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All future buyback prices on these titles will be dependent on market conditions. Availability varies by store. See store for details on buyback requirements. 12 NATION Friday. April 20, 2004 THE BATTALION Fire threat grows in California forest as trees continue to die is By Tim Molloy THE ASSOCIATED PRESS More dead wood increases fire risk LAKE ARROWHEAD. Calif. — Five suspected arson fires this week rekindled fears among residents and forest offi cials already working feverishly to avoid a repeat of last fall’s deadly wildfires near this moun tain resort. They have good reason to worry: The risk is even greater this year. Bark beetles preying on drought-weakened pine trees have devastated hundreds of thousands of trees in the sprawl ing San Bernardino National Forest, killing nearly half the trees in some areas. Huge sections of the forest are ripe for another catastrophic blaze. "If these drought conditions keep up. the entire forest is at risk of dying off. and of course this is a huge risk for fires,” said Jack Blackwell, forester of the Forest Service’s Pacific Southwestern region. Only a fraction of the dead trees burned last fall when two huge fires blackened more than 160,000 acres, destroyed about I, UK) homes and killed six people. Even more trees have died in the past six months. The Forest Service and others are furiously cutting firebreaks and removing as many dead trees as possible before fire danger peaks in September. Much of the wood is worth less because of the beetle infes tation, and timber companies run up heavy expenses shipping it to the nearest mill more than 200 miles away. The Forest Service is also dousing insecticide on healthy trees in camping areas and con ducting prescribed burns like one that went out of control at Big Bear Lake last month and turned into a 350-acre forest fire. The miscue outraged already nervous residents. Forest dwellers were also unnerved Monday w hen the sus pected arson fires started west of Lake Arrowhead. The blazes were quickly contained, and no arrests have been made. The forest grew thick over the last century as residents favored the privacy and beauty of being surrounded by firs, cedars and pines. But drought in recent years weakened the trees, and warmer temperatures allowed bark beetles to repro- Forest officials are working to avoid a repeat of Southern Califomu; rampant wildfires last fall. The risk is even greater now that bait beetles have devastated hundreds of thousands i of trees in the sprawling San Bernardino National , Forest, killing nearly half the trees in some areas. San Bernardino Riverside JW) Percentage of dead vegetation Bernardino National Fores 0% 50% I 100% As of Apnl 2003 A. SOURCES ESRI: U S Forest Service: Mountain Area Safety Task Fore# duce in greater numbers. The new federal Healthy Forest Restoration Act allows more tim ber ami brush to be cleared w ith less environmental scrutiny. The Natural Resources Conservation Service is distrib uting $150 million to tribes, local governments and others for tree removal and other fire prevention efforts in Southern California. The Forest Service is providing another $50 million. In addition,, the Forest Service has been given $40 mil lion on top of its normal budget for fire prevention in Southern California. Forest officials said the fund ing is a good start but not enough to remove all the dead trees in the San Bernardino for est. Nervous homeowners, uk>, are rushing to join the effort. Idyllwild resident Betty Miller and her neighbors have removed numerous trees in the past few- months. But she has had to wait for a contractor to cut back an oak overhanging their home. "He's so busy, we’re on a waiting list,” she said. “It’s totally unbelievable the amount of trees they’re cutting down. Properties that you couldn’t even see. now it’s thinned out. Some properties have had all the trees taken off.” Some observers contend the firebreaks aren’t the best way to protect communities. Tom Bonnicksen, a profe at Texas A&M and visiiin; scholar for the Forem Foundation, a nonprofit group supported by the timber inrta try, said there should be on!) strategic firebreaks and nwt logging deeper in the forest The area also needs a mi that likely won’t be built uni the Forest Service agrees to I year logging contracts that pro vide enough time for a compir to recoup its investments Bonnicksen said. “Even if we remove the deal trees, we still have a vervseri ous problem.” he said. "Tk entire forest is at risk whetheru has dead trees in it or not." Blackwell said the Fores! Service favors shorter-term con tracts because the forest not be able to sustain logging beyond that. Environmental groups have also expressed con cerns about giving the timber industry a long-temi foothoW. Before last year's fires. Big Bear Lake resident Gotia Wilson and her husband speni months trying to get permission to remove a hollowed-out tret they feared would fall. But when she called the fire department about a dead tree a few weeks ago. it was removed immediate ly. along with several others. ‘The next w eek we were out of town and a neighbor told they were taking one down in a snowstorm,” Wilson said. ‘ says they’re on top of thing!’ r T Pa Trar ations i change ieingi said T5 ■ti ciency tebec nmnin] mm an A ti S&RE tvaluat service student consult F< P 1 NEWS IN BRIEF U.S V Iraqi generals reach tentative deal FALLUJAH, Iraq (AP) — U.S. Marines negoti ated a “tentative" agreement Thursday to pull back forces from Fallujah, a deal that would lift a nearly monthlong siege and allow an Iraqi force led by a former Saddam Hussein-era gen eral to handle security. Fresh clashes broke out despite news of a pending deal, and U.S. war planes dropped bombs on insurgent targets. Ten U.S. soldiers and a South African were killed in attacks elsewhere, including eight Americans who died when a bomb hit as tried to clear explosives from a road south ol Baghdad. Negotiations were also taking place in southern city of Najaf, where tribal leaders and police discussed a proposal to end the U.S. standoff and for followers of a radical Shiite cleric to leave the city. Don't leave a piece of your history behind Ncx Denux ibepre “Iw icall I aid.“l The l&s lika: /tod ;,“Fi: U a LizCi lad) B Car late, / forme i at the Comp] Forum The Woma Bar ducing ipon secret; demaii F. Th or the saidfi points An Icxhib Journi Pick up or purchase your 2003 Aggikdnd Yearbook tf you ordered the award-winning 2003 Aggieland and haven't picked it up, stop by room 015 Reed McDonald Building and do so. Please bring your Student ID. K you did not odrer last year's Texas A&M University yearbook (the 2002-2003 school year), you may purchase one for $40 plus tax. 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