California State Representative Bill Essayli (R) explained how the mismanagement of the state’s fire policies made it vulnerable as a wildfire rages through Los Angeles County’s Pacific Palisades.
Essayli, a Republican who represents California’s 63rd State Assembly district southeast of Los Angeles, detailed different policies that he says have exacerbated the risk and severity of wildfires. Essayli’s comments come as a wildfire in the Pacific Palisades and the Eaton Fire just south of Los Angeles have taken at least two lives and destroyed an estimated 1,000 structures.
“Our governor has been obsessed with holding a special session to ‘Trump-proof’ CA, when he should be focused on FIRE-PROOFING our communities,” Essayli wrote on X before highlighting specific policies that he says hinder the state’s ability to manage fires.
“In the 1950s, the average timber harvest in California was around 6.0 billion board feet per year. Today, that number has dropped to ~1.5 billion board feet per year,” he went on to say. “California’s forests, which cover a third of the state, are now choked with nearly 163 million dead trees.”
“California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) and other regulatory policies limit the ability of local government and fire management services to clear dead trees and vegetation. (This is a big deal and prevents much of the controlled burns we desperately need.)”
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Essayli also explained that various pieces of legislation that could have helped prevent wildfires or limit their severity were rejected or failed to reach the desk of Democrat Governor Gavin Newsom or were vetoed by him.
Senate Bill 1003, for example, would have allowed local governments and fire management services to build more underground power lines, a measure that could prevent exposed power lines from lighting forest debris on fire.
Other pieces of legislation would have exempted wildlife prevention efforts from regulations imposed by the California Environmental Quality Act, he added.
“Many of the wild fires CA experienced could have been prevented or significantly mitigated with better management, policies, and funding. This is a time for accountability and, more importantly, change in how we approach fire policy,” Essayli added. “Many of the rejected proposals were brought by Republicans, and I suspect they were rejected for that reason. There is only one political party to blame for CA’s failures.”
