California Working On Wildfire Prevention Activities

CALIFORNIA -- State officials said they are working on increasing fire prevention activities as California experiences its worst fire season on record. The state Board of Forestry and Fire Protection and CalFire said they will increase aggressive fire prevention work.

More than 1.3 million acres burned and over 10,000 structures destroyed, the impacts from wildfires across the state during this fire season, the state said. Officials described the devastating wildfire season as the "new normal."

“The citizens of this state should understand that the 2017 fire season does not preclude people from living in reasonable safety within the California environment," said Keith Gilless, chair of the Board of Forestry and Fire Protection. "All aspects of pre-fire planning, including fire prevention activities, building codes and land-use planning are equally important to assist the state in managing the costs and economic losses associated with these wildfires."

In response to the clear need for increased fire prevention activities, the Board has developed a Statewide Programmatic Environmental Impact Report titled “California Statewide Vegetation Treatment Program,” known as the VTP PEIR.

The project will provide California Environmental Quality Act compliance for CAL FIRE and other public agencies’ vegetation management projects. This VTP PEIR is intended for vegetation management activities that lower the risk of catastrophic wildfires on nonfederal lands by managing vegetation to modify/reduce hazardous fuels.

--Photo: In this photo released by Santa Barbara County Fire Department, a dozer from the Santa Barbara County Fire Department clears a fire break across a canyon from atop Camino Cielo down to Gibraltar to make a stand should the fire move in that direction, Wednesday, Dec. 13, 2017, in the Santa Ynez Mountains area of Santa Barbara, Calif. (Mike Eliason/Santa Barbara County Fire Department via AP)