NORTHERN CALIFORNIA – The California Board of Forestry and Fire Protection and Cal Fire are moving forward with crafting an updated that is meant to increase protections against wildland fire, as directed by former Gov. Jerry Brown.
On Tuesday, Board of Forestry and Fire Protection Chair Dr. Keith Gilless and Cal Fire Director Thom Porter announced plans to initiate preparation of the new California Vegetation Treatment Program Environmental Impact Report, or CalVTP.
The agencies said CalVTP represents more than a decade of board work analyzing potential environmental effects associated with vegetation management aimed at reducing wildland fire risk across the state.
“This has been a long-lived effort,” Board of Forestry and Fire Protection Matt Dias told Lake County News.
The Board of Forestry and Fire Protection’s 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.”
The reintroduced CalVTP, Dias explained. “is built off the work that has been conducted by the board over the past decade.”
Due to the new objectives for increased pace and scale established by the state, Dias said the board has taken all past comments on the plan and some more contemporary science and used them in revamping the CalVTP.
He said they’re moving forward “in an expeditious manner” to get the new plan updated and published. It’s expected to be circulated for public comment in either May or June.
The process of preparing the plan must adhere to the provisions laid out in the California Environmental Quality Act, or CEQA, which Dias said mandates that the minimum public comment period is 45 days.
“In the past the board has exercised its discretion to allow some additional time to that minimum given the scope of the document,” he said.
He said he’s not sure what the board will do this time. “They have made clear that they want to move forward rapidly.”
The goal is to have the plan online by the end of this year, Dias said.
Explaining the state directive for increased scale, Dias said that the new goal is to increase the acreage of projects focused on wildland fire prevention from its current size of 250,000 acres to 500,000 acres annually.
Such vegetation management projects can range from timber harvest to prescribed fire, mastication and pile burning, he said.
That impetus comes from a directive issued last year as part of Gov. Jerry Brown’s Executive Order 52-18.
The four-page executive order states, under the heading, “Improving Forest Management and Restoration,” that, “The Natural Resources Agency shall take all necessary steps to double the total statewide rate of forest treatments within 5 years to at least 500,000 acres per year. To accomplish this goal the Agency will work with the Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, the Department of Parks and Recreation, the Department of Fish and Wildlife, the State Water Resources Control Board, State Conservancies, and all other relevant agencies.”
Dias said that directive came in response to the increased number of wildland fires across California, fires which also have grown larger in size, scope and damage – both in lives lost and property destroyed.
He said the analysis covers the State Responsibility Area, the 31 million acres in the state “where the State of California has the primary financial responsibility for the prevention and suppression of wildland fires,” according to the Cal Fire Web site.
The environmental analysis that the Board of Forestry and Fire Protection and Cal Fire are conducting as part of the updated CalVTP is for vegetation treatment projects on 23 million of that overall State Responsibility Area, Dias said.
The board said the CalVTP program plays a critical role in assisting Cal Fire in increasing the pace and scale of vegetation management while also maintaining California’s diverse vegetation and habitats.
“While the impacts of wildland fires have always been a concern for California, the associated impacts to public health, welfare, and natural resources over the last several years demand that the board play an increasingly active role in supporting wildland fire prevention activities,” said Dr. Gilless.
Upon certification, the CalVTP will facilitate timely implementation of wildland urban interface vegetation reduction projects, fuel breaks to assist in wildland fire suppression efforts and support ecological restoration projects, officials said.
“The CalVTP will provide Cal Fire with an essential opportunity to support timely implementation of wildland fire prevention activities, such as prescribed burning and mechanical treatment of hazardous vegetative fuels. Cal Fire is in full support of the board’s effort on this project,” said Director Porter.
The gravity of last five years has spoken. “We need to act now,” said Dias.
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Agencies work on plan to double acreage of state’s wildland fire prevention projects
- Elizabeth Larson
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