Ag Alert April 21, 2021

State commits $536 million to wildfire-prevention work

basedon thenumber of structures or larger populationbases—if it’sprimarilyadensity argument—howdoesthisprioritizationben- efitruralcommunitiesofCalifornia?Isthere, orwill therebe, equityof funding?”hesaid. Spiegel said in light of devastatingwild- fireseveryyear since2017and thevery real potential of yet anotherbad fireseasonthis year, dedicatedand long-termfunding for vegetation, home hardening and com- munity resiliency is needed—along with a re-examination of priorities. “California has an obligation to protect our natural resources, but there’s also the

competing state obligation to dowhat per- haps communities and local government can only accomplishwith state assistance, whichistoprotectprivateproperty,”hesaid. “FarmBureau has members who have lost everything,” Spiegel noted. “We have members who were trying to gain access to their property at the time a wildfire was barrelingdown themountain to save their animals, to save their ranch and liveli- hoods.What shouldbedone first and fore- most, especiallyaswe lookat thepotential of what may come this year, is the protec- tion of communities, lives and property.”

ByKevinHecteman California will spend more than half a billion dollars in an effort to harden the stateagainstwildfiresunder abill that took effect last week. The bill, Senate Bill 85, cleared both housesof theLegislatureunanimouslyApril 12 andwas signed into law the next day. It allocates$536millionforarangeofprojects, including ecological health of forests and watersheds, fuel breaks around vulnerable communities and firepreventiongrants. Thebill alsoallocates $160million from the Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund to- wardthegoalsof SB901, a2018 lawseeking to spend $1 billion over five years to help defend the state against future fire threats. Thebill alsoallocatesnearly$84million to the Office of Emergency Services to sup- port activities related to deployment of firefightingservices inpreparationforwhat is likely to be another activewildfire year. California Farm Bureau policy advo- cate Robert Spiegel described the bill as “very necessary,” with a new fire season approaching quickly. Of interest to Farm Bureau members, Spiegel said, will be $50 million allo- cated to Cal Fire for the Fire Prevention Grants program. “This fundingwill be utilized for various grants to local communities, to better pre- pare as well as provide greater future pro- tectionfromwildfire-relatedissues,”Spiegel said, noting therewill be “a priority for us- ing these funds on criteria that bothmain- tains fire-risk severity as aprimary factor in awarding the grant, but then further priori- tizesprojectsthatprotect largerpopulations ofCalifornians andprivateproperty.” The prioritization based on population baseor structures is a “fundamental shift,” he said. “Because we have seen such a prolif- eration of wildfire beyond just the upper elevationsof theSierraNevadaand tooth-

er communities in low-lying vegetation like Napa, Sonoma, Monterey, Ventura, Santa Barbara and other locales in inland Southern California, we have been com- peting against ourselves for this limited pocket ofmoney,” Spiegel added, describ- ing the process as a “balancing act” that nevertheless raises concerns. “If thegoal is toprioritizewildfireprojects

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April 21, 2021 Ag Alert 13