California’s $1 billion plan to reduce wildfire risk
The proposal, drawn up by state lawmakers this week, would fund grants to fire departments, cities, counties and non-profit organizations to thin brush, cut fuel breaks and reduce fire danger in hundreds of communities around the state in high-risk areas, from the
If the plan is approved Friday evening, as many
The package also includes proposals by Gov.
Lawmakers did not embrace everything Brown was proposing last week. But the bill still would allow trees up to 30 inches in diameter to be cut without landowners obtaining a state timber harvest permit -- up from 26 inches now, but not 36 inches as Brown had requested -- when they are thinning forests to reduce fire risk. It also would allow logging roads up to 600 feet long to be built on private land without a permit, as long as they are replanted.
But the deal does not come without politics and some backroom dealing. The fire safety provisions were to have been included in a separate bill, but legislative leaders in
Sources said Thursday the reason for putting all the different issues into one bill is to give lawmakers who may be worried about the political risk of being accused of "bailing out"
The compromise cleared a key hurdle Tuesday night when it was approved 7-1 by a conference committee on wildfire issues. A final vote in the Assembly and
The fire reduction measures are supported by the state's timber industry and some environmental groups, although some oppose the relaxation of the logging rules.
"On balance, it's the most significant commitment we've made to funding forest restoration, maybe ever," said
"Making the sort of investment that we have here will make a difference over time," he said. "But it is going to take a long time -- decades -- to restore our forests to the condition they were before logging and fire suppression changed them so much."
The wildfire fund and logging reforms are a direct reaction to the fact that massive wildfires have devastated
The largest fire in recorded state history, the Mendocino Complex Fire, is still burning in
"We absolutely need significant, ongoing funding for prevention and vegetation management," said Assemblyman
If approved Friday night, the new wildfire fund would be split, with
Both types of projects are designed to reduce the amount of flammable material in forests, many of which burned regularly before the Gold Rush, thinning out brush and dead wood. After more than 100 years of fire fighting, however, many have grown unnaturally thick, generating enormous fires when blazes do start. Climate change also is causing temperatures to rise, drying out vegetation. And
There are still some opponents. The Sierra Club California opposes the package, saying that it allows too much logging without enough oversight.
"This exempts plots of lands up to 300 acres from any kind of oversight," she said. "You will end up not having anybody make sure that there won't be substantial erosion and mudslides, which ruin wildlife habitat."
Others cheered the changes, however, as important to reduce red tape.
"Those reforms are needed," said
___
(c)2018 the San Jose Mercury News (San Jose, Calif.)
Visit the San Jose Mercury News (San Jose, Calif.) at www.mercurynews.com
Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
Gilmore Auction owners look to rebuild after massive Rostraver fire
Growth Outlook: Pet Dog Insurance Market by Key Players: Petplan UK, Nationwide, Trupanion, Hartville Group
Advisor News
Annuity News
Health/Employee Benefits News
Life Insurance News