Californians will forever be haunted by what they witnessed in January – the most destructive natural disaster this state has ever known. We witnessed images of embers being launched by fierce winds like flaming arrows, spreading destruction from neighborhood to neighborhood, enveloping entire communities, claiming at least 29 lives and destroying more than 18,000 homes and other structures.
Even as we are haunted by the calamity, we must learn from it. We saw that wildfire prevention strategies cannot be a sometime, somewhere thing. The danger interconnects us all, rural and urban, north and south, inland and along the coast, mountains, hills and valleys.
It is time – past time – for California to commit to a comprehensive, collaborative strategy to limit the frequency and intensity of destructive wildfires. It must involve forests and woodlands, rangelands and suburban open space, backyard landscaping and individual homes. What we have learned is that even one wildfire that ignites can imperil an entire community, even if the initial ignition is miles away.
Underscoring the urgency, our state is moving to fast-track forest management by streamlining the regulatory process to deploy proven management practices and technologies quickly for both large projects and for home hardening and to improve neighborhood fire resilience.
At the same time, the federal government has earmarked funds to create firebreaks on our national forests likewise is streamlining the federal regulatory process to aggressively manage our nation’s forests. These efforts must continue in the long term even when the temptation to shift resources elsewhere for an immediate priority seems beneficial. We simply can’t start and stop, start and stop.
Of course, California has seen horrific fires before – far too many, far too recently. In fact, seven of the 10 most destructive wildfires in state history have taken place just within the last 10 years.
In response, there has been a growing emphasis on wildfire prevention and containment strategies. Californians understand the importance of wildfire prevention and are united to see progress.
Although our communities and citizens recognize the importance of getting something done quickly that yields results, debate, discussion and deliberation can slow the process of greenlighting this work. Financial, environmental, and other ancillary concerns have sidelined proposals in the past.
While ensuring we hear all viewpoints and thoughtfully addressing real concerns, we simply can no longer wait to move forward. This year must be different. Even as we grieve the unimaginable losses of thousands of homeowners and small businesses in Pacific Palisades, Altadena and elsewhere, we are wiser.
Californians now are shockingly aware of the destruction that catastrophic wildfires have inflicted on both our built and natural environments. We’ve witnessed the loss of tens of thousands of acres of habitat and the blackening of priceless viewscapes that will not be restored in our lifetime.
The hotter and more intense the wildfire, the greater the destruction. We’ve been taught by our native forefathers that low intensity fires on actively managed forest and rangelands are not inherently bad and can benefit the landscape.
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We know there are academically proven strategies that can limit such destruction: the creation of fuel breaks that provide firefighters with the opportunity to stop the spread of fires, fuel reduction projects, prescribed burns, cattle grazing to make our range and forestlands more resilient and less incendiary, defensible spaces around neighborhoods, home-hardening and fire-safe landscaping.
This must be the year that California embraces a sustained, collaborative effort to make our state more fire resilient. That effort must engage federal, state and local governments, community organizations, tribes and individual property owners who understand that actions to protect their land and homes also protects our neighbors. We are in this together and as such must act as willing partners to move the ball down the field resulting in measurable change on the landscape.
We owe it to all the victims of past wildfires, most recently the horrific L.A. County fires. We owe it to ourselves.
Mike Williams is a cattle rancher in Acton and First Vice President of the California Cattlemen’s Association. Drew Crane is the CEO of Crane Mills in Corning and chair of the California Forestry Association.