Gov. Gavin Newsom’s massive new budget proposal contains a plan to dramatically increase the use of prescribed burns, but how far could this go toward boosting California's firefighting efforts?
Gov. Newsom is pushing to increase the state's firefighting budget by a billion dollars. More than half of that new money would go towards vegetation management projects, such as fuel thinning and prescribed burns.
Lenya Quinn-Davidson, who directs the Northern California Prescribed Fire Council, likes the direction.
"I think it’s a really good start," she told KCBS Radio.
But Quinn-Davidson said that given how massively overgrown many portions of California have become, it’s just a start in addressing the fire danger from all that buildup.
"It’s really going to take a radical shift in how we approach these issues if we’re going to make a difference," she noted.
It’s not just funding that’s needed to see more prescribed burns.
Quinn-Davidson pointed out that red tape and bureaucratic resistance have also been a major challenge in scaling up this valuable firefighting tool.
However, she’s hopeful about the direction the state is headed.
"I’m pretty excited to see that some of our legislators this year are working on bills to address those more structural components that won’t just be taken care of by providing funding," Quinn-Davidson added.
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