LETTER from CHIP NORTHRUP

Hotter World

= More Fires

To the Editor:

Like everything else, the wildfires in California have been politicized by President Trump, who blames them on “bad forest management.”

Catch is, most of what’s burning are not trees, much less “forests” but grass and shrubs.

We lived in California for years. Except for the Sierras, most of California is a desert – right up to the beach. When the hot Santa Ana winds blow in from the desert to the coast, they dry the grass and shrubs to kindling, which makes for dandy fire fuel.

No “bad forest management” necessary. Not even from a Trump University Forestry major.

These fires, which have been recurring seasonally since the last Ice Age, are getting worse, but not
because someone neglected to “sweep the forest.”

As long as grass and brush grow in California, there will be fires. The hotter the earth, the more the fires.

That’s true everywhere in the world. Even Upstate. No politics necessary.

CHIP NORTHRUP
Cooperstown