Years of poor management are burning down people's homes at South Lake Tahoe. I live in Sparks so I get to breathe it all in.

There are other horribly managed spots where forest is overgrown to the point you can't walk between trees. This is not supposed to be this way. One area that comes to mind is the entire canyon leading through up to Mineral King. Other areas in Sequoia and Kings Canyon are asking for it, as are areas all the way up to Tahoe.

I spent last Sunday hanging out in the area just east of Webber Lake (north of Truckee about 10 miles) and that area is pretty clean, only a ground fire would happen there, at least along Henness Pass Rd where I was. I had time to think about this while listening to the birds and the wind and watching the plume of smoke grow and grow to the south.

Point is, how would you define "forest management?"

Thin forests? Allow no cutting of trees? Cut them all down?

Definitely not cut down all the trees, as there would be no forest. Is it the trees or dry brush surrounding the trees that is the problem?

I'm surprised at the Lake Tahoe fire. I was up in Reno and went to Lake Tahoe on Saturday. Then, thre was a very small. If this is the same fire, there were a couple of aircraft trying to put out the blaze. On Sunday, it was a monster!

One of the big problems up here at Tahoe is the TRPA, a bi-state agency which has unchecked control and apparently unlimited power to dictate practically everything in the basin. Some of their rules are good but some of them are incredibly stupid.

An example...the fire people want you to have a defensible space around your house so you clear all this out. Then, here comes the TRPA and says you can't have all this bare ground exposed so they force you to cover it with a thick layer of pine needles. If you don't they slap you with a big fine.

How smart is that? Need I say more.

According to the Incident Commander on the fire up here the entire Sierra is the driest he's seen it at this time of the season in his 41 years of being a firefighter in them. Just a hint of a spark is enough to start a fire. Looks like it's going to be a long and dangerous summer.