Wednesday’s letters to the editor

Logging and fire danger

EDITOR: It’s great to see California allocating significant money to address the Climate crisis (“Historic $15 billion response,” Sept. 24). And all who are concerned with the effects of wildfires on our communities and forests are delighted to see a “top priority” given to forest management, “including a renewed emphasis on prescribed burns.” We in Forest Unlimited have extensively investigated the science of what best lessens the impact of wildfires. Prescribed burning emerges as the most effective action in reducing those effects while restoring healthy forests. Recent analysis of the Caldor fire showed this clearly.

However, explaining the causes of our forest problems, Assemblyman Richard Bloom cited years of putting out all fires so that there is now “an overabundance of vegetation.” True, but scientists also tell us that a century of removing all of the largest, most fire-resistant trees is also to blame.

With logging, not only are the trees gone, but gone also is the shade that inhibits vegetation growth in the understory. So when we tell the story of what has created our forest problems, let’s not forget logging. That’s not to apportion blame but to do the right thing moving forward. If we must log, do it selectively, leaving the biggest trees to help lessen fire danger.

Charles Little

Forest issues chair, Forest Unlimited

Nuclear waste problem

Editor: To start, let me state that I am not opposed to nuclear power. However, David Von Drehle neglected to mention one major problem (“To solve the carbon crisis, we need nuclear power,” Thursday). What to do with the spent rods used in creating nuclear power.

They don’t last forever in active use, but they almost last forever once they are spent producing dangerous radioactivity — up to 10,000 years, according to some estimates. Where do you store such waste? As I recall, the state of Nevada wasn’t thrilled by the prospect of nuclear waste storage at Yucca Flats.

I agree with Von Drehle that fear of accidental exposure is probably overwrought, but we need to solve the issue of nuclear waste production before we willy-nilly build more nuclear power facilities, small or not.

John Wise

Guerneville

The cure for stupid

EDITOR: There is no cure for stupid. That old saying came to mind while reading a recent opinion piece about how medical personnel are burning out treating unvaccinated COVID patients who are seriously ill and dying.

I am a retired emergency room doc who never had to deal with this horrible situation. However, I spent my career dealing with similar patients who had brought on their own suffering through drug abuse, smoking, obesity, etc. These patients are a drain on society, which must pay for their care, in some form. In the case of COVID, they are a menace to the rest of us. I struggled (and mostly succeeded) in treating these patients without apparent judgment, although I certainly had negative attitudes toward these types of self-inflicted illnesses.

Now we, as a society, are burdened by anti-vaxxer nitwits. These can be added to the uninformed, anti-science and despicable people in the media, politics and social platforms who promote false medical or other ideas for monetary and political gain, or simply notoriety and self-aggrandizement, or stupidity.

There is a cure for stupid. It’s called death.

Dr. Jeffrey A. Rapp

Healdsburg

Value of pre-K programs

EDITOR: David Brooks’ analysis of the reconciliation appears to support the prekindergarten component package (“Build on moderate and progressive insights.” Sept. 25). It is followed by a “yes, but” — his account of the older Head Start Program. His allegation that it has been ailing for ages is just part of the story. A recent study from UC Davis found “evidence of a large and positive short-term effect of Head Start, and that cognitive gains are largest at the bottom of the achievement spectrum, particularly among Hispanic children.”

While true there were early problems with the Head Start program (uneven results, poorly trained staff and concentration on the most-in-need students) the pre-K program, at least in this county, has a different structure. It is administered through local school districts, not the Department of Health and Human Services. The teachers are state certified. More important, it is a seamless gateway to the K-12 curriculum.

To saddle the proposed pre-K program with older and entirely different model should not cast doubts on the value of a pre-K program.

Edward Crowell

Healdsburg

A false premise

EDITOR: Information from public health agencies about COVID-19 has been muddled, inconsistent and sometimes contradictory. All the more reason for The Press Democrat to stick to well-established facts and to carefully consider whether letters it publishes contain harmful misinformation about the virus.

In his letter, Matthew Dubois questioned why some restaurants require proof of vaccination, since “anti-vaxxers are no more contagious” than the vaccinated (“Vaccine restrictions,” Sept. 27). That premise is false. Vaccinated people are less likely to be infected; if infected, they are likely to be contagious for a shorter period. In a restaurant where everyone is vaccinated, the risk of being infected is low (though not zero). With every unvaccinated person admitted the risk rises.

Breakthrough infections happen. This is exactly why responsible, community-minded citizens like Dubois, i.e. the vaccinated, should support public health measures intended to reduce transmission and patronize those businesses that take the health and safety of their customers seriously.

Jack Ziegler

Santa Rosa

You can send letters to the editor to letters@pressdemocrat.com.