BILL ANALYSIS
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SENATE THIRD READING
SCR 75 (Hollingsworth)
As Amended April 19, 2010
Majority vote
SENATE VOTE :34-0
NATURAL RESOURCES 7-0
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|Ayes:|Chesbro, Gilmore, | | |
| |Brownley, | | |
| |De Leon, Hill, Huffman, | | |
| |Logue | | |
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| | | | |
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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 United States Forest Service's (USFS) undertaking of
fire prevention and maintenance work in the state's national
forest lands.
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 wildfire, conduct
rehabilitation from wildfire-affected areas, reduce hazardous
fuels such as dry brush and trees, and assist local
communities threatened by fire.
EXISTING STATE LAW :
1)Establishes the Forest Practice Act of 1973 which empowers the
California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection (CDF
also known as, CAL FIRE) 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
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(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.
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
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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
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 to CDF's 2008 wildland fire summary, 3,593 wildfires
affected 380,310 acres within its jurisdiction. CDF's
suppression costs for fiscal year 2008-09 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
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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,
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.
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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.
Analysis Prepared by : Jessica Westbrook / NAT. RES. / (916)
319-2092
FN: 0004959