Mo’, Joe.
As in Mojo. Get your mojo going President Biden and don’t stop with the promise to have the federal government pay for 100% of reparations for the fires engulfing Northern New Mexico.
That goes for you, too, Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham.
Together the two of you need to do what guest columnist Dr. Jose Garcia suggests on this page. Mobilize the folks to help New Mexicans fight back from the devastation of this inferno.
Help raise awareness all over the country and help raise money. Give clear instructions of where folks can go for help.
And, perhaps, most importantly convene an investigation of the breakdown in the chain of command at the U.S. Forestry Service for its role in starting these fires. Pull apart the systems in place and find out what works and what doesn’t.
Planning to reimburse individual property owners and the state for the expenses incurred and losses of homes and livestock at 100 percent is a grand, sweeping gesture-or at least appears to be but is it really?
After all, the federal government basically caused most of these fires. So, why shouldn’t it pay for the damage?
Now, is the time to take corrective action to fix the “system.”
Examine the control burn procedures and those for burn backs.
Our page-one story in today’s edition by Alicia Inez Guzman outlines in great detail what she calls, “a century of conflict with rural communities,” and the Forest Service, called by locals “La Floresta.”
The conflicts and problems with the U.S. Forest Service go way beyond fires, control burns, and burn backs. Farmers and ranchers in the North also have their complaints about how water and water rights are overseen by the service.
In order to take corrective action that will benefit the entire country President Biden needs to call for investigations into the root cause of these problems. The U.S. Forest Service needs an overhaul, and its leaders need to be held accountable for the bureaucratic bungling that has occurred. Our governor needs to be at his side demanding answers.
The U.S. Forest Service controls over one million acres of land in this country.
Its efforts or lack of them affects not just timber and water but the intricate ecosystems that keep streams and lakes clean and help flora, fauna, and animals live and thrive. It is the delicate chain of links that literally promotes and preserves life.
Thanks for the boost, Joe, but don’t stop with throwing more money at us and our problems. Go back to the beginning of these fires and the many that have gone before. Fix the U.S. Forest Service.