美国国家公共电台 NPR--The U.S. Forest Service is behind on prescribed burns in parts of California

The U.S. Forest Service is behind on prescribed burns in parts of California

Transcript¹

The resort town of Big Bear is surrounded by land slated² for fire mitigation, such as prescribed burns. But obstacles have prevented the crucial work and heightened the risk of disaster.

RACHEL MARTIN, HOST:

California's wildfire season is getting longer and more destructive. The past two years were the worst on record. And because the U.S. Forest Service has failed to complete critical work, like prescribed burns that are meant to prevent fires, things could get worse, especially in the ski resort town of Big Bear, which is about a hundred miles east of LA. Caleigh Wells from member station KCRW reports.

CALEIGH WELLS, BYLINE³: On the day I met up with Forest Service burn boss Christina Barba, she was supposed to be setting a prescribed fire to help clear out flammable brush in the San Bernardino National Forest. But she had to call it off. The weather made it too risky⁴.

CHRISTINA BARBA: And therein lies the paradox⁵ of being a burn boss.

WELLS: Her job of setting safe, controllable fires is often too risky now because they could spread into major problems.

BARBA: It's like, you want to burn enough that it is meaningful, and you're improving large parts of the landscape, but then are we ever going to have the resources to do it?

WELLS: Barba says she should be burning 3,000 acres a year to protect Big Bear. This year, she burned just 20 acres. She says there's a saying in her line of work.

BARBA: You could always find a reason not to burn. And - yeah. Sorry. There's my cynicism again. I don't know...

WELLS: There's a long list of fire mitigation projects that have been proposed and then canceled. The list of obstacles is even longer. Let's start with the biggest one - climate change.

BARBA: Yeah, it's going to get hotter, but it also gets drier.

WELLS: And the window of opportunity for controlled burns shrinks. Barba had only 13 safe burn days last year, but most of those days, she still couldn't set a fire, which brings us to problem No. 2 - air quality. Big Bear shares an air basin with Los Angeles and the suburbs east, known as the Inland Empire.

BARBA: Because the Inland Empire has ozone⁶ or, some days, they have more particulates⁷ than they should, it shuts down burning in the entire basin.

WELLS: Barba lost 5 of her 13 burn days because of air pollution in the larger region. Then comes problem No. 3 - resources. Some days, she doesn't have the people or equipment to burn safely.

BARBA: There's been times where I've woken up in the morning, I've had my organization, and then I get a call from the fire management official, like, oh, you know, three of your engines got sent on a strike team for a fire. And then that is the end of that.

WELLS: And even on a perfect day, when the weather is right and the air is clear and the firefighters have nothing better to do, prescribed fires still burn up money. The San Bernardino National Forest would not disclose its budget after months of multiple asks and a Freedom of Information Act request. But Barba gives a hint.

BARBA: I think my house is worth more than the fuels budget this year.

WELLS: All those obstacles made for a close call earlier this month, when the Radford Fire forced some residents to flee their homes.

PATRICE DUNCAN: You live in a national forest, and this is one of the things you need to be able to deal with.

WELLS: Patrice Duncan spoke⁸ to me as she drove down the burning mountain.

DUNCAN: I've seen too many just horror stories of people being stuck trying to evacuate⁹, waiting too long to evacuate. And I just didn't want to make the news that way.

WELLS: Luckily, there were enough firefighters and equipment to prevent any damage to town. And the remnants of Hurricane Kay brought helpful rain. But that luck might run out.

DUNCAN: As a resident, I can keep my pine needles, you know, picked up, and I can make sure my home is safe. But if the forest is coming at me because it wasn't, you know, managed well, there's not a whole lot I'm going to be able to do about it.

WELLS: There are still thousands of acres in Big Bear Valley ripe for the next wildfire, and a lot of the community still isn't ready.

For NPR News, I'm Caleigh Wells in Big Bear.

1 transcript   

n.抄本，誊本，副本，肄业证书

参考例句：

• A transcript of the tapes was presented as evidence in court.一份录音带的文字本作为证据被呈交法庭。
• They wouldn't let me have a transcript of the interview.他们拒绝给我一份采访的文字整理稿。

2 slated   

用石板瓦盖( slate的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• Yuki is working up an in-home phonics program slated for Thursdays, and I'm drilling her on English conversation at dinnertime. Yuki每周四还有一次家庭语音课。我在晚餐时训练她的英语口语。
• Bromfield was slated to become U.S. Secretary of Agriculture. 布罗姆菲尔德被提名为美国农业部长。

3 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

4 risky   

adj.有风险的，冒险的

参考例句：

• It may be risky but we will chance it anyhow.这可能有危险，但我们无论如何要冒一冒险。
• He is well aware how risky this investment is.他心里对这项投资的风险十分清楚。

5 paradox   

n.似乎矛盾却正确的说法；自相矛盾的人(物)

参考例句：

• The story contains many levels of paradox.这个故事存在多重悖论。
• The paradox is that Japan does need serious education reform.矛盾的地方是日本确实需要教育改革。

6 ozone   

n.臭氧，新鲜空气

参考例句：

• The ozone layer is a protective layer around the planet Earth.臭氧层是地球的保护层。
• The capacity of ozone can adjust according of requirement.臭氧的产量可根据需要或调节。

7 particulates   

n.微粒，粒子( particulate的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Techniques for controlling particulates include filtering, washing, centrifugal separation, and electrostatic precipitation. 控制颗粒污染物的技术包括过滤、洗涤、离心分离、静电沉降。 来自英汉非文学 - 环境法 - 环境法
• Only micronic particulates penetrate to the depth of the lung. 只有微细粒子穿透到肺深部。 来自辞典例句

8 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

9 evacuate   

v.遣送；搬空；抽出；排泄；大(小)便

参考例句：

• We must evacuate those soldiers at once!我们必须立即撤出这些士兵！
• They were planning to evacuate the seventy American officials still in the country.他们正计划转移仍滞留在该国的70名美国官员。