Editorial: A burning issue

Saturday, Sept. 16, 2006 | 8:15 a.m.

News that the 2006 wildfire season had burned at least 8.7 million acres since January and set a 45-year record didn't make national headlines until earlier this week when one of the blazes came within 30 miles of Los Angeles.

The nation's focus on the five-year anniversary of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks could be one reason. The contentious political battles revolving around November's elections could be another. But a third, more likely, scenario also emerges.

Most of these fires have been out West in areas that have been described as "remote," "sparsely populated" and seemingly devoid of features that would pique public attention. The value of what's at risk is subjective.

Of course, loss of human life must be avoided at all costs. So it is natural for people to be more alarmed when fires burn close to cities and towns. But descriptions of 46 fires in six states that were being tracked Thursday by the National Interagency Fire Center show what else is at stake.

Watersheds, endangered species habitats, mines, archaeological sites, campgrounds and American Indian cultural sites are threatened or burned away. Ranches and cattle grazing lands are in peril, too - a slap to ranchers and farmers already burdened by years of drought.

National fire officials have said the record year is, in part, because of fires starting early in the year and burning from southern Texas to upper Washington state. Fires destroyed so much grazing land in Oklahoma and Texas that the federal government has granted permission to graze livestock on land that was set aside for conservation.

Some wildfires are needed for ecological purposes. It's nature's way of cleaning house and making room for healthy new growth. But only four of the 49 large blazes that were burning Thursday were deemed of natural resource management value. U.S. firefighting crews are over their heads and have been bolstered by crews from Australia and New Zealand.

We hope the forecasted rain and cooler temperatures provide some much-needed assistance to the brave firefighters who are working to save our national treasures.