Submitted by Mark Hofer
As the drought began to set in, Governor Newsom, anticipating another season of more than usual wildfires, approved $536 million in spending on prevention. Relatively speaking, California has seemingly been more proactive lately in searching for fire policy reforms. Over thirty of the proposed bills in the California Legislature 2021-2022 Session pertain to wildfires and fire protection related issues. But an unfortunate truth is that much of this wildfire preparation is jeopardized by poor policies at the Federal level of government, and this is especially true for the northernmost counties.
As Skye Kinkade has reported, in recent weeks, Siskiyou and Shasta counties have suffered from five fires, the Lava, Tennant, Tangle, Juniper, and Salt fires. At a point in time, all five of these fires were being battled concurrently.
Summer is just beginning, but wildfires are already raging in the West. Large and destructive wildfires are becoming more common, with new records set almost every year. Although several factors contribute to this trend, a significant one is the declining health of our nation’s forests. The U.S. Forest Service, which manages 193 million acres of land, reports a backlog of 80 million acres in need of restoration and 63 million acres facing high or very high risk of wildfire.While improving forest health and mitigating wildfire risk will require long-term policy changes, forest restoration projects offer a way to address these issues in the short term. By promoting landscapes with healthy forests and diverse forest types, restoration projects can reduce the risk of megafires and provide other conservation benefits.Join us as we explore how reducing regulatory barriers, encouraging private partnerships, and opening markets for wood products can help restore our nation’s forests.The Fi