Let environmentalists fight fires

​I have lived on a dairy farm in Los Banos for 81 years. On Sept. 11, for the first time in my life, I could not see the sun at 4 p.m. because of smoke from forest fires.

This is caused by the drought and mismanagement of our forests, which has resulted in these destructive, out-of-control fires. Farmers are easily the greatest environmentalists in the world, because when your livelihood depends on the soil, water and climate, you develop a greater knowledge and appreciation for the environment. If farmers were caring for forests, we would they wouldn’t be burning.

What people don’t think about is many animals suffer and die because of the fires. The environmentalists say fires are nature’s way of cleaning up the forests and should be allowed to burn out by themselves. If this is the case, why spend money and risk the lives of firefighters to put them out?

Half of the money spent on fighting fires should be used to clean up the forests so fires would not be so destructive. The environmentalists should be fighting the fires since they are a major reason for them.

This story was originally published September 17, 2015 at 6:04 AM with the headline "Let environmentalists fight fires."