To the Editor:

I read with interest Hollis Creach’s comments in a news story about the Caloosahatchee Forestry Center’s efforts to protect Lehigh Acres residents from wildfires. As you’re likely aware, Lehigh Acres is at extreme risk from wildfires.

The Center, one of 15 districts of the Florida Division of Forestry, conducts mechanical vegetation removal and prescribed fires to reduce vegetation near homes and other structures.

The vegetation, including the pines and saw palmettos Mr. Creach referenced to, are adapted to fire and need it as part of their lifecycles.

Saw palmetto excretes oil when it burns. If dense pockets of saw palmetto are close to homes, you can imagine the risk they pose.

Proper management of these areas reduces risks to property, makes the habitat more diverse and attracts wildlife. Gopher tortoises and many other animals have more opportunities to forage.

Fire-adapted vegetation returns quickly and provides ample food sources.

We conduct the mechanical work because we cannot always use prescribed fires. The proximity of homes, constantly changing weather and other factors often prevent prescribed fires from being practical solutions.

Mechanical mitigation work is a reasonable alternative if we can reduce wildfire risks to homes and other structures.

We are trying to do our very best to ensure our residents have the most protection possible from uncontrolled, catastrophic wildfires. We can

conduct prescribed burns or use mechanical means to reduce dense vegetation near homes on our terms, with proper planning, or we can react to an uncontrolled wildfire on its terms.

We take a more proactive approach that protects our residents, and we hope residents take the initiative to protect their properties by properly landscaping and

maintaining their yards by creating at least 30 feet of space between their homes and dense vegetation.

Our efforts have not gone unnoticed, and more work is underway. We received a state excellence award for wildfire mitigation this year because of our efforts in Lehigh Acres in partnership with Lee County.

That partnership allowed us to reduce dense vegetation across more than 2,000 acres and reduced the wildfire risk to more than $100 million worth of structures.

The work continues.

We are creating a new mitigation team, paid for with federal stimulus dollars, that will conduct more mechanical vegetation removal through the end of June 2011.

Wildfire safety is everyone’s responsibility. Your local Division of Forestry staff works hard to reduce your wildfire risk, but we cannot do it without your help. Your readers should let us know if they have questions or concerns.

Victor A. Hill

Wildfire Mitigation Specialist,

Caloosahatchee Forestry Center,

Florida Division of Forestry