| FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: |
Contact: Governor's Press Office |
| Thursday, August 13, 2020 |
(916) 445-4571 |
California, U.S. Forest Service Establish Shared Long-Term Strategy to Manage Forests and Rangelands
Agreement will improve coordination to reduce wildfire risks on federal and state lands
Funding included in the federal Great American Outdoors Act
Agreement comes as Lake Fire burns in Angeles National Forest
SACRAMENTO
-- In a key step to improve stewardship of California’s forests, the
Newsom Administration and the U.S. Forest Service today announced a new
joint state-federal initiative to reduce wildfire risks, restore
watersheds, protect habitat and biological diversity, and help the state
meet its climate objectives.
The Agreement for Shared Stewardship of California’s Forest and Rangelands
includes a commitment by the federal government to match California’s
goal of reducing wildfire risks on 500,000 acres of forest land per
year. To protect public safety and ecology, experts agree that at least
one million acres of California forest and wildlands must be treated
annually across jurisdictions.
A
historical transition toward unnaturally dense forests, a century of
fire suppression and climate change resulting in warmer, hotter and
drier conditions have left the majority of California’s forestland
highly vulnerable to catastrophic wildfire and in need of active,
science-based management. Since the federal government owns nearly 58
percent of California’s 33 million acres of forestlands, while the state
owns 3 percent, joint state-federal management is crucial to
California’s overall forest health and wildfire resilience.
Improved
coordination also is key since nearly half of the state dollars
invested in fuels management in recent years was spent on federal
land.
“Wildfires
don’t stop at jurisdictional boundaries. As we respond to wildfires in
real-time this summer, improving coordination between the major stewards
of California’s forested land will help us protect communities and
restore forest health across California,” Governor Gavin Newsom said.
“We are grateful to secure the U.S. Forest Service’s commitment to help
us more effectively address the scale of California’s current wildfire
crisis.”
“Collaboration
between state and federal agencies on issues of forest health and
resiliency is critical,” said U.S. Forest Service Chief Vicki
Christiansen. “The Forest Service is fortunate to collaborate on
restoration projects across the state and share science and research to
address issues to help care for the land and serve people. We are
excited to expand our partnership with California to enhance our
collaboration though this Shared Stewardship agreement with California.”
The
Shared Stewardship Agreement builds on existing coordination between
state and federal agencies, and outlines six core principles and nine
specific actions that will drive improved state-federal collaboration:
- Prioritize public safety;
- Use science to guide forest management;
- Coordinate land management across jurisdictions;
- Increase the scale and pace of forest management projects;
- Remove barriers that slow project approvals; and
- Work closely with all stakeholders, including tribal communities, environmental groups, academia and timber companies.
Specifically, through this agreement California and the U.S. Forest Service commit to execute the following activities together:
- Treat
one million acres of forest and wildland annually to reduce risk of
catastrophic wildfire (building on the state’s existing 500,000-acre
annual commitment);
- Develop a shared 20-year plan for forest health and vegetation treatment that establishes and coordinates priority projects;
- Expand use of ecologically sustainable techniques for vegetation treatments such as prescribed fire;
- Increase
pace and scale of forest management by improving ecologically
sustainable timber harvest in California and grow jobs by tackling
structural obstacles, such as workforce and equipment shortfalls and
lack of access to capital;
- Prioritize
co-benefits of forest health such as carbon sequestration,
biodiversity, healthy watersheds and stable rural economies;
- Recycle forest byproducts to avoid burning slash piles;
- Improve sustainable recreation opportunities;
- Enable resilient, fire-adapted communities; and
- Share data and continue to invest in science.
The
Great American Outdoors Act, signed by President Trump on August 4,
will provide critical funding for the Forest Service’s work in
California.
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