Biography

My name is Dana Tibbetts. I'm an author and writer based in Lake Tahoe, a richly forested region under constant threat from Wildfire. As I watched the Caldor, Dixie and tamarack fires burn through more than 1.2 million acres of magnificent old growth trees, I knew something was wrong.

I've been working with the National Wildfire Institute and other concerned leaders to raise awareness about the escalating Wildfire emergency that's upon us—one driven by flawed Federal policy, dangerous practices and politically engineered alliances working together to prescribe ever more destructive fire patterns across the American West.

Today's hearing is hosted by the National Wildfire Institute, a group of mostly retired U.S. Forest Service and land management leaders, who collectively bring thousands of years of wisdom and expertise to this difficult conversation. Their goal is to address this complex wildfire emergency and to light a path forward for future generations.

With nearly half of our National Forests in ruin and 35 million acres dead, dying or burned to a crisp, NWI is taking an urgent step today to declare a national wildfire emergency. This is a 1st step in a “we the people” campaign to awaken the public and stir sleeping politicians to confront the problem of Wildfire. Our tax dollars are being used to escalate and actively destroy our forests and rangelands at an alarming rate.

However, this isn't just about trees. This is about the collapse of ecosystems—vast biospheres, watersheds, and wildlife, habitats, bears, wolves, rabbits, and deer—being burned alive in their frantic attempt to escape relentless fire operations.

And nobody talks about the human toll of these human-induced megafires on public health.
Smoke impacts alone cause shocking numbers of premature deaths and illness affecting populations hundreds of miles removed from the fire itself.

What is fueling this destruction? Let me tell you.

Dangerous Federal policies, including mismanagement, misguided “let burn” strategies, and aggressive firing operations are not only destroying forests, but leaving behind ever more flammable landscapes to create an endless cycle of more fire. Once pristine forests are now on trajectory for extinction. Regenerating millions of charred acres will take generations, and some may never come back. There must be an immediate moratorium on monitored and mismanaged fire. And the misuse of ever more intense fire to manage excess fuel loads must be stopped before there's nothing left.

Wildfire cannot be managed. It's wild! Enough is enough. It's time for we, the people, to stand up and speak out. “First put out the fire!” Our tax dollars must no longer be used to play with fire.

Our goal is the restoration of truth and justice in governance and land management, and serious fire mitigation.