The partnership of Idaho with the US Forest Service, in dealing with the buildup of fuels in National Forests, shows a change in direction for managing Federal and State forest lands that we would do well to follow. The Idaho effort, led by three time Idaho Governor "Butch" Otter (GOP), acknowledges the need to manage forest lands effectively in light of warmer, drier, and longer summers. 

As far as whether or not human-caused climate change is occurring, my fellow citizens seem to be mired in the past. Even most of our local and state GOP candidates acknowledge that the climate has warmed. Remember when the GOP mantra was there was no evidence of warming? Now the argument is whether the warming is anthropogenic or not. The study cited says natural climatic variation and human-caused factors have combined to cause many of the current problems with wildfire, insect pests, and disease. This seems both a likely and a politically moderate position. We need to address this problem.