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Letters: Flag meaning runs deeper It is dismaying to read that some people are distressed over the planned display of the United States flag at a center for learning in Ashland. Or rather, it is surprising to read such a shallow view of what the flag represents. Although the flag of this country is often abused by commercial interests, the meaning behind the actual flag runs much deeper than what this country or its society says today. It does not represent only the negative aspects of governmental policy and cultural identity of the current era. It represents a country that emerged over 200 years ago and all of the events and people that have been a part of it to this day. It represents all the good and bad aspects of the country since its inception. Not just the bad parts. The United States flag represents everyone's freedom to live and struggle for a quality of life that is unrivaled in human history, except for kings, emperors and dictators. It represents all 260 million people who have 260 million different ideals about what this country should or shouldn't be. It represents a freedom that many people in the world do not enjoy. Being a citizen of the planet does not mean that you can't also be a citizen of the country that you are a part of. And being upset about the way the country is currently run does not mean that you must dislike the country as a whole. Nor its flag. Mike Gantenbein Phoenix *** Tidings article exploits a child I am writing in regards to the article printed on the front page of the July 3rd edition: "Daycare Center Shuttered Amid Sex Abuse Inquiry." As a member of this community, and a close personal friend of the family of the accused; I was appalled at the way our supposed "community paper" crucified a 15-year-old kid in the form of a vicious article written by Myles Murphy. After reading the article, my faith of responsible reporting by the Ashland Daily Tidings and fair depiction of subjects in articles is tarnished forever. Families in this community do not deserved to be exploited by our small town "media" just to get a front page story. Former Ashland Daily Tidings Reader, Heather Mooney, Ashland *** Guest Forum: Stumps, Steers, and CO2: Finding the True Causes of Western fires By Pepper Trail Ashland How fickle is fame! Not long ago, Smokey (the) Bear was a national icon, and Forest Service officials posed proudly alongside him to promote their fire policy. Today, those same officials give grim news conferences to announce that a century of fire suppression has created a buildup of fuels that threatens an inferno across the West. In this crisis atmosphere, the U.S. House of Representatives recently passed the "Healthy Forests Restoration Act," a bill backed by the Bush Administration and sponsored by our own Greg Walden. As the Senate prepares to take up this measure, it's appropriate to take a hard look at the government's new orthodoxy toward forests and fire. The basic premise of the fire suppression hypothesis is that the longer time between fire, the more fuel buildup, the worse the next fire will be. A simple, clear relationship - simple, clear, and wrong. A meticulous analysis of fire patterns in the Klamath Mountains has shown that forests that have not burned for a long time actually burn with lower intensity than more recently burned forests. What's more, tree plantations experienced twice as much high-intensity fire as did multi-aged forests. This research shows the folly of the administration's approach to fuels reduction projects, which is to pay for them by logging big trees that are profitable for the timber industry. In many forests, such an approach is likely to make fires worse. The study highlights an obvious but rarely acknowledged reason for our current fire problem: past logging activities. Over the last hundred years, our biggest impact on the forests of the West has not been fire suppression. It has been the elimination of over 80 percent of old-growth by logging. What remains are younger stands with smaller trees and more brush - exactly the sort of forests that are the most flammable. While we logged the forests of the West, we also introduced another agent of drastic ecological change: cattle. Grazing has replaced native bunchgrasses with alien annual grasses that provide more continuous fine fuels. In many forests, grazing has eliminated hardwoods in the understory, favoring dense stands of stunted conifers. Such stands are highly flammable, and also contribute to drought stress that renders forests vulnerable to insect attack, and yet more fire risk. And let's not forget the most important factor of all: weather. Any veteran firefighter will tell you that hot, dry conditions are what create uncontrollable wildfires and bad fire years. There has been an increase in such weather conditions over recent decades, which many experts believe is a consequence of human-caused global warming. If this is the case, the bad fire seasons of the past ten years may pale in comparison to what is coming. And what is our government doing to address carbon dioxide emissions or even acknowledge global warming? In a word, nothing. We all want healthy forests, and we all want to keep wildfires away from our communities. Those goals will not be served by pretending that there is a simple "cure" for all the problems that our activities have created. We need a thoughtful and site-specific approach to forest management and a clear focus on actions that will protect human life and property. Fuels reduction should take place in the immediate vicinity of communities, and should not cut big trees, the most fire-proof part of the forest. Finally, any effective plan must encourage public involvement and the application of local knowledge. Unfortunately, the misnamed "Healthy Forests Restoration Act" fails on all counts. It would focus logging where the profits are, not where the hazards are, and impose sweeping restrictions on public input and review. Our forests, and our communities, deserve better. Ashland resident Pepper Trail is a wildlife biologist and Conservation Chairman of the Rogue Valley Audubon Society.. LINKS: DAILY TIDINGS: Main | News | Sports | Obituaries | Opinion | Columnists | AP News | Subscribe | Archives | Weather | Classifieds | Contact Us | Privacy REVELS: Main | Calendar | Dining | Movies | T.V. OTHER: Road Cams Copyright 2003 Ashland Daily Tidings 541.482.3456. 1661 Siskiyou Blvd., Ashland, OR 97520. Ottaway Newspapers, Inc. - Advertisers -