President Trump might be right about land management and California wildfires, according to climate experts.
Scott Stephens, a University of California, Berkeley professor of fire science, said 75% of the damage from the wildfires was because of “the way we manage lands and develop our landscape.” The comments made earlier this week echo what Trump said over a year ago.
“There is no reason for these massive, deadly and costly forest fires in California except that forest management is so poor,” the president said. “Billions of dollars are given each year, with so many lives lost, all because of gross mismanagement of the forests. Remedy now, or no more Fed payments!”
There is no reason for these massive, deadly and costly forest fires in California except that forest management is so poor. Billions of dollars are given each year, with so many lives lost, all because of gross mismanagement of the forests. Remedy now, or no more Fed payments!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 10, 2018
“Fire was almost as important as rain to ecosystems,” Stephens added. Jennifer Montgomery, a director of the California Forest Management Task Force, concurred with the point.
“Wildfire is not really wildfire — it’s not pointy green trees,” she said. “You get these so-called wildfires at intersection of development.”
In 2018, California saw over 225,000 acres of land burned along with 7,000 structures destroyed when Trump blamed land management. In 2019, hundreds of thousands of people had to evacuate their homes because of the wildfires.
Pacific Gas and Electric shut off power in high-wind areas to try to stop wildfires. The blackouts ended up affecting millions of residents.
