Burn This Issue! A Primer on Wildland Fire

june 12, 2003  03:48 pm
Burn This Issue! A Primer on Wildland Fire
With another fire season looming in the American West, Montana Governor Judy Martz hopes to get a jump on the flames by hosting the Western Governors' Association in Missoula, which is being billed as a Healthy Forest Summit. "The purpose of the Summit," the WGA has announced, "is to accelerate locally driven projects that will prevent catastrophic wildfires by reducing fuel loads and restoring lands." In other words, Missoula will this weekend play host to to an official pep rally of support for President George W. Bush's latest bout with resource policy doublespeak. To prepare, Missoula Independent devotes its entire issue to the theme of fire, including instructions for turning this week's newpaper into a flaming fire kite. Burn, baby, burn.