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About Eugene weekly. (Eugene, Oregon) 1993-current | View Entire Issue (Sept. 1, 2022)
letters recall campaign hide their real agenda and manufacture other concerns that are unrelated. They simply don't like Syrett. Their hypocrisy is odious. Lee F. Redick Eugene RECALL IS REGRESSIVE I live in Claire Syrett’s ward and I voted “no” on the recall. I disagree with those pushing this recall on EmX, which is a good transportation system, home- less shelter and upzoning for affordable “middle housing.” Syrett’s opponents say she doesn’t listen to them. I wouldn’t, either. They want to keep Eugene the same, as if the city were some kind of museum. We can’t do that. It’s time for these regres- sive folks to get out of the way. Lynn Porter Eugene CENIGA SUPPORTS REPRODUCTIVE EXTREMISM Thanks to a friend bringing it to my at- tention, I’ve studied Dawn Lesley’s race against Ryan Ceniga, the Jay Bozievich- recruited right winger running for Lane County commissioner position 1. Not to my surprise, I've learned Ceniga is allied with the reproductive extremist cadre known as Oregon Right to Life. Their press release about the pri- mary election names Ceniga as one of their endorsements, though it appears nowhere on his web site. The anti-choice crew likes to keep their profile low in non-partisan races like commissioner but funnel money and volunteers to fa- vored choices. If you think that offices like local commissions and councils would not interest reproductive extremists, you would be wrong. It’s part of their nation- al strategy to pass a so-called Human Life Amendment and then use the gov- ernment to force control over women’s bodies. They pulled a solid stunt in East Lane County this past May, taking out Commissioner Joe Berney with the gun- toting wingnut David Loveall, also an ORTL extremist. Please log on to Dawn Lesley's cam- paign and send her money at DawnLes- ley.org. And if you live in West Lane, be sure to ask the campaign for a lawn sign. Mike Bonner Eugene SYRETT SUPPORTS WASTING MONEY ON PUBLIC TRANSIT Having only 40 years experience in real estate appraisal, including super- vising and appraising right-of-way ac- quisition for LTD's Pioneer Parkway, ODOT and Lane County road projects, I certainly do not have the transporta- tion experience of a city councilor who majored in arts, but I can assure the reader that LTD projects are not about the climate, public need, profit or any- thing that makes practical sense. Their projects are about one thing: your tax money. Your tax money for designers, bus builders, staff, administration and construction contractors. So when LTD's River Road project shuts down two lanes of vehicular traf- fic so that their empty buses can travel freely while we have traffic backed up and idling at the eight stoplights be- tween Santa Clara and their vacant new bus stop on River Road, be sure to write Clair Syrett and thank her for her valu- able insight and just forget the emis- sions, wasted tax money and delays. Ei- ther that or send a message by voting to recall a councilor who supports ridicu- lous and expensive projects. Doug Freeman Eugene Local Vocal and VIEWPOINT BY TIMOTHY INGALSBEE Humility and Hope for the Future LESSONS LEARNED FROM THE 2020 LABOR DAY FIRESTORMS A s a wildland firefighter, fire policy analyst and fire ecology advocate, I've learned to respect the power of wildfire and its vital ecologi- cal role, and appreciate humanity's unique skill in using fire to help nurture Nature's balance and abundance. I thought I knew what wild- fires would do in the westside Cascades, and long ago tuned out the newsmedia's sensationalism and the Forest Service's fear-mongering about “catastrophic wildfires.” But then came the 2020 Labor Day firestorms. East winds blowing warm, dry air down western slopes in the fall are rare but natural events, and are usually localized to a few mountain valleys. It is likely that many of the Cascades’ majestic old-growth Douglas fir forests were born in the flames fanned by such events centuries ago. But the windstorm that blew like a bulldozer's blade from B.C. to Baja sparked new fires and whipped up existing blazes all along the Pacific West, each wildfire surging thousands of acres in the span of a couple days. Many of those fires were sparked by powerlines igniting fires in the worst places and conditions. One powerline fire in Oregon started inside a firefighter base camp, forcing hundreds of crews to flee for their lives. Another powerline ignition is a prime suspect for starting the Holiday Farm Fire, which burned like a blowtorch in a wind tunnel down the McKenzie River Valley. Firefighters were overwhelmed from the moment they arrived on scene, forced to do traffic control for residents evacuating with a minute's notice because it was humanly impossible to directly engage the fire. Homes sandwiched between the McKenzie River and the highway ignited from a blizzard of embers, and eventually burned down to ashes. No firelines could have surpassed those features to save those homes. Corporate timber plantations in the surrounding foothills were totally incinerated from crown fires that swept through their tree farms. No amount of fuels reduction could have surpassed the clearcutting that took place before the fire. We now know absolutely that we cannot prevent wildfires, and firefighters cannot stop and put out all wildfires. Decades of Smokey Bear propaganda that conditioned people to wrongly fear all forest fires is now being amplified by the valid fear of climate change, and the specter that people are powerless in the face of climate-driven mega- 4 S E P T E M B E R 1 , 2 0 2 2 fires. The despair and disempowerment known as “climate doomism” is expressing itself in a kind of wildfire doomism that wrongly believes there is nothing we can do to avoid catastrophe. But we are not powerless. There are tangible, practical steps that people can take to become safer in their homes, and to make forests become more resilient in a world where large-scale fire events are becoming more frequent. The first thing to do is to harden homes against flames and embers and reduce combustibles within 100 feet of your house. This greatly reduces the chance your home will ignite and burn even in the midst of a high-intensity wildfire. Knowing that people and property are prepared for fire will enable crews to perform beneficial ecological fire management instead of ineffective emergency fire suppres- sion. It will provide more opportunities for prescribed fires and Indigenous cultural burning that are the most effective, economical ways to reduce fuel hazards and wild- fire risks while also restoring fire-adapted ecosystems and cultural resources essential to Indigenous communities. The sooner we prepare homes and rural communities for fire, the sooner we can restore forest ecosystems with fire. The 2020 Labor Day firestorm was like a 1,000-year flood of fire, the most dramatic and terrifying sign of climate change we've experienced in the Pacific Northwest — so far. I admit that I was humbled by the ferocity of those firestorms that exhibited fire behavior beyond anyone's living memory. While large-scale wildfires were formerly rare events in western Oregon, they will become more common in our future. For a hopeful vision that a new relationship with forest fires can be forged with practical actions that keep fire in the forest but out of our homes, I invite you to see the inspiring new documentary, Elemental, showing at the newly-renovated Bijou Art House Sept. 9 through 16. Opening night will feature a reception with educational displays from local nonprofits and a panel of wildfire experts to answer your questions following the film. We can relearn how to live safely and sustainably with fire on the land. Labor Day is the perfect day for all of us to get to work on preparing for that future. Timothy Ingalsbee, Ph.D., is a former wildland firefighter and certified senior wildland fire ecologist. He is co-founder and executive director of the Eugene-based nonprofit Firefighters United for Safety, Ethics and Ecology (FUSEE) and teaches fire courses at the University of Oregon and Lane Community College. E U G E N E W E E K LY . C O M
