Mega-wildfires caused by bad government management?

Art Moore

Many successful methods of mitigating wildfires employed by U.S. Forest Service in the early 20th century were abandoned largely because of efforts by environmental activists, argued Rep. Tom Clintock on the House floor Oct. 3. McClintock, the Heritage Foundation’s Daily Signal reported, contends 1970s laws such as the National Environmental Policy Act and the Endangered Species Act in particular have led to poor forest management.The congressman said the laws “have resulted in endlessly time-consuming and cost-prohibitive restrictions and requirements that have made the scientific management of our forests virtually impossible.”...In Congress, members of the Western Caucus have proposed legislation designed to give power back to local authorities and allow for more aggressive forest thinning.The Daily Signal said one idea, borrowed from the playbook of the school choice movement, is to created charter forests that are publicly owned but privately managed. The move would decentralize forest management, professor Robert H. Nelson wrote for The Wall Street Journal, exempting certain forests from current requirements for public land-use planning and the writing of environmental impact statements...more