In a recent letter to The Denver Post, Colorado Congressman Bob Schaffer of Fort Collins lamented that our "precious wildlands" are "going up in smoke". President Clinton and his administration, he asserted, are to be blamed for this disaster.

They're to blame because, according to Congressman Schaffer, they have refused to permit extensive logging and new roads through trackless, primitive forests. What's more, they didn't allow anyone to remove dead and diseased trees from these remote places. He didn't explain, of course, that removing dead and diseased trees is not something most logging companies are panting to do. That would be left to taxpayers to fund, since there isn't much economic gain there.

He also didn't mention the countless birds and animals that live in downed and dead trees, creatures that would have no home if the forests were cleaned up and sanitized. Nor did he note that wildlands are just that-wild and often unkempt, precisely because that is their natural condition.

It's quite astonishing to see Rep. Schaffer talking about our "precious wildlands". He's not exactly what you'd call an environmentalist. Nor even someone who's ever been interested in preserving our wild places. His votes in the Colorado Legislature and the U.S. Congress place him at the bottom of the list of legislators who care about our "precious wildlands".

Most of us, however, really do care. We don't want our unspoiled forests clear cut nor our pristine places criss-crossed with roads. Most of us worry about the loss of open space to sprawl. We value the preservation of large tracts of unmarred forests, buttes and canyonlands as a legacy for our children and grandchildren. We want to ensure that native plants and animals do not disappear because their habitat is destroyed.

It's not particularly startling that Mother Nature can transform the earth in fearsome ways. And, she doesn't pay much attention to our feeble attempts to thwart her, either. Volcanoes erupt even though we've located cities nearby, wiping out homes, destroying crops and damming rivers. Earthquakes cause buildings to collapse, tidal waves to swamp coastal communities and mudslides to bury everything in their paths. And yes, wildfires consume forests, brush, grasslands and, sadly, homes.

Too much rain usually brings floods. Hot, dry, windy weather with lots of lightning virtually guarantees forest fires. Often, we blame our government for acting too slowly to help in a disaster. There are times when it makes bad decisions, as with the controlled burn that turned catastrophic near Los Alamos, New Mexico earlier this year or the fire in Yellowstone National Park that was allowed to grow completely uncontrollable.

Blaming government for the huge fires we've experienced this year because it's policy is to preserve wilderness and national forests, however, is ludicrous. In the West, we have fires every year. Citing an average number of acres burned per year in a ten-year period is also meaningless. Some years, fires are worse, consuming more forest and homes; others, when the weather is wet, they are a minor problem. Let's assume, for a moment, that a new administration implements Congressman Schaffer's policies. Roads open up wilderness. Loggers clear great tracts of forest. The taxpayers willingly spend billions cleaning out the debris of the forest floor. Besides the visual and environmental devastation, there are other terrible consequences.

Erosion will accelerate, cutting gorges in mountainsides and causing potentially disastrous mudslides. Newly accessible areas will attract vehicles and campers, raising the considerable risk that a spark or a campfire will accidentally start a fire. Plants and animals that rely on the protections of the natural forest will disappear.

Certainly not everyone likes the environmental policies of this, or any, administration. Some would say they are too soft; others, they are too harsh. Nonetheless, these policies have been built over decades, with endless and continuing debate. As we Americans have become increasingly concerned about environmental devastation, we have pressured our government to take action to preserve what we value. The consequences of not doing so would make this year's fires look mild.