Wildfire Paradigm Shift: Call to Action from Former Governor and Fire Experts

In late 2021, Former Governor Jerry Brown, former CalFire Director Ken Pimlott, and a range of fire experts, land managers, and scientists signed the Venado Declaration, a call to action and set of principles for managing forests in the face of a growing wildfire crisis in California and the western United States. It’s named for the Venado district of West Colusa County, where the meeting was held and the document was signed.

The Declaration starts out with a set of facts about wildfire in California, from the lives lost and structures destroyed to the economic losses and health impacts associated with the increasing number of larger and higher-severity wildfires. It then goes on to outline 4 principles including the need to invest in sustained, proactive solutions; addressing forest resiliency; partnering and collaborating in new ways; and redefining and broadening how success is measured.

Among its central conclusions: “It’s time to shift the fire paradigm from one of suppression and exclusion, to one of stewardship and adaptation.”

The declaration states that $5 billion was spent in 2020 to suppress fires in California and proposes spending that much a year of public and private money on preemptive measures.

Seven urgent actions are outlined in theDeclaration:

·      Spend $5 billion annually on proactive management.

·      Build infrastructure to support this work.

·      Leverage R&D and new technology.

·      Increase the state’s capacity to conduct prescribed burns.

·      Create jobs and train workers.

·      Support initiatives to protect communities and property.

·      Amend and adapt state and federal law so it's consistent with the current crisis.

With the creation of the Marin Wildfire Prevention Authority (MWPA), Marin County is already prepared to heed the call. From the Fire Foundry program, a partnership project to create sustainable wage career pathways, to the Measure C investments for developing a fire adapted community, Marin County is taking the proactive initiative to protect Marin’s forests and communities from megafires.

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Photo via KCRA: "Former California governor, fire experts draft plan to address ‘fire crisis’"