Open letter to Regional Forester, United States Forest Service, Region 1 
Leanne Marten, Missoula, Montana 59804
Dear Regional Forester,
I have been inundated with calls from my constituents relative to what can be done about the smoke in the air from forest fires. They talk of their health being compromised, and their quality of life significantly diminished. They go on to contend that this is just another in a series of many smoke-and-ash-filled summers in recent years. These citizens expect those of us in public service to provide them answers. As the leader of the largest land management organization in northern Idaho, what would you suggest I tell them?
Should I tell them that this is the best that they can expect from the US Forest Service (USFS)? That current land management goals are being achieved, and that they should just get used to it? That the air quality disaster is simply an unfortunate side effect of a proper forest management plan? That the terrifying infernos of raging forest fire should become a way of life for Idaho’s residents?
Should I tell them that because of regulations, red tape, and other administrative problems that, as an agency, your hands are tied? That while this smoke may create a health crisis for the elderly, those with respiratory problems, young children and others, there is simply nothing your agency can do to change this reality? That the concerns for health are somebody else’s fault and the USFS is a victim in this legal battleground?
Should I tell them that they should pursue other means of management of federal lands, such as state ownership/management or private ownership? A number of constituents are so frustrated with this environmental disaster that they want to find a way to wrest management of forest lands from the USFS. Will you suggest this is a viable option?
Should I tell them there is no hope to change what is going on, and they should expect the fires and the suffocating smoke to be a part of their lives indefinitely? That they may want to consider leaving the area permanently, or at least during the summer months? Should I suggest that the USFS recommends Americans with respiratory issues stay away from northern Idaho during summertime? 
OR
Should I tell them that you and your agency realize current forest management policies have led to unintended consequences? That fuels are critically high and need to be drastically reduced, particularly in view of our drier climate? Can I give them hope that your organization will immediately begin work to revitalize and rejuvenate our forests and wildlands? That dead and dying forests are not the future of federal land management?
Should I tell them that you are ready to sit down with stakeholders and have a roundtable discussion as to how we can move forward with fresh ideas, and the benefit of 20/20 hindsight? Is it possible that the clear evidence of failed land management decisions can be turned into an opportunity to create a new forest vision? A vision from which we can all benefit and have a new quality of life.
I would really like to know. What do you suggest I tell our neighbors?
Carl Crabtree
Idaho State Senator, 
District 7

Redneck Review!
No. 128 - 10/2/17
Wow!  Is it not obvious that a dose of old-fashioned common sense would solve a lot of the problems we have in our nation today? Current news tells us that our economy and the world's is struggling with huge debt, and seem  unable to find an acceptable solution!
But did not the common sense claim of Frederik Bastiat in his book THE LAW, make a lot of sense as reviewed last week?  He claimed that the forced taking of money from a person who earned it for the sole purpose of giving it to another who had not earned it, was theft,  PLUNDER  he called it, and LEGAL PLUNDER, since done by government somehow it became okay!  And his argument that the plundering would be small at the beginning, but would logically grow, until towards the end, government would be forced to use debt passed on to future generations, because it is not possible to take enough in taxes from the plundered people to satisfy all of the folks on the receiving end! 
That simple but convincing argument was made around 1850 A.D. and a study of the U.S. economy over the last 150 plus years is historical proof of his common sense theory!
But Bastiat is not the only warning we have received from the past, which reminds us again that "Those who do not learn from the past are doomed to repeat its mistakes!" Many are the warnings and lessons we could still learn from such a study, but here we turn again to RNR reviews  #16 and 17 from August of 2015.   In 1787, a professor of history from the U. of Edinburgh in Scotland, studying the fall of Athens a Greek city state, noted for its pure democracy, claimed: "A democracy is always temporary in nature: it simply cannot exist as a permanent form of government."
Professor Tyler went on to say: "A democracy will continue to exist up until the time that its voters discover they can vote themselves generous gifts from the public treasury. From that moment on, the majority always vote for the candidates who promise the most benefits from the public treasury, with the result that every democracy will finally collapse due to loose fiscal policy, which is always followed by a dictatorship."
He added: "The average age of the world's greatest civilizations...has been 200 years. And during those 200 years, those nations always went through the following cycle:   Bondage >Spiritual Faith  >  Great Courage  >  Liberty  >  Abundance  >  Complacency  >  Apathy  >Dependency  >  Bondage."
Each of us can ask ourselves if this cycle is believable, and if by chance, the United States seems to be on a somewhat similar path!  Does a knowledge of human nature, and an old fashioned bit of common sense tell us that this is far fetched and crazy, or does there seem to be a bit of wisdom in the conclusions drawn? Does the recent news that our national debt now exceeds $20 trillion, and is destined to grow in the future give us cause for concern?  Orit is possible that we can just continue all the spending going on, unlimited it seems, without any threat to our future and that of our children and grandchildren?  Is it somehow possible that the pressure put on individuals to repay personal debt does not apply to governments who make use of continued deficits around the world to fund programs of all kinds, a good number of which seem to meet the definition of LEGAL PLUNDER as explained by Bastiat?  Could it be true, that our nation, now about 240 years removed from the Declaration of Independence in 1776, considered our birth date, be destined for the end Tyler predicts happens to all democracies?  I have my thoughts on this matter... so I ask... what are yours!
Jake Wren

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