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Oregon state Sen. Herman Baertschiger, Jr. says the West has an epidemic of trees, and he criticized the U.S. Forest Service for its handling of wildfires that left Southern Oregon choking in smoke two summers in a row. “I call it the ‘epidemic of trees.’ We have way too many trees per acre,” he said. Baertschiger, R-Grants Pass, said the Forest Service doesn’t get enough funding from Congress for fuels-reduction projects, so instead of aggressively fighting summer wildfires, the federal agency uses the blazes to reduce fuel loads in overstocked forests. He made the comments during a meeting Thursday with the Jackson County Board of Commissioners, which has been calling in a string of officials — including those from the Forest Service, Oregon Department of Forestry and Bureau of Land Management — to discuss concerns about smoke and wildfires. By allowing wildfires to thin forests, the Forest Service doesn’t have to do environmental studies in advance or risk appeals of fuel-reduction projects, said Baertschiger, who has a background in forestry and wildfire management. A wildfire can reduce fuel loads at a cheaper cost than planned projects that involve thinning and controlled burns, he said. “The rules go out the door,” he said. But wildfires and smoke are damaging the Southern Oregon econom y and people’s health, he said. “We can’t do that management at the expense of the health and welfare of the citizens. You just can’t do it,” he said. Baertschiger said the Klondike fire west of Grants Pass should never have grown beyond 30,000 acres. Instead, the wildfire merged with the Taylor Creek fire and the blazes together have burned 227,285 acres so far. On Oct. 15, wind caused the Klondike fire to flare up again — triggering evacuation notices and a conflagration declaration by Gov. Kate Brown. Baertschiger said the Forest Service herded the fires around, rather than aggressively battling them. New Rogue River-Siskiyou National Forest Supervisor Merv George, Jr. previously met with commissioners and said the Forest Service does not have a “let-it-burn” policy. George said he got the job in part because he is known for being aggressive on wildfires. George said fighting the Klondike fire was a high priority for him. He ordered smokejumpers to launch an initial attack on the remote wildfire located in the Kalmiopsis Wilderness Area, but he couldn’t get air tanker back-up for the on-the-ground firefighters and eventually had to pull back on those initial attack efforts because of safety risks. Wildfire managers have said there weren’t enough resources to go around July 15, when a massive lightning storm sparked at least 145 fires in Southern Oregon. Fires that were close to communities had priority over more distant fire starts. The rugged, isolated Kalmiopsis was home to the 191,125-acre Chetco Bar fire last year and the nearly 500,000-acre Biscuit fire in 2001. The Oregon Department of Forestry has been critical of the Forest Service’s work on the Klondike and Taylor Creek fires, saying the federal agency wasn’t aggressive enough. The Forest Service has countered that its safety-conscious approach meant no lives were lost in Southern Oregon. It also loaned federal firefighting resources from the Klondike and Taylor Creek fires to help put out the Ramsey Canyon fire, which broke out later in the season. ODF and the Forest Service together have spent more than $260 million fighting fires in southwest Oregon this year. Baertschiger said federal agencies need to keep roads open so crews can reach fires. “Those road systems are absolutely essential,” he said. The Forest Service has said maintaining its road system, much of which dates from peak logging days, is too expensive. But Baertschiger said the roads don’t have to be maintained. Fire crews can clear overgrown roads — but they can’t use roads that have been obliterated. County commissioners and ODF have also advocated for keeping roads open. Baertschiger said forests need more thinning and controlled burn s. He sees a role for logging as well, although he would like to see loggers mimic the effects of wildfires — which burn in a patchy, mosaic pattern, wiping out some stands while leaving other trees relatively unscathed. Environmental groups have cautioned that logging removes large, fire-resilient trees and opens up the canopy, triggering the regrowth of highly flammable brush and small trees. Meanwhile, Jackson County commissioners have been exploring the costs and feasibility of having firefighting helicopters assigned to Southern Oregon during the fire season and not allowing those to be diverted to other wildfires in the West. Commissioner Rick Dyer said commissioners will be talking with helicopter companies about the cost of 90-day contracts for different types of on-call helicopters. Commissioners hope to lobby the state and federal government to fund helicopters for Southern Oregon. Dyer said the helicopters could help snuff out fire starts before they turn into summer-long wildfires. Commissioners plan to request meetings with experts from the Medford Air Tanker Base and ODF to discuss additional resources they need to battle fires. They want to hear from Ashland Forest Resiliency Project representatives to learn more about how that thinning project in the forest above Ashland has reduced wildfire risk. Commissioners are also making plans for a public meeting to gather input about the impact wildfires and smoke have had on the community, and to hear suggestions for solutions. They will collect that information and send it to officials, including those in Congress. That public hearing will likely take place in December. Reach Mail Tribune reporter Vickie Aldous at 541-776-4486 or [email protected] . Follow her on Twitter @VickieAldous.