Published on 15 Jul 2012 by N0LINKNEWS
Latest Spate of Wildfires Blamed on Cloud Seeders
By Victor Thorn
As 14 major wildfires rage across eight Western states, over 1,000 firefighters are battling destructive blazes near Fort Collins, Colo. that have destroyed 181 homes and charred 87 square miles of mountainous timberland. AMERICAN FREE PRESS highlighted this phenomenon in 2011 with an exclusive article that chronicled the practice of cloud seeding and the unintended effect it has on neighboring regions.
In this featured report, researcher and activist Diane MacMillan recounts how generators have been used to shoot silver iodide into the bottom of clouds so that snowfall would land west of the Rocky Mountains in order to keep lucrative ski resorts operational. Runoff from this precipitation was then fed to reservoirs, which in turn supplied cities and major housing developments. Lastly, water was also piped into the Colorado River, ultimately making its way to California.
The Sherman Institute
On June 13, this writer spoke with Ms. MacMillan, about the effect cloud seeding has been having on the Southwest.
“Today there are fires in Colorado, Arizona, New Mexico, California, Utah and Nevada, all of which are located east of ski areas,” she said. “In Fort Collins, we’ve lost over 50K acres since last week. Ten tankers that are attempting to extinguish the fires are refilling every 10 minutes. Some 40K gallons of fire retardant were dumped in one day alone, while one-third of the entire nation’s forest service equipment is being used to fight the fires in Colorado.”
The tales Ms. MacMillan tells are harrowing.
“Near Fort Collins, I heard radio dispatches where firefighters in their truck couldn’t see where they were going due to the intense smoke and flames,” she said. “Trapped, they were instructed to roll up their windows and let a wall of fire sweep over them. Here were these men surrounded by 80 mph winds and fire that turns concrete to ashes. From the sound of their voices on the radio, they were clearly horrified. Although the firefighters thought being immersed by flames inside their truck was the kiss of death, they miraculously survived.”
Ms. MacMillan related one event that did end tragically: “In the North Fork Fire a couple of months ago, the grandson of Herbert Hoover lost his home to fire, destroying some of the former president’s memoirs, gifts and personal writings. Fire moved up the mountain so quickly that people couldn’t flee their homes. President Hoover’s grandson used a fire suppressant design of concrete roof and walls when building his home, yet it still ended up in ashes.”
Local radio talk show hosts, congressmen and climatologists have attempted to explain these fires as a natural phenomenon, but Ms. MacMillan disagrees.
“During the 1960s, Colorado averaged 500 fires per year,” she said. “Now, we’re averaging 2,500 fires per year. It’s not a natural phenomenon, as all the fires from Mexico to Colorado are occurring on the east side of the Continental Divide. Texas lost 4M acres to fire last year. Due to a lack of snow cover east of the Rockies, the trees keep getting drier and exceedingly brittle.”
Ms. MacMillan said the cloud seeding process has become more technologically advanced with time, and this accounts for much of the trouble people are facing now.
“There are over 100 cloud seeding generators sitting on the ground that are strategically placed along the west side of the Continental Divide in Colorado,” she said. “The city of Denver has paid as much as $500K a season for cloud seeding. Controlled by cell-phone technology, the generators are sent instructions, and when conditions are right, they’re triggered to push silver iodide into the clouds.”
Ms.MacMillan said, “Clouds that would have otherwise spread farther over the mountain peaks, to the current wildfire areas, instead dump their snow on ski areas.”
Not only has the lack of moisture east of the Rockies caused a mountain pine beetle infestation of trees, minimal snow cover isn’t able to kill diseases in the soil either. As a consequence, she said, cantaloupes contaminated with listeria have made people sick.
Ms. MacMillan outlined another problem.
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