Supervisor Haupt gets “thumbs up” after meeting President Trump
Published in
Siskiyou Daily News
Wednesday,
Sept. 23, 2020
Slater Fire, Happy Camp were topics of conversation
By Liz
Bowen
Ray Haupt, a Registered Professional Forester and second-term-elected
Siskiyou Co. Dist. 5 Supervisor, was invited by the White House to a wildfire
briefing with U.S. President Donald Trump and CA. Governor Gavin Newsom on
Sept. 14, 2020 in Sacramento.
Two days before, with much sadness and desperation, Haupt emailed
a letter to the White House Internal Governmental Affairs Director asking for
help for Siskiyou County, which had just been hit by the Slater Fire in Happy
Camp incinerating 158 homes and killing two individuals. Additionally, Haupt
offered his expertise in wildfire behavior and healthy forest management.
On Sunday morning, Haupt received an email and phone call asking him
to be at the McClellan Air Force Base at 8 a.m. on Monday. Haupt assured the caller he would be there.
California officials, including Gov. Newsom and hard fire-hit
Fresno County Sheriff Margaret Mims, spoke first during the sit-down meeting.
Then Pres. Trump motioned to Haupt. It was his turn.
“Thank you Mr. President for being here and listening to a very
rural community and county at the very far extreme end of the state,” said Ray.
He quickly added that his county continues to see the repeat of things
President Trump saw during the 2018 Paradise Camp Fire, but on a smaller scale.
“The town of Happy Camp is under the Slater Fire that took-off and
in a 24-hour period we lost 258 structures in a very small town and half of the
population was displaced with 158 homes completely destroyed,” he said.
“Will that population come back?” Trump quickly asked with
concern.
“Sir, that is a very tough question,” Haupt answered. “They are
living through the down turn of the timber economy and there is very low
employment in this area.” Haupt added, “We are completely surrounded by federal
timber that at this point needs active forest management that would both
improve the economy as well as even increase the water flow that is in short
supplies in California.”
Getting personal, Haupt said he was coming to the president as a
forester, elected official and past land manager for the U.S. Forest Service --
including fire fighter -- and explained he has worked with U.C. Berkeley and
U.C. Merced on strategic forestry studies.
“Our forests are carrying four times the density as they did in
1930, so we have both the increase in brush in the wildland interface and the
lack of management producing these extreme densities,” Haupt explained.
Haupt said he can’t do much about Climate Change, which had been
touted as the major cause of the fires during the beginning of the meeting,
“but as a forester actively managing the forest, I can manipulate fuels and can
do that in pretty short order.”
Haupt then thanked Pres. Trump for his work on the most recent
Farm Bill that provided more authorities for counties regarding public lands.
He applauded Trump for the Master Stewardship Agreement, which Siskiyou County
had just completed and signed.
“We have a half-million acre project that is ready to go,” Haupt
said.
Trump interjected that money could also be made when removing and
thinning the forests.
At that point, Gov. Newsom jumped-in and expanded on the progress
made by the state with inter-agency cooperation and admitted that the state
needs to “double” its efforts. Earlier in the meeting, Newsom had thanked Trump
for all the federal support to California.
President Trump then looked at Gov. Newsom and Haupt and said, “I
think we are totally in sync.” Haupt was able to mention the need to be
“effective” in dealing with extreme fire behavior.
Trump then closed the 25-minute meeting, so he could then
attend a ceremony to honor seven CA. Army National Guard personnel who flew
helicopters through dangerous fire and smoke, on Sept. 5, 2020, and saved 242
people stranded by extreme fire.
After the meeting, the president stopped by Haupt and thanked him
for his message giving him a “thumbs-up.”
To which Haupt added, “Sir, honestly, what the agencies are doing
needs to be increased 100 fold.” Trump thanked him for his honesty.
Before the meeting and afterward, Haupt was able to speak with
three Republican Congressmen, CA. Doug LaMalfa, Dist. 1, representing Siskiyou
County, Tom McClintock from CA. Dist. 4 and Oregon’s Greg Walden. Congressman
LaMalfa and Haupt have met many times working on legislation and projects to
change the environmental policies that have been detrimental to forest health.
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