On Tuesday, the Assembly Budget Subcommittee on Resources and Transportation heard testimony and discussion surrounding the past and future status of California’s funding of wildfire prevention programs.  The hearing was intended to be the first in a series of informational hearings to explore California’s devastating wildfire problem and what steps are needed to mitigate additional catastrophic wildfires in the near future. 
 
The hearing featured testimony from the Legislative Analyst’s Office (LAO), which recently released a report on how California’s spending to suppress wildfires in 2020 has far surpassed expected levels versus what California needs to spend on prevention.  The discussion with the LAO included a lengthy sidebar into possible ways to fund forest management in California, including a resiliency bond and user fees, which also touched on the possibility of revisiting the State Responsibility Area (SRA) fee adopted by the nearly ten years ago (the SRA fee has currently been suspended for several years). 
 
The Committee also heard from representatives from the Native Plant Society, who strongly advocated for banning future development in the wildland urban interface, as well as the Irvine Ranch Conservancy, who discussed their success with prevention in areas that are more prone to brush fires caused by high winds versus forest fires.  Finally, the Committee heard from CAL FIRE Chief Thom Porter, who stressed the importance of increased use of many of the forest management strategies necessary to prevent wildfires, including prescribed fire, mechanical treatment, and biomass utilization. 
 
RCRC submitted testimony at the hearing urging the Committee to explore more sustainable, broad-based funding options for forest management and fuels treatment than just Cap-and-Trade auction revenues or SRA fees, as well as stressing the urgency to act on funding real forest management and fuels treatment solutions in the near term. 
 
The agenda and materials for the hearing, including the LAO report, can be viewed on the Committee website here.