On Thursday, Justin Caporusso, RCRC Vice President of External Affairs and Chair of the California Forest Watershed Alliance (CAFWA), joined the California Forestry Association (Calforests), State Legislators, and CAFWA partners on a tour of the Camp Fire in Butte County. The tour included participation in a press conference with Governor Gavin Newsom at Pine Ridge Elementary School in Magalia where the Governor discussed recently-signed legislation authorizing additional financial support for counties devastated by wildfires.
The legislative package, Assembly Bills 72 and 73, appropriate $131 million for emergency preparedness and disaster relief, including a $31.3 million three-year commitment to offset and backfill 100 percent of the property tax losses for seven counties, including Butte.
Organized by Calforests, Senator Jim Nielsen (R-Tehama) and Assemblymember James Gallagher (R-Yuba City) hosted numerous colleagues on the tour, including Assemblymember Autumn Burke (D-Inglewood), Assemblymember Chris Holden (D-Pasadena), Assemblymember Wendy Carrillo (D-Los Angeles), Assemblymember Vince Fong (R-Bakersfield), and Assemblymember Jim Cooper (D-Elk Grove). Assemblymember Brian Dahle (R-Bieber) also joined the Governor’s press conference.
The tour included presentations from the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, the Butte County Fire Safe Council, the Sierra Nevada Conservancy, the California Professional Firefighters, Sierra Pacific Industries, Paradise Council Members Michael Zuccolillo and Steve Crowder, and Chico City Manager Mark Orme.