SACRAMENTO – The California Forestry Association on Monday responded to a new report on forest health from the Little Hoover Commission.

The report, “Fire on the Mountain: Rethinking Forest Management in the Sierra Nevada,” can be found at http://www.lhc.ca.gov/sites/lhc.ca.gov/files/Reports/242/Report242.pdf.

The Little Hoover Commission’s report makes a number of recommendations that the state should take to increase forest health, including engaging in landscape-level forest management for long-term forest resiliency, better educating Californians about the suite of benefits healthy forests provide to the state, urging the California Air Resources Board, land managers and other stakeholders to work to find ways to increase prescribed burning, among a host of other suggestions.

“We support the Little Hoover Commission’s findings that forest health is paramount to all Californians, said Rich Gordon, president and CEO of the California Forestry Association.

“Healthy forests provide us with clean air and water; wildlife habitat; clean energy; sustainable wood products and green economies – making their management crucial to protecting our health and safety,” Gordon said.

“That’s why our members, who represent more than four million acres of privately held forestlands are being proactive in their approach. Our members manage their forestlands in a way that protects both our environment and economy. But they can’t do it alone,” Gordon noted.

He said drought, disease and wildfire, have no boundaries ‑‑ making it important that everyone from small to large landowners, state and federal lands, work collaboratively across jurisdictional boundaries to protect one of our most precious natural resources.

“Our members’ forestlands should serve as an example of what a healthy forest looks like,” he said. “One that provides proper spacing to reduce disease and wildfire risk; one that thins out the forest to foster diverse wildlife habitat and recreation; and one that harvests timber in a sustainable manner.”

Gordon said the California Forestry Association is working on its’ 2018 Forest Health Initiative, which provides solutions to managing California’s forests and all that they have to offer.