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Federal Government
Declines Private Assistance In Fighting Fires– Again
By Rick Stanley
(DENVER CO) Thursday, June 13, was not an ordinary day for Ron Largent. The
Hayman blaze, on its way to becoming the largest wildfire in the history of
Colorado, was burning out of control at Lake George, just 25 miles north of
Ron's home in Cripple Creek. The U.S. Forest Service hadn't been able to contain
it. Today Ron was going to fight the fire.
Ron Largent is the Operations Manager for Anglo Gold Mining in Cripple Creek,
Colorado. Concerned about the fire's progress, his company had volunteered men
and equipment to help cut a firebreak. The Pueblo office of the US Forest
Service had indicated it could use three pieces of earthmoving machinery: two
Caterpillar D10 bulldozers, and one D8. The 600-horsepower D10 has an 18' blade
and is almost seven feet tall. It can uproot large trees without even breathing
hard.
Anglo Gold had already arranged with Ames Construction of Denver to move the
bulldozers to the base camp at Lake George. Special trailers for moving them had
been driven to Colorado -- one from Utah, the other from Kansas. Anglo Gold and
Ames Construction were splitting the $5,000 cost of transporting the dozers to
Lake George.
The dozers pulled into Lake George on Thursday afternoon,
accompanied by a bevy of heavy equipment operators from the mine who were ready
to run the equipment 24 hours a day and cut a firebreak from Lake George to
Divide, then over to Woodland Park. The men figured they could cut a 35' wide
firebreak for 20 miles through the forest in about a week. And they were
offering to do this at no cost to the government. They just wanted to help.
Incredibly, the U.S. Forest Service turned them down. Kim Martin,
the Incident Commander for the Forest Service, told Ron "The
equipment is too heavy. It will tear up the land."
Ron's a big-hearted guy. He still wanted to help. He expanded
Anglo Gold's offer of assistance. Not only would they cut a
20-mile firebreak to help contain the fire at no charge to the
Forest Service -- Anglo Gold would also commit to replant trees
in the affected area once the fire was out. But Martin was
having none of it.
On Friday, June 14, Ron Largent and his crew returned to Cripple
Creek. A week later, they're still seething. The fire remains
uncontrolled on its southeastern flank. And the Forest Service
is finally calling in bulldozers. Little ones, from the Army,
in Fort Carson. Almost fifty miles away.
After recounting this story, Mr. Kent McNaughton, a resident of
Crystola, said, "I'm a homeowner in the area threatened by this
fire. The Forest Service calls it 'a monster.' I'm incensed
that the Forest Service has decided to fight the fire with one
hand tied behind their back. They're fighting a bear with a pea
shooter. They needed a rifle; and when it was offered, they
declined it."
When asked for his reaction, Rick Stanley, the Libertarian
candidate for U.S. Senate, was characteristically blunt. "Two
years ago, when the fire started at Mesa Verde National Park,
local volunteers showed up with bulldozers and water trucks.*
They could have put the fire out in a matter of hours. But the
National Park Service was unwilling to accept private
assistance. 24,000 acres of beautiful forest land was
incinerated before that fire burned itself out."
"Apparently the federal government doesn't want to let
American citizens defend our nation against the threat of
wildfire," Stanley continued.
"At the Hayman fire, Kim Martin was unwilling to accept
the destruction of 90 acres** of forest by bulldozers.
Apparently it makes more sense to let 130,000 acres of forest
land burn to the ground, and to force thousands of innocent
people to flee their homes, than to let hard working Americans
take a hand in defending their property from natural disaster.
Not!
"This unconstitutional government is not only denying our
liberty -- it is also destroying our property. The federal
government has no lawful authority to prevent civilian
volunteers from assisting in this nation's defense. And yet
they do it again, and again, and again.
"How long will America suffer under this unconstitutional
government? When will the citizenry decide that enough is
enough?"
##30##
* See articles by Janelle Holden in the Cortez Journal,
July 29, 2000.
** A firebreak 35' wide and 20 miles long is 3.6 million
sq. ft., or roughly 90 acres.
Kent McNaughton (719-686-0676) provided most of the facts
in this story. He interviewed Ron Largent (719-689-4042)
and Ames Construction (719-689-5531) to learn the details.
Rick Stanley is the Libertarian Party's candidate for U.S.
Senate (Colorado) in this year's election. More information
about Rick's campaign can be found on his web site located at
http://www.stanley2002.org. To schedule media interviews
please contact Rick at 303.329.0481.
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Rick Stanley
U.S. Senate Candidate for the Libertarian Party
Stanley for Senate
http://www.stanley2002.org
Phone:(303)329-0481
Email:
Rick@stanley2002.org
"The plain meaning of the right of the people to keep arms is
that it is an individual, rather than a collective, right and
is not limited to keeping arms while engaged in active
military service or as a member of a select militia such as
the National Guard." - U.S. vs. Emerson, 5th Circuit Federal
Court, published October 16, 2001
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