More prescribed burning, logging sought after nightmare wildfires of 2020
A task force has called for more prescribed burning, logging and other actions to deal with the wildfire fuel choking California forests and rangeland.
The Governor’s Forest Management Task Force released a plan earlier this month that affirms an emerging consensus on what to do about the crisis.
The 46-page plan recognizes that the fuel has grown so dense in part because of exclusion of gentle fires that used to clear the undergrowth. They were sparked by lightning and Native Americans.
The plan follows a 2020 that was the worst fire season on record — more than 4 million acres of timber, brush and grass statewide. About a tenth of this was in an expanse from western Stanislaus County to the fringes of the Bay Area.
The task force endorsed an August 2020 agreement between the state and federal governments to roughly double fuel treatment to about 1 million acres per year. The new plan calls for achieving this by 2025, about half on federal land and the other half on private land protected by Cal Fire and other agencies.
Prescribed burning, done for decades in national parks, would expand in national forests and on private rangeland. Logging would increase about 20 percent on national forests, aligning with the thinning already done on private timberland. The largest single owner is Sierra Pacific Industries, whose operations include two sawmills in Tuolumne County.
The plan also calls for increased efforts to reduce flammable trees and brush around rural homes, and to bolster firefighting crews and equipment.
The recommendations drew qualified support from state Sen. Andreas Borgeas, R-Fresno, whose district includes the central Sierra Nevada and eastern Stanislaus County. He would like to see more logging, which has been curtailed since the 1990s due to environmental rules.
”Responsible timber harvesting is essential in order to reduce the density of dead or dying trees that increase the amount of fuel for a fire,” Borgeas said in an email to The Modesto Bee.
Experts from many fields
The task force includes representatives of state and federal agencies, academia, environmental groups, the timber industry and other interests.
Some environmentalists oppose increased logging to deal with the wildfire threat. But the new plan was endorsed by the Nature Conservancy, a national group.
“We look forward to working with the administration and the Legislature to implement the plan and shape a resilient future for people and nature,” said Jay Ziegler, director of external affairs and policy, in a news release from the task force.
The state’s beef cattle industry has long touted grazing as a way to keep wildfire fuel in check. This happens both on private land flanking the Central Valley and on national forest grazing allotments.
In a statement, the California Cattlemen’s Association welcomed the new plan and Gov. Gavin Newsom’s proposed wildfire spending in his 2021-22 budget.
It also urged ”legislative and regulatory reforms that encourage smarter forest and rangeland management practices that provide multiple benefits to wildlife, water quality and security, as well as climate mitigation and resilience.”
Intense fires warm the planet
The plan aligns with efforts to reduce the carbon emissions that have contributed to a general warming of the global climate. Over-dense forests spew huge amounts of carbon when they burn. Trees remaining in thinned-out timber stands capture carbon in their limbs and roots.
Intentional fires have played a role since the 1970s in Yosemite and other national parks, where logging is not allowed. The new plan calls for increasing the practice on other land, tapping the expertise of tribal governments and other partners.
“Fire has been part of California’s landscape since time immemorial,” said Jared Blumenfeld, secretary for environmental protection under Newsom. “Our critical partnerships with tribes across the state have taught us that our relationship with forests requires a deep and holistic engagement which at its core incorporates traditional ecological knowledge and modern science to protect the health of California’s most vulnerable communities.”
