Bill Wattenburg, a former nuclear weapons designer at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory who hosted a popular late-night show on KGO radio for 39 years, has died of cancer at age 82. I loved listening to Bill. http://www.envirotruth.org/sacbeeApril2001.cfm Salaries for environmental leaders have never been higher. Those who know the environment best -- the scientists who devote their careers to it -- say environmental groups often twist fact into fantasy to serve their agendas. equilibrium. will be destroyed here and in other dry forested areas in the west when And Dr, Wattenburgs article on the "let burn" philosophy.. http://www.pushback.com/Wattenburg/articles/NowTheyHaveBurnedLosAlamos.html, [This message has been edited by trailboss (edited 10-27-2003). between the natural fires of a hundred years ago and the The logging industry doesnt log trees because they want to help the enviroment they do so because they want to make money. I remember years ago he talked about our forests. I was one of ten-thousand called upon, too late, to try to I had the honor of speaking with Dr. Bill twice, providing him some information on coal mine fires from my experience with the industry. of the ignorant and incompetent who claim to be the saviors of our environment. [This message has been edited by JazzMan (edited 10-28-2003).]. Better fire code enforcement in home building, large pre cut fire lanes in timber & brushy areas, controlled logging- all this will have to play a part. Alcohol Beverage Licenses ], These and other sayings tonight on:UNFOUNDED COMMENTS6:00PM on Channel 7, Do a little research on President Clinton selling off old-growth forest saying that there is "about 375 board feet of salable lumber in every thousand year old Douglas Fir. allowed to rage unchecked during the most dangerous fire season in decades. Wattenburg made brief appearances in three Clint Eastwood films: The Dead Pool (Nolan Kennard), Pink Cadillac (pit boss), and True Crime (radio reporter). 1 in the ratings in 11 states. Then he put six or eight more bulldozers in the trench to push the dirt down the trench to the canyon a half-mile below.' load creates intensely hot forest fires that ignite the big trees and destroy These fires should be natural, not manmade. The public will only rebel against this gross mismanagement of our forests Of course man can manage it through selective culling and replanting trees but a natural forest will always do it better. Thank you Dr Wattenburg. May he rest in peace, leaving a great legacy of education, insight, invention and respect for the forest that he so loved. service officials wouldnt listen. The our forests, as the 1988 Yellowstone fire demonstrated. equilibrium. surrounding fire breaks. According to them, any logging, even to thin the forests The logged forest is the one most appealing to wildlife, and will survive a fire because it is not filled with brush and small trees that would provide a means for the fire to leap to the taller trees.For those not familiar with current forestry practices, modern logging uses newfangled equipment to take out exactly the trees desired, without doing the damage that old methods (lots of roads for trucks, dragging bundles of logs with bulldozers) cause.This is made possible by the new types of logging equipment now in common use. Americans often torched brushy areas that Nature did not clean up in time. breaks in national forests in northern California. Lately, Wattenburg hosted a show at KSCO-AM in Santa Cruz, which announced his death on Saturday. entire forest become fire breaks because they have been returned to fire The full article was sent in 1999 to all government agencies managing our forests. There is no evidence that enviromentalist started the fire, and it would defy logic. and in order for a forest to work in harmony with nature it has to be natural, including all of the growth that may be there as it occured naturally. On his show, Wattenburg answered questions about everything from car repairs to physics and often would help kids who called in with homework questions. protective fire breaks and only then conduct controlled burns that could have If you search for The Bill Wattenburg Show on iTunes, you can still find some of his shows from as recently as last summer. You? yes when the timber barrons clear cutthey are realy trying to prevent forest fires :rolleyes. The lumber companies are not in business to wipe out the forest's in this day and age. The same machines also make it possible to take more trees at a much faster rate, stripping the forests in less time. forest fires burn promoters are still trying to rationalize is then allowed to spend tens of millions of dollars of scarce research funds to cover up I don't have a problem with logging as long as it's regulated. I think any scientist should take great offense to the However, the Sierra Club and other so-called Bush criticized Senate Democrats' legislation that would direct most forest thinning to be conducted near communities at risk of wildfires rather than giving local foresters the flexibility determine where such work should be carried out. buckle under to the power-hungry so-called environmental organizations, such as the Sierra There are towns in California that rely on the timber industry to make a living. ecologists in high academic and government positions actively promote a policy trees decreases the cutting of green trees in other national forests to meet our Salvaging these dead big Incendiary Deal with reality, drop the nirvana fantasy, there are too many people on the planet already. How predictable and typical of you to insinuate that the environmentalists and liberals are responsible for this series of fires. The Unfortunately, a fire storm is what usually A Q&A with Ecologist, Bill Anderegg, PhD by Benjamin Ragen, PhD | March 13, 2020. religious let it burn mantra, ordered that hundreds of lightening fires be amounts of precious top soil is then washed away from hillsides before new root structure The park Interior Department has spent more money in the last ten years to The let forest fires burn dogma can at best be Fire does neat things to the soil that promotes rapid growth otherwise. formulate the plan. BW was my favorite before Rush Limbaugh but he was the best on sheer knowledge and logic. But many self-proclaimed I am proud to have been a fan, and will watch his cameos for years to come. Adequate fire breaks require deserve to be burnedas the let fires burn religion seems to Senators such as Barbara Boxer from California to stop the bill in the Senate because I guess all large organizations do that. Corporations are groups of people. He will truly be missed! salvaged for good lumber before they rot and become nothing more than massive ], [This message has been edited by fierobear (edited 10-27-2003).]. Enjoyed Dr. Bill nights on KGO and learned so much. rationalize what its National Park Service dogma of let fires burn RIP. So, in the interest of allowing nature to take its course, why would we supress wildfires? You could hear the joy in his voice because he loved kids calling him on the radio, Lieberman wrote. this year). burn, or setting fires during high fire season with the present incendiary It's nature's way. insects? resource for our economy also provides the money to clean our forests and return When a fire burns the tree, nitrogen and phosphates are absorbed into the ground. I wish the people who are talking about this could see how few trees there are in these fire areas! I think you dont have any because youre suffering from a mental illness called Trump Derangement! The Daily Post has been adjudicated by the Superior Court of Santa Clara County as a newspaper of general circulation in the City of Palo Alto and County of Santa Clara, and is qualified to publish legal notices, including: Fictitious Business Name Statements (FBNs) and knowledgeable scientists alike pleaded with the park officials to stop these While kind to children, Dr. Family Law Summonses. So many hours I listened to you, I can say none were wasted. We cut down 95%, isn't that enough? R.I.P., My Friend, Ive learned more from you than you would ever know. What he did was call for "the logging of well over 20,000 acres of pristine National Forest land every year" as a compromise. Also certain aminmals might find it difficult to servive in small growth forests. Susan Wattenburg. I have fought forest its National Park Service dogma of let fires burn did to Yellowstone in 1988 difference between a fire started by a man-made match and a fire ignited by a lightening saved both the Yellowstone and Florida forests. The people there need the jobs. The Quincy Library Group plan was finally approved by in the Senate in the every living thing in the forest. wont allow firefighters to extinguish lightening fires. constructing fire breaks and conducting controlled burns during off-peak fire Another reason why some forests aren't healthy due to fire suppressioncertain species of trees *require* fire to get their seeds going. will be burned to blackened stumps if there is no way to stop unnatural forest all living things therein. Demonizing developers is a cop-out. plan. I tried so hard in the days Dr. Bill was on KGO to get a clear signal in So. Once they were let go or retired, KGO turned full blown liberal/progressive. Steep areas with a combination of brush and trees. inaccessible. forest fire is dictated by whether man or nature provided the first spark? the Senate because these groups claim that approval of any activity by man in Logging and forest fires, while both remove trees, have complete differet impact on the land. Failure to recognize this difference between the consequences of In contrast to the historic practice of gold panning in California, Wattenburg orchestrated[7] mountaintop removal mining to get at the gold beneath an entire mountain in Plumas County. This compromise pleased no one. The Tom Daschle fearing that he wouldn't get re-elected put his state on the fast track to having his forest's thinned. most beautiful national park is then allowed to spend tens of millions of To protect our national forests and parks until they can be returned to fire lightening fires can be allowed to burn in off-peak times because they will be Then there's the problem of too many people. season with the present incendiary conditions of our forests is as stupid and take a look at the forest of blackened carcasses and scorched landscape that ignite and in turn create a fire storm that incinerates everything else in the forest. that still typifies most of the burned areas in Yellowstone today and assess for Modern Logging Practices Dont Damage the LandCompare the images below of a burned forest, an overgrown forest, and one that has been logged. The developers dont care about the surrounding area that they are developing and as a result, nature conflicts with man. Then everyone wonders why there is no affordable housing, why roads are gridlocked and air pollution (from cars driving in stop and go traffic for up to 100 miles) gets worse. century ago and unchecked forest fires of today can be disastrous for our This was a few days after parting ways with KGO-AM. For every tree that is felled they plant two, however they space them apart properly which results in healthier faster growing trees. Trees are a wonderful renewable resource and as long as replace what is taken there shouldn't be a problem. from the out-of-control controlled burn that their childish computer Brought to you by the Sierra Club. There is not a shred of evidence that mother These natural fires periodically burned the brush, debris, and In press reports, Your arguement is really lame. these forests. We've all studied history in school, we've all heard and read the stories of past mistakes, but when it comes down to decision time, too many act on how they *feel*, rather that what they *know*. He warned us about the ecofreaks and how we were set up for these wild fires not to mention many other issues. After all, this so called overgrowth is habitat for many creatures that would not have it if it was removed. destroy far more than can be renewed. consequences of a wildfire in our tinderbox forests today. ------------------Question wonder and be wierdare you kind? My prayers to his family, it must have been quite a ride all these years. everything else in the forest. stopped all removal of the dead trees for five years now. Even when I was drawn into my 20+ years of idiot liberalism once I got into my 20's and I had now political . fires or at least limit their extent during peak fire season. Wattenburg, who died Thursday, is survived by his wife Carol, his third wife. called a religion because there is no science that says that a forest totally destroyed is ordered that hundreds of lightening fires be allowed to rage unchecked during without doing the damage that old methods (lots of roads for trucks, dragging bundles of logs with bulldozers) cause. Unfortunately, a fire storm is what usually happens in forest fires during peak fire In the early 1970s, Wattenburg was an inventor and physics professor at UC-Berkeley whose life took an interesting turn when he authored a best-selling book on sex, How to Find and Fascinate a Mistress, under the pen name Will Harvey. Herger-Feinstein Quincy Library Group Forest Recovery Act). But many self-proclaimed ecologists in high with sensible thinning and firebreak construction like the Quincy Library Plan. Where does it say that? Service by Publication campaign to clean up our forests and return them to fire safe conditions. Bill Wattenburg, a former nuclear weapons designer at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory who hosted a popular late-night show on KGO radio for 39 years, has died of cancer at age 82. Unfortunately, them to healthy fire-tolerant condition for our future generationsinstead The fact of the matter is that the Sierra club is run by liberals. "Only months before the fires of 1988, a preliminary research report by Dr. William Romme, an independent fire ecologist from Fort Lewis College, Colorado and Dr. Don Despain . Wattenburg claimed the program was the most listened-to radio program in the western United States in that time slot. The healthy forest initiative that is in congress right now goes nowhere near what was put into effect in S.D. Ironically, many national groups that call themselves environmentalists . There was a time when most of our forests were fire tolerant. The book, which set him up as a male antidote to the feminism of Gloria Steinem, earned him millions of dollars. Firefighters and equipment must be able to reach any fire that breaks out during only thinning excessive numbers of small trees and reducing the fuel and debris on the This is California folks, not Oregon. strike. most of the taxpayers money that was allocated for forest improvement and Ya'll give it a break. Should have listened to him back then! burning down the house. And don't get me started on the bonehead environmentalists. This is the backbone of tyranny; when one group decides to take away someone else's rights. This plan is called the Quincy Library Group plan. Might I also dare to point out that immigration, illegal & otherwise is exacerbating this situation? burn promoters are still trying to rationalize (with tens of millions of dollars of It forces people to go further and further into the wilderness to find the American dream. these same forests go up in smoke! Logging interests? The taxpayers must now pay to remove them. California fires: State, feds agree to thin millions of acres of forests. fires before they joined up and became an unstoppable fire storm. I am a scientist who grew up in our national forests. square meters of national forest will be charged with a criminal act, while a government Not scientific, not logical. their funding agencies. the most dangerous fire season in decades. themselves whether what was done in 1988 by park officials was an act of divine equilibrium, firefighters must have defensive fire breaks. air-conditioned offices and computer toys they dont understand must be Dr. Bill was one of my favorite people to listen to period. They have already stated that they are going to load it up with amendments thereby administering a poisin pill to the bill. Any thinking person can easily understand and respect the vast difference understand what little deep science there is to this subject and the to build campfires next to the gas pumps at service stations. It's been so for centuries, long before the developers moved in. [This message has been edited by connecticutFIERO (edited 10-28-2003).]. The espouse the theory that there is something divine about lightening-caused fires Bay Area News Group, by Paul Rogers Original Article. Notices of Public Sale Why should they have fewer rights than anyone else? But too many don't care about that as long as they can win their debate. are fit to judge what is sensible policy for the management of our forests. They are a natural occurrence and are somewhat beneficial to the environment. [This message has been edited by Erik (edited 10-28-2003). BTW, did you know that when forests are clearcut and replanted, they're typically replanted with fast-growing hybrid pines who's only purpose is for paper pulp? lightning fires are allowed to burnor stupid summertime controlled burns heads of the Dept. burn which they know can result in the total incineration of many of our forests and Cannot the Enviromentalist who started the fire be charged as terrorist under the Patriot Act and therefore be under Military courts? National Park Service officials. Petitions to Administer Estate (Probate) His Resume was equally so. We use hype. As an engineer, Wattenburg discovered many of the original problems with the Bay Area Rapid Transit system, including such flaws as easily decipherable fare cards (which could have fare value fraudulently added to them), trains that would not show up on the computer screen, and other deficiencies. Lake Tahoe. believe. Massive amounts of precious topsoil are then I don't advocate getting rid of environmentalists. God Bless Doctor Bill. dollars of scarce research funds to cover up its acts of horrendous negligence This is what happened of They are diverting Had a Trump sign on him front lawn. Back when it was a real, independent radio station, that is. Oh, and they also block road and freeway construction and expansion. Yet many groups use science selectively to oppose thinning efforts that could reduce fire risk. Wattenburgs show was No. precious, renewable natural public resources to satisfy the political paranoia