State, federal agencies plan for intense wildfire season
tributing factor and increase that probabil- ity,” said Robert Spiegel, a California Farm Bureaupolicyadvocatewhoworksonwild- fire issues. “When you already have signifi- cantly dry fuel loads in the environment, coupledwith a greater propensity forwild- fire, it canbe theperfect storm, so to speak, for another record-breaking fire season.” In the face of these conditions, the May state budget revision allocates $1.24 billion in wildfire and forest-re- silience funding over two years. Of that, $536 million has already been allocated through Senate Bill 85, an early budget
bill enacted in mid-April. The revised budget proposes to spend the remaining $708million in five catego- ries: resilient forests and landscapes;wild- fire fuel breaks; community hardening; science-based management; and forest sector economic stimulus. Spiegel said the figure represents a significant state investment in wild- fire projects, noting that the California Forest Improvement Program, or CFIP, would receive $50 million in total; the
ByKevinHecteman Amid a drought and predictions of an above-average wildfire season, state and federal officialspledgedmoneyandatten- tion to try to avoid a California fire season suchas theone that burned4millionacres and killed 34 people in 2020. The May revi s ion to Gov. Gavin Newsom’sproposedbudget boosts spend- ing on various state wildfire projects to more than $1.2 billion. The need could be urgent. The direc- tor of the U.S. Department of the Interior OfficeofWildlandFire, JeffRupert,warned last week that widespread drought condi- tions, worse thanat this time in2020, “will soon lead to above-average fire potential acrossmany areas in theWest.” “Another difficult year is expected in California, due to extensive drought throughout the entire state,” Rupert said Finished-cattle discussions held At therequestof theLivestockMarketing Association, several farmandcattlegroups havemet todiscuss challenges involved in themarketing of finished cattle. Leaders of the American FarmBureau Federation, National Cattlemen’s Beef Association, National Farmers Union, R-CALF USA and the United States Cattlemen’s Association convened this month in Phoenix, Arizona, to talk about topics including packer concentration; price transparency and discovery; pack- er oversight; Packers and Stockyards Act enforcement; level of captive supply; and packer capacity. The groups said Monday their goal is to bring about amore financially sustain- able situation for cattle feeders and cow- calf producers. They also said they have agreed to take action items to their respective organi- zations for consideration: expediting re- newal of U.S. Department of Agriculture Livestock Mandatory Reporting, includ- ing formula-based prices subject to the same reporting requirements as negoti- ated cash and the creation of a contract library; demanding the Department of Justice issue a public investigation status report and, as warranted, conduct joint DOJ andUSDA oversight of packer activ- ity; and encouraging investment in, and development of, new independent, local and regional packers. In their joint statement, the groups said themeetingbrought together diversepro- ducer organizations to identify issues and discusspotential solutions. The issues and action-item lists are not comprehensive, the groups said, adding that participat- ing organization representatives “were pleased to have reached consensus on many issues and are committed to the ul- timate goal of achieving a fair and trans- parent finished cattlemarketing system.”
during a news conference. More than94%of the statewas insevere drought or worse as of May 11, accord- ing to the U.S. Drought Monitor. Nearly three-quartersof it—73%—was inextreme or exceptional drought. “Whiledroughts don’t necessarilymean we will have larger wildfires in the state, drought conditions candefinitelybe a con-
See PREVENTION, Page 13
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May 19, 2021 Ag Alert 3
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