Hearing the chorus of loony assertion that “climate change” is the cause of our annual wildfire epidemic would make me laugh if the situation were not so serious. We call this “weather,” and it changes seasonally and annually due to celestial events such as the changing position of the earth to the sun and the 11-year solar cycle.

Western states, indeed all states, are paying the price of decades of bowing to environmentalist whacks who demanded preservation of dense, dry undergrowth in our forests and wilderness areas on the premise that this provides a habitat for small animals. This is where the vast bulk of these fires start, regardless of cause.

Happy now, tree huggers? What happened to the habitat you demanded be preserved? Up in smoke, along with the trees, the country sides, houses, businesses.

It’s time to return to reality and begin clearing our forests and wilderness areas of old undergrowth and dead timber, to give nature a chance to survive.

Charles Hodges

Snohomish