LETTER – Criticizing Trump on smoke issue ignores management failures

I am writing to respond to your editorial, “Sorry, Donald Trump, but put this in your pipe and smoke it.”

Contrary to the piece’s claims, the criticism of B.C.’s forest management is not “whataboutism.” B.C.’s forest management has suffered from a century-long failure of fire suppression, debris pileups, delayed hazard assessments, and inadequate prescribed burning and fuel reduction. This situation has been worsened by a political roller coaster and an economy based on outsourcing.

B.C.’s own Forest Practices Board has criticized the status quo, highlighting late and incomplete assessments, rules that allow logging slash to sit for 30 months, the exclusion of municipalities from high-risk interface zones, and forestry practices that hinder wildfire defense.

This issue is not about climate change denial; it is about demanding smarter policies,  a real technology of behaviour incentives for thinning, aggressive debris removal, and controlled burns before the next megafire impacts the U.S., B.C., and Kamloops. Dismissing these real, documented failures in B.C. forest management to criticize Trump ignores the province’s own oversight reports. The current approach represents a negligent management style that costs billions and impacts public health and homes.

It is time for a fact-based discussion and better active management, including fuel reduction, debris cleanup, and prescribed burns.

WALTER TRKLA