Burnt forest as result of the 2018 Ferguson wildfire in Yosemite National Park, Sierra Nevada Mountains, California; this is becoming a common site in many of the parks across the west of the US
The economic fallout from the COVID-19 pandemic is affecting urban and rural communities across California. Congress is exploring economic recovery legislation that includes investments in workforce development and infrastructure. And in Sacramento, there have been discussions about focusing future climate and natural resource bonds on economic recovery. As federal and state decision-makers evaluate the options, they should consider putting Californians to work on improving the health of the state’s headwater forests. This approach would alleviate economic hardships while reducing wildfire risk and generating a suite of other benefits for forest-based communities and the state. California’s mountain forests are overly dense, riddled with dying trees and increasingly vulnerable to wildfire, drought and insects. Studies show that fuel reduction on U.S. Forest Service lands in the Sierra Nevada headwater region would need to increase two- to six-fold to meaningfully improve forest resilience.
Read the full article here: https://calmatters.org/commentary/my-turn/2020/07/improving-forest-health-would-create-jobs-improve-economies-in-rural-california/