Can private industry and environmentalists come together in the name of profit and protecting nature and communities? A new documentary says the answer is a resounding "yes." The film comes in the wake of multiple devastating fires in California, Oregon, and Washington. It does not include the local Creek Fire —...
With No March Miracle, California Prepares for Another Drought
LOS ANGELES — California’s hopes for a wet “March miracle” did not materialize and a dousing of April showers may as well be a mirage at this point. The state appears in the midst of another drought only a few years after a punishing 5-year dry spell dried up rural...
Opinion: Wildfire Prevention Deserves Long-Term, Dedicated, Continuous Funding
With every passing year, California continues to shatter records with devastating fire seasons, and 2020 is no exception. This year, the state has lost 4.2 million acres, approximately 9,000 structures, 31 lives, and fire season has not even ended. Gov. Gavin Newsom attributes these wildfires to what he calls “a climate damn...
UN Calls on Humanity to End ‘War on Nature,’ Go Carbon-Free
As an extreme year for hurricanes, wildfires and heat waves comes to an end, the head of the United Nations challenged world leaders to make 2021 the year that humanity ends its “war on nature” and commits to a future free of planet-warming carbon pollution. With new reports highlighting 2020’s...
After This Year’s Wildfires, California Must Spend to Manage Forest Health
By Robert Dugan and Jeff Harris, Special to CalMatters The uncontrolled wildfires that raged across California this year devastated lives, homes, forests and entire watersheds. We set a dubious record for most acres burned in a single year: 4.1 million and counting. It takes a long time to recover from such intense fires....
California Inmate Fought Wildfires, Now Faces Deportation
SACRAMENTO — Among the thousands of firefighters who battled record-setting wildfires in California this year was Bounchan Keola, a 39-year-old immigrant from Laos serving a 28-year prison sentence for a gang-related shooting when he was 16. One of roughly 1,800 inmates fighting fires, Keola said he struggled to see through...
Six Strategies for Managing Nation’s Flammable Landscapes as Fire Crisis Grows
As of late fall, wildfires are still smoldering under snowfall in Colorado. I am hoping that the cold and snowy weather over the last few days will finally put to bed the 2020 fire season in my state. Through much of October, great pillars of smoke rose in the sky...
Fierce Winds Drive New SoCal Wildfires. Santa Ana Conditions Expected Today.
LOS ANGELES — Crews tried to beat back two out-of-control wildfires in Southern California on Tuesday that have kept tens of thousands of people out of their homes even as another round of dangerous fire weather raises the risk for flames erupting across the state. Fierce winds that drove twin...
Creek Fire Won’t Get Federal Disaster Aid as Trump Administration Denies State Request
SAN FRANCISCO — President Donald Trump's administration this week rejected California’s request for disaster relief funds aimed at cleaning up the damage from six recent wildfires, including the Creek Fire, among the siege of deadly and destructive blazes that have scorched the state. Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom formally submitted a...
Epic Scale of California Wildfires Continues to Grow
SAN FRANCISCO — The staggering scale of California's wildfires reached another milestone Monday: A single fire surpassed 1 million acres. The new mark for the August Complex in the Coast Range between San Francisco and the Oregon border came a day after the total area of land burned by California...