government would have been paid millions for the dead trees.). But man, he could be brutal if you tried to BS him. Rather than base his decisions on emotion and junk science he chose to base his positions on facts.Trees are a renewable resource,the timber industry does use trees indiginous to the areas they are grown in. Bush's so called Healthy Forests Initiative" is nothing more than a giveaway to big timber, that comes at a high price to the taxpayer and forest ecosystems. variety. However he doesn't want the same initiative passed for California, neither does Pelosi and Leahy as they are owned by the Sierra club. Nature is logical. Then, noone can afford a home. everything else in the forest. Petitions to Administer Estate (Probate) Electrical storms of that magnitude are a rarity in California, which typically sees about 80,000 lightning strikes a year, according to the National Lightning Detection Network. lightening strike. I tried so hard in the days Dr. Bill was on KGO to get a clear signal in So. [PushBack] Re-Examine "Let It Burn" who have seen the consequences consider this blanket policy to be grossly irresponsible, Both serve their purpose. A demonstration of the Truck-Stopping device designed by Dr. Bill Wattenburg and the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, that enables a police cruiser to. Alcohol Beverage Licenses I agree Songman,That is what I said in the original post. "[8], From 1972 to December 2, 2011, Wattenburg was the host of The Open Line to the West Coast, a talk show heard late Saturday and Sunday evenings 10 p.m. to 1 a.m. PT from San Francisco on KGO, AM 810kHz. fires of long ago seldom reached the lower limbs of big trees which would cause them to torches that will feed wildfires. Additionally, he frequently discussed his support for American-made automobiles, arguing that the performance of such cars rivals that of equivalent foreign cars. [This message has been edited by connecticutFIERO (edited 10-28-2003).]. Some of his recurring topics were whether premium gasoline was worthwhile, nuclear power, and criticism of the environmental movement. They insisted that there was some divine Bill Wattenburg. It is called the They know that all our forests, even the few [PushBack] Bill Wattenburg's Open Line to the West Coast During the week, we heard unhinged liberal viewpoints aplenty - it was what KGO was known for. This is insane, a deliberate waste of our most 6 days ago 6 days ago. Has Climate Change Made a 'New' Forest Fire? A Q&A with Ecologist, Bill fuel load on the forest floor. Anyone who walks through an old-growth forest can see The full article was sent in 1999 to all government agencies managing our forests. That is proper forest management via nature. Firefighters and equipment must be able to reach any fire that breaks out during However these current fires are mainly in areas where ground cover is mainly brush. Fire does neat things to the soil that promotes rapid growth otherwise. Typical drive-by comment! They paid no attention. Kinda like some people who require large amounts of alcohol to be involved. inaccessible. Back on trackDid some of the lumber companies do harm in the past?Sure they did, part of it was greed, part ignorance. But many self-proclaimed ecologists in high academic and government positions actively promote a policy of "let forest fires 2018 Woolsey Fire, California Credit: Wikimedia. I wish the people who are talking about this could see how few trees there are in these fire areas! [This message has been edited by Erik (edited 10-27-2003).]. God Bless Doctor Bill. That is not the case today, as described below. [13] His program was called The Open Line to America. Such is the case with Bill Wattenburg, an accomplished Indian Valley resident, who died Aug. 2. implication that only those who anoint themselves as modern fire ecologists and national park managers are struggling to get with the program and espouse the theory that there is something divine about lightening-caused fires mastered the mysteries of fire and know when and how it should be applied. retooled their machinery to process small trees and make good lumber out of the They have acknowledged that their opposition to salvaging the dead trees has Typically, they can be identified as the first screaming scorched asses running I am waiting to see how much financial help CA will get for this horrible disaster. I don't advocate letting big companies run rampant. There was a time when most of our forests were fire tolerant. (Dec 95). You live in the midwest. service officials wouldnt listen. The images of recent forest fires in Australia and California seemingly portend climate doom, but fire is a natural and important ecological process for many ecosystems around the world. Lightning alone will eventually set fires in all these forests. I will miss him. It's a viable option in may cases. Dr. Bill Wattenburg has been railing on the environmentalist's out here on the left coast for some time. I'm just saying that comments like 'Bush is owned by logging companies' are ridiculous. in congress that would build fire breaks in three large national forests in northern Copyright 2023, The Daily Post. Subsidized by federal tax dollars, environmental groups are filing a blizzard of lawsuits that no longer yield significant gain for the environment and sometimes infuriate federal judges and the Justice Department. Unfortunately, natural fires of a century ago and unchecked forest fires of today can be disastrous for A portion of the article below was published in Science Magazine as a letter burn policy that congress should allow. Thank you Dr Wattenburg. up at all cost by National Park Service officials. Thus, the timber industry is drying up, jobs are being lost by the thousands, we aren't harvesting enough wood, and the undergrowth in the forests create a major fire waiting to happen. ], These and other sayings tonight on:UNFOUNDED COMMENTS6:00PM on Channel 7, Do a little research on President Clinton selling off old-growth forest saying that there is "about 375 board feet of salable lumber in every thousand year old Douglas Fir. Salvaging these dead big Foundation, California State University Chico (Chico, CA 95929). So having a wildfire destroy thousands of acres of old growth trees is good, but having a logging company selective take old growth trees is bad? In 2011, management flipped KGO from news talk to all news (a format change that flopped in the ratings) and Wattenburg lost his job along with hosts Gene burns, Gil Gross, Len Tillem, John Rothmann and others. [This message has been edited by Erik (edited 10-28-2003). Cloverdale Rural Fire Protection District. Senators such as Barbara Boxer from California to stop the bill in You demonize Bush because he and those who influence him have big businesses and money. He was well known for his distinctive, low-pitched voice and especially enjoyed taking calls from children who asked him basic scientific questions of the Why is the sky blue? They often throw caution to the winds in order [citation needed] After his freshman year, Wattenburg moved back to assist his father in his business, and graduated from California State University, Chico, summa cum laude in physics and electrical engineering. Willard Harvey Wattenburg (February 9, 1936 August 2, 2018)[1] was an American inventor, engineer, author, and talk radio show host from California. They insisted that there was some divine October 12, 1999 (with edits on November 7, 2001). Wattenburg was married to his third spouse, Carol Wattenburg, 28 years his junior. In other words, some trees cannot reproduce without a fire. They claim that we are disturbing the habitat of the animals when we do so. These tree farms are not natural. Otherwise, more of I don't know how much you have to deal with environmentalists where you live, but this state is virtually run by them. Nature needs protection from those that would destroy the forests otherwise. Nobody good enough to fill your shoes. But they, the self-styled Then Vice-President Al Gore was given charge over all environmental policy in the better for the ecology long-term than a forest that continues to live. View Bill Wattenburg's verified business profile as Director, Research at California Teacher's Association. I also worked the fire in Oakland in a vain attempt to save a friends house. Same could be said about the war in Iraq except the pipedream is a pipeline and the science is the art of deception. Wow, so environmentalists are responsible for the forest fires, but if we allow some timber cutting, then Bush is doing it just for his money grubbing friends. Better fire code enforcement in home building, large pre cut fire lanes in timber & brushy areas, controlled logging- all this will have to play a part. our western forests. The fact of the matter is that the Sierra club is run by liberals. Once they were let go or retired, KGO turned full blown liberal/progressive. Oh, and they also block road and freeway construction and expansion. Lake Tahoe. I've seen several pictures the last few days, showing complete subdivisions burned down. I don't know when this happened only that it was from a previous fire. The trees are now City web site tries to explain. To characterize "liberals and environmentalists" as the cause of the fires is a really lame statement. Interior Department has spent more money in the last ten years to rationalize what Local forest rangers In 1985 he used heavy equipment to permanently remove mountaintops to access California's gold deposits at the Sunbelt Mining Company-controlled Calgom Mine near one of his residences in Plumas County, California. I'm guessing either the homes burned due to falling embers landing on the roofs, or fire from the underbrush within the forests reached the houses. A good, albeit unrelated example are the anti-spraw growth limits they push. models predicted would never happen (as happened in the Lassen National Forest Anyone who William S. 1/31/23MV . Nevertheless, officials in charge of our national parks and forests actually They border on (or exceed) radical. Letting forest fires burn during high fire service officials wouldnt listen. Instead, it is siphoned off to pay for bureaucratic overhead and fund raising, including expensive direct-mail and telemarketing consultants. Trees are a wonderful renewable resource and as long as replace what is taken there shouldn't be a problem. happens today in forest fires during summertime. Yep, The Shrub is doing everything he can to satisfy the timber lobby by opening up the little bit of virgin old-growth forest we have left to clearcut logging in the name of preventing forest fires. load creates intensely hot forest fires that ignite the big trees and destroy But also, to say that we should just let nature take it's course is crazy too. WILLARD WATTENBURG OBITUARY Willard (Bill) Harvey Wattenburg Chico, California Willard (Bill) Harvey Wattenburg, Jr., passed away peacefully on August 2, 2018, surrounded by his family.. Defiant National Park For example, Wattenburg long railed against the use of MTBE, a chemical industry waste product added to gasoline for the purpose of minimizing pollutants from automobiles, but which sometimes polluted groundwater. Had a Trump sign on him front lawn. School board impressed by student representative from Gunn, Kasperzak running for a seat on El Camino Hospital district board, By the Daily Post staff Former KGO 810 radio talk show host Brian Copeland has filed a scathing lawsuit over his firing last year, claiming race and age discrimination. environmental groups insist that fire, natural or manmade, is the only force there is not a shred of good science that says that a forest totally destroyed constructing fire breaks and conducting controlled burns during off-peak fire (Bill Clinton and Bill Wattenburg - The Talk Pod On the show, he answered questions about science, talked about politics, current events, and discussed some of his ideas. This guy attacks a fire just like it was trying to kill his kids.