BILL ANALYSIS
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Date of Hearing: June 21, 2010
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON NATURAL RESOURCES
Wesley Chesbro, Chair
SCR 75 (Hollingsworth) - As Amended: April 19, 2010
SENATE VOTE : 34-0
SUBJECT : Wildfires: United States Forest Service (USFS)
SUMMARY : Resolves that the California Legislature declares that
there exists an ongoing emergency due to the threat of wildfire,
calls on the federal government to take immediate measures to
prevent imminent catastrophic wildfires, and, together with
local governments, request that Governor Schwarzenegger advocate
for the USFS's undertaking of fire prevention and maintenance
work in the state's national forest lands.
EXISTING STATE LAW
1)Establishes the Forest Practice Act of 1973 which empowers the
California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection (CDF) to
enforce the laws that regulate logging on privately-owned
state lands and ensure that logging is done in a manner that
will also preserve and protect fish, wildlife, forests, and
streams.
2)Establishes the State Board of Forestry and Fire Protection
(Board) whose mission is to lead California in developing
policies and programs that serve the public interest in
environmentally, economically, and socially sustainable
management of forest and rangelands, and a fire protection
system that protects and serves the people of the state.
3)Establishes the California Fire Prevention and Suppression
Action Plan of 2004 which encourages California citizens to
expand their knowledge of fire protection in order to identify
and prevent potential causes of catastrophic wildfires at the
federal, state, and local levels.
EXISTING FEDERAL LAW:
Establishes the National Fire Plan (NFP) to be implemented by
the USFS together with the U.S. Department of the Interior.
The NFP's mission is to make available resources to respond to
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wildfire, conduct rehabilitation from wildfire-affected areas,
reduce hazardous fuels such as dry brush and trees, and assist
local communities threatened by fire.
FISCAL EFFECT : Non-fiscal
COMMENTS :
Catastrophic fire in California history . In the scientific
field of forest ecology, a "catastrophic," wildfire is defined
as a high-intensity wildfire that burns most of the trees in an
area as well as the majority of fallen forest floor vegetation,
or "litter." In the mid 1940s, USFS launched a successful
nationwide campaign for the complete suppression of wildfires in
the U.S. featuring Smokey the Bear. It was believed at the time
that wildfires should and could be completely suppressed. By
the 1960s, scientists were able to successfully communicate to
policymakers that fire was a historical and natural part of
forest ecology even without human activity. For example, a 2007
National Park Service report indicated that Yellowstone National
Park experiences about 22 fires per year which are caused
directly by lightning, plus approximately 6 to 10 fires per year
that are caused by humans.
In the early 2000s, the USFS launched a new wildfire campaign
called the Healthy Forest Initiative. Because catastrophic
wildfires appeared to destroy all living things in a forest,
they were labeled by the USFS as "bad fires" or "unnatural"
while lower-intensity wildfires that burn slowly across forest
floors and leave the majority of trees with green leaves were
labeled as "good fires" or "natural" fires. The USFS applied
these new labels to an anti-catastrophic fire campaign in the
Sierra Nevada mountain range, declaring that "our old growth
forests are choking with brush, tinder-dry debris, and dead
trees which make the risk of catastrophic wildfires high." The
initiative stated that weather, terrain, moisture, and fuel are
the four factors that can influence the result of a catastrophic
wildfire, fuel being the only factor that humans can control.
The Healthy Forest Initiative philosophy is to remove fuel from
the forest that it considers to be in excess of what the forest
might have looked like prior to human intervention as well as
any that would increase the risk of a catastrophic fire.
According to the USFS, this fuel includes forest vegetative
litter and small to medium sized trees. In addition, the USFS
used prescribed burns to eliminate excess vegetation. Figure 1
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represents the hypothetical historical and present appearances
of forests as described in the USFS Healthy Forests Initiative.
Figure 1.
Cost of wildfire in California
According CDF's 2008 wildland fire summary, 3,593 wildfires
affected 380,310 acres within its jurisdiction. CDF's
suppression costs for FY2008/09 was approximately $460 million;
the value of property damage was estimated at $899 million
resulting from a total of 1,027 structures destroyed.
Current catastrophic wildfire research
Existing law requires that an individual with legal control over
a building in or near a heavily vegetated area must clear 100
feet of defensible space from each side of the structure but not
beyond the property line. Homes that are surrounded by adequate
defensible space have a higher probability of surviving a
wildfire. In the case of a catastrophic fire, the 100 feet of
defensible space has had varying results with regards to
protecting, or failing to protect, a structure. At any wildfire
intensity live embers may travel distances greater than half a
mile in windy conditions, reducing the effectiveness of the 100
feet of defensible space according to a report by the U.S.
Geological Survey.
On May 7, 2004, Governor Schwarzenegger issued executive order
S-9-04 following a wildfire-related state of emergency the year
before when the citizens, property, and the environment were at
risk from wildfire damage in Riverside, San Bernardino, and San
Diego counties. The executive order declared that drought,
overstocked forests, and infestation by bark beetles and other
decay organisms were the primary cause of death of a significant
number of trees which was thought to increase the risk of
imminent catastrophic wildfires that cause loss of life,
property, and environmental quality. Some of these dead trees
were within state forest lands while others were within federal
forest lands. The executive order called for more resources to
be made available to CDF to ensure the safety of people and
property in California including additional fire fighting crews
in certain at-risk counties in Southern California, additional
fire-fighting equipment, increased defensible space inspections,
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and additional staff. Among its other provisions, the executive
order further called upon CDF and the state Office of Emergency
Services (OES) to work with federal, state and local government
agencies, bordering states, and the government of Mexico to
maximize California's fire prevention and fighting capabilities.
In 2007, a UC Berkeley Forest Ecology scientific study reported
that their historical models indicated that, prior to the year
1800 and Euro-American settlement, approximately 1.8 million
hectares (1 hectare = 10,000 square meters) burned annually in
California. For perspective, this 1.8 million hectares is
approximately equivalent to 88% of the land area in the entire
United States that experienced wildfire between 1994 and 2004.
The article predicted that the emissions from these annual
California fires kept the skies smoky during the summer and
fall. These data may be useful as the legislature formulates
carbon sequestration and fire suppression policies. Across the
nation, California has experienced more burned area relative to
the remainder of the U.S. between 1940 and 2000 according to a
scientific review by Scott Stephens, a wildfire and forest
ecologist from UC Berkeley. Fuel hazards and changes in climate
can affect the occurrence of wildfires caused by both lightning
and human actions. In addition, wildfires are highly affected
by geography. From a historical perspective, knowing that
catastrophic fires played a frequent and large spatial role in
shaping California's ecology, it is possible that the effects of
catastrophic fire may have the ability to increase biodiversity
in forests. For example, fire may clear an area of dense trees
while at the same time allowing germination of a stockpile of
seeds. Newly germinated tree seedlings now have access to
direct sunlight for more efficient growth. Seedlings and
flowering plants draw a diversity of insects, subsequently
drawing increased populations of birds and rodents. Fallen dead
trees may become homes for burrowing animals which subsequently
draw predatory animals such as coyote and mountain lions.
California's wildfire policy would likely benefit from
accurately reflecting the diverse geography and climate of the
state, as well as incorporating information regarding its unique
wildfire history.
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REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION :
Support
Regional Council of Rural Counties
Opposition
None on file
Analysis Prepared by : Jessica Westbrook / NAT. RES. / (916)
319-2092