Forest Service

Re “Forest Fires Rage as Government Fiddles,” Opinion, Oct. 17: Robert H. Nelson’s article asserts that “firefighting costs are a main reason the management of the national forests is such a huge drain on the U.S. Treasury.” This is somewhat puzzling, as the total Forest Service budget is a small fraction of 1% of the federal budget, and Congress has persisted in severely cutting the Forest Service’s share of the budget for the past few years. This hardly constitutes a “huge drain.” In fact, attempting to rely on gimmicks like timber sales that lose money and on recreation fees that restrict access as sources of funding for the Forest Service is the reason the problems he writes about persist.

If Congress would fund the Forest Service at a level adequate to correct the problems, the amount would still be less than 1% of the budget. The benefits of such a policy would be the elimination of the wildfire problem and enhanced open space, wildlife habitat and watershed protection.

ALAN ARONSON

El Segundo