30 April 2004

Dr. Reese Halter warns of potential for disastrous fires in Southern California; urges Governor to use prison inmates to clear thousands of dead trees

SAN FRANCISCO, CA: Dr. Reese Halter, president of the international research institute Global Forest Science in San Francisco, has called on Governor Schwarzenegger to take action on dangerous forest conditions in California before it is too late. With weather experts now predicting one of the hottest summers on record and millions of dead trees still standing throughout the state, Dr. Halter said that the potential losses from a major wildfire could be catastrophic; possibly exceeding the $2 billion in damages from wildfires last fall.

"California may be on the precipice of the worst forest and wild fire season ever," Dr. Halter said. "It's only late April and already fires are raging in Arizona, Colorado, Montana and Pennsylvania. California needs leadership right now to take the necessary action and protect our communities."

There are over 12 million dead standing trees within the San Bernardino Mountains of Southern California alone all killed by bark beetles and drought.. Dr. Halter says if these trees are not removed they will become kindling, fueling yet another monster fire in Southern California.

So far Governor Schwarzenegger's office has failed to respond by utilizing prison inmates to help manually remove the dead pines. If the trees are not removed, the cost to taxpayers will be exorbitant. California is experiencing extremely dry spring conditions, which could lead to a disastrous fire season.

In Southern California; Lake Arrowhead, Big Bear, Idyllwild and the hills of Orange County are at severe risk of wildfires. In northern California, the areas of Mammoth and Lake Tahoe are also at risk.

Climate and fire scientists from the Bureau of Land Management are warning that the summer of 2004 could be the worst fire season on record, surpassing those of 2000 and 2002.

They base their predictions on four crucial factors:

* Many years of sustained drought have created water-starved pines, weakening some trees and killing tens of millions of trees throughout the western United States. The result is that tinder dry fuels are ready to burn.

* Warmer winter temperatures have enabled billions of bark beetles to increase their breeding cycles. At least three different species of bark beetles are known to feed off pine trees native to western North America.

*Computer weather models are predicting a summer that will be warmer and drier then normal throughout the West.

* Record-high temperatures last month increased the snowmelt and evaporation much faster than normal throughout the West. A slow snowmelt is important because it slowly feeds water to the mountain vegetation, enabling it to grow during the summer months. Also, a snowmelt is crucial for filling water reservoirs and sustaining local communities during the summer months

According to Dr. Halter, "Most of the Southwest and parts of the Pacific Northwest and Northern Rockies are also at risk. All we can do now is try to fire-proof our communities." Many fire-fighting agencies are deploying crews and resources six to eight weeks earlier than normal.

Tuscon and Banff-based Global Forest Science (www.globalforestscience.org) is a forest biology research institute. With an international multi-disciplinary team of 165 scientists, Global Forest Science is a world leader in forest science research and has often been likened to the Red Adair's of the forest biology world. Global Forest Sciences' many victories ranging from legislation to protect the threatened westslope cutthroat trout of British Columbia, protection of the world's largest ant colony, opening an international insect quarantine facility and helping to save New Zealand's multi billion dollar forestry and agriculture industries from the Australian painted apple moth. Global Forest Science is also dedicated to children's ecological education - visit GFAwesome.
(www.gfawesome.org)

For more information, please contact:
Email: info@globalforestscience.org
Phone: 818.851.9682