Here we are in January and we've had a number of days of dry weather. The surface fuels (leaves, branches) have dried out and are in perfect condition for burning with a minimum of smoke. The soil and less flammable duff layer is moist and not in any condition to burn. This happens almost every January - what a great time to burn and dispose of material which, if left unburned, would put us in a dangerous condition when the summer comes.

But we can't burn. Why? Because the Amador Air District seems to be intent on stopping burning altogether. We've had six good burn days and every one of them has been put out of bounds for burning by the air district. Jan. 18 was forecast to have winds up to 18 mph. These were winds that would disperse smoke very effectively, but that Sunday was not a burn day. On Tuesday and Wednesday the week before, I was out and about in the woods and we had winds that I estimated to be about 5 to 7 mph. Smoke dispersal would have occurred, but two other opportunities to lower fire hazards were lost. The prevailing winds for our area are from the southwest. Burning in Amador County will not affect the valley air quality when we have southwest winds. On most days, we get an afternoon wind from the southwest. Perhaps we should have the air district document the measurements and criteria they use for determining how they decide on permissive burn days.

John C. Fremont's journals in the mid-1800s documented that California is a smoky place. Everyone loves to talk about how the Native Americans used fire for clearing the brush and grass to make acorn harvest easier. Environmental-oriented people expound on how "we need to reintroduce fire into the ecosystem." And for God's sake, don't use herbicides! Fire is better! Fire managers dream of the day when fuel levels are low enough that fire suppression can be done more effectively and with less damage to our homes. Watershed and wildlife managers tell us how we need to protect our wildlands and protect our water and wildlife.

However, one bureaucracy that seems to have a fundamental opposition to burning continues to obstruct the accomplishments of other people who view things from a broader perspective. The air district would like you to put your leaves in your car, drive the car to a dumpster, then the dumpster is hauled to a location where the leaves are composted. We're using a non-renewable resource (petroleum) that pollutes the air to avoid putting some particulate matter into the air. Does this make sense? And the restrictions that the air district puts on burning your leaves limit you to one pile that is less than 4 feet by 4 feet - one might surmise that this is to limit the amount of particulate matter. But if I burn five piles that are 4 by 4 at the same time, am I putting out any more particulate matter than if I burn one pile and continually feed it with the rest of my leaves?

Perhaps I should not be too critical of the air district. A lot of this is due to our increasing population. As the county population increases, we will be seeing more restrictions on our lives. More restrictions on burn days, maybe even a prohibition on using wood stoves, more restrictions on water use, more traffic and tailpipe pollutants, more, more, more.

But right now, today, I should be able to burn and I'm seeing fewer and fewer days when the air district is allowing us to do what must be done. A broader, more comprehensive view of the air district's role in the community needs to be adopted. There should be a policy of updating the Burn Day Information Line to change the burn restrictions if weather conditions change. I would like the board of directors of the air district to give their people some direction to get the air district working with the residents of Amador County, not at cross purposes to the multiple objectives that we all have.