Residents of Riverside, California, one of the areas scorched by devastating wildfires, are angry because they had been prevented from creating firebreaks around their homes. The brush is the habitat of the Stephen's kangaroo rat, which is protected by the Endangered Species Act.

Environmentalists dismiss the criticism. "These fires weren't started by the kangaroo rat, and it shouldn't be made a scapegoat for something that happened naturally," said Anne Dennis of the San Gorgonio chapter of the Sierra Club.

California officials studying the cause of those fires also cite opposition to a proposal by city officials to create a three-million gallon reservoir that would have been helpful in extinguishing the fires.

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