Two years after Carr Fire, LaMalfa introduces 'emergency' bill in Congress to prevent wildfires
Members of Congress from California and the West have joined together to introduce a bill to reduce wildfire risk and increase forest management.
The bill, the "Bipartisan Emergency Wildfire and Public Safety Act," promises to "protect the West from catastrophic wildfires" through prevention projects. It also includes retrofitting measures to help businesses and homeowners to protect homes and other buildings from the risk of future wildfires.
“In Northern California, we have experienced two of the most destructive fires in California history, the Camp and Carr Fires, and many people are still struggling to recover,” said U.S. Rep. Doug LaMalfa said in a news release last week.
“Proactively managing our forests is the best way to minimize the risk of wildfire in the West and protect our areas from further disaster," he said.
Wildfire prevention bills have a long history among state and federal legislators. Between 1999 and 2018 there were at least 233 wildfire-related bills introduced into the California Legislature, according to a Stanford University study released earlier this year.
The study focused on the obstacles facing the use of prescribed burning and mechanical thinning to clear dense forested areas to reduce fire risk.
The study did not look into legislation in Congress, but did note the number of wildfire prevention bills tends to rise following large fires, such as the North Bay and Mendocino County fires of 2017 and the Camp and Carr Fires in 2018.
LaMalfa, R-Richvale, introduced the bill last week along with Democrat Jimmy Panetta of Carmel Valley. U.S. Sen. Dianne Feinstein and several other members of Congress from California and Montana were also listed as original sponsors of the bill.
The bill would address specific issues, including:
- Requiring the U.S. Forest Service and Bureau of Land Management to work with states to implement wildfire prevention projects in areas most in need.
- Allowing money for disaster mitigation and preparedness be used to reduce the wildfire risk posed by utility lines.
- Speeding up permits to install wildfire detection equipment such as sensors, cameras, and other relevant equipment and expanding the use of satellite data to assist wildfire response.
- Creating incentives to businesses to increase collection of biomass such as dead and dying trees and expanding biomass processing facilities, such as electrical generation plants, to make it more economically viable.
- Creating a program to train a new generation of workers to address wildfire and forest health, and establishing a western fire center to train new firefighters and forestry professionals on the uses of prescribed fires.
- Lifting the current ban on exporting the 150 million dead and dying trees on federal land in California.
- Expanding the Energy Department’s weatherization program to retrofit homes to make them more resilient to wildfire by using fire-resistant building materials and other methods.
- Establishing a new grant program to assist facilities such as hospitals and police stations so they will be more energy efficient and adapted to function during power shutoffs.
Whatever route legislators lay out for clearing out overgrown forests, they will need to remove barriers to make it happen. According to the Stanford study, between 38% and 51% of all planned prescribed burns each year never happen.
LaMalfa's opponent in the November election, Democrat Audrey Denney of Chico, said the bill amounted to too little too late.
“After spending his political career ignoring our declining forest health, I must commend the Congressman for actually working on a bill that shares much of the foundation of the forestry plan I have been advocating for during the last 3 years," Denney said.
While the bill sets a goal of 75,000 acres of forest treatment across the West, forest fuels need to be reduced on about 25 million acres in California alone, she said.
"This bill is a small starting point, not a solution," Denney said.
Damon Arthur is the Record Searchlight’s resources and environment reporter. He is among the first on the scene at breaking news incidents, reporting real time on Twitter at @damonarthur_RS. Damon is part of a dedicated team of journalists who investigate wrongdoing and find the unheard voices to tell the stories of the North State. He welcomes story tips at 530-338-8834 and email@example.com. Help local journalism thrive by subscribing today!