Southern California's recent wildfires, which claimed 20 lives and destroyed almost 3,000 houses, were a tragedy.(The Week)(Brief Article)

* Southern California's recent wildfires, which claimed 20 lives and destroyed almost 3,000 houses, were a tragedy. What is worse, they were a needless tragedy. For years, the U.S. Forest Service, pressured by the environmental lobby, has pursued a policy of suppressing all forest fires and blocking timber harvesting. The result has been to prevent small fires that are healthy for forests and create natural firebreaks, and to ensure an ample supply of fuel for large-scale ...