks to prevent fires from escaping and causing damage to nearby communities. In pursuit of that goal, the Forest Service gives preference to methods, called Minimum Impact Suppression Techniques, that cause the least alteration of the wilderness resource and the least disturbance to the land surface, air quality, and visitor solitude. (FSM 2324.23).

In short, the agency protects the wilderness whenever possible. It seems that  the one thing that ALL sides should agree on right now is that something is wrong, and the current "Plan" is NOT working. Although the policy as written has good intentions, it doesn't provide clear enough guidance to protect our communities.  We can leave the larger debate for another day.

Today this petition proposes one simple change that would have saved immeasurable loss of forest, homes and YES lives.  I propose that :

Any Fire Burning within 15 miles of a residential area (population of 50 or greater) be extinguished regardless of "Wilderness" status.  

This won't solve or answer all of the disagreements we have with forest management, but it could have saved our community, and might save yours in the future.  

Beachie Creek Fire: Started Aug 16th, 2020 (lightning) within 2 miles of Jawbone Flats & 6 miles of Detroit Oregon (population 224 in 2018).  A "historic" windstorm  Sept 7th, 2020 carried the Beachie Creek Fire west and created an unprecedented fire event.  Please consider the simplicity of this solution, and know that if enacted it will start the process of desperately needed change.