While Democrats in both California and on the national stage continue to shrug their shoulders at wildfires as just another product of climate change, the fact remains that forest management works.
President Joe Biden is among those who view California’s wildfires as the inevitable result of climate change, warning that “these hellish events will continue to become more common, more devastating, and more deadly” because of climate change.
But Scott Stephens, a University of California, Berkeley, professor of fire science, suggested otherwise last year. At a conference, Stephens said that 75% of the damage from wildfires was because of “the way we manage lands and develop our landscape.”
We are seeing this play out in California right now. Once again, wildfires have hit the Golden State, but KCRA reporter Brian Hickey showed just how effective forest management has been in the Eldorado National Forest.
Forest management at work in the El Dorado National Forest. Look what happened when the #CaldorFire ran into an area that was thinned out. pic.twitter.com/bD2z5XZZy2
— Brian Hickey (@kcraBrianHickey) August 20, 2021
You don’t need to take his word for it. Even California Gov. Gavin Newsom has touted the forest management efforts of the state with private-property owners. Newsom had previously taken the same doom-and-gloom view of California’s wildfires as Biden. Now it appears even he recognizes that forest management means that California isn’t destined to burn.
Finally, @GavinNewsom admits that our forests aren’t doomed by climate change, and that good forest management trumps higher temperatures
Nothing like a recall election to force elected leaders to turn toward practical solutions and away from climate pessimism ? https://t.co/xBOK4zI6lc
— Michael Shellenberger (@ShellenbergerMD) August 25, 2021
Much like with the state’s water issues, climate change is no excuse for California’s wildfires burning out of control. It turns out that the faceless specter of climate change is no match for responsible governance, whether it’s wildfire mitigation efforts or water storage policies. Who could have guessed?
