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The timber industry and its acolytes in government agencies point to excess forest fuels as the key problem resulting in widespread wildfire damage to western communities in recent decades.
It's a case of misdirection.
In correcting this costly misperception Dr. Jack Cohen, retired U.S. Forest Service Research Scientist, put it eloquently: "The wildland-urban interface fire problem is a home ignition problem, not a wildfire control problem." [emphasis added]
Fortunately there's an excellent bill to address this but it currently languishes in the Republican-controlled Congress. It needs a boost.
The Community Protection and Wildfire Resilience Act, H.R. 582, authored by Rep. Jared Huffman (D-San Rafael) places emphasis on the actual culprit fuels—flammable homes and other structures.
Tell your members of Congress to cosponsor H.R. 582!
Logging and industrial thinning heighten wildfire danger by drying out the forest, increasing sunlight and wind speeds, and introducing flammable weeds and grasses.
The greatest threat poised to ignite a home is not the radiant heat given off by a wall of flame, but rather embers that can fly from one to five miles, rendering any fire breaks useless.
Home hardening begins with clearing all flammable materials out to five feet away from the home, replacing wooden roofing with metal or tile, and more.
The Huffman bill boasts a California Republican co-author (Jay Obernolte, R-Hesperia) and a Senate companion bill introduced by Sen. Alex Padilla (D-CA), S.3609.
Contact your legislators and urge them to co-sponsor H.R. 582. Thank Sen. Padilla for his S. 3609.
"Home out, not forest in." This legislation provides a real solution to both wildfire preparedness and forest protection.
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Paul Hughes
Executive Director
Forests Forever
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RESOURCES →
- Here you can read the text of H.R. 582 and learn about its status in Congress.
- This excellent 13-miinute video narrated by Forest Service scientist Jack Cohen makes the basic argument for focusing on the flammability of homes rather than forests.
- A one-page breakdown of the Huffman bill.
- CalFIRE offers two useful web pages, one on home hardening, the other on defensible space.
- Headwaters Economics has produced a recent California Edition of its "Construction Costs for a Wildfire-Resistant Home."
- The issue is embers, not radiant heat, as explained in this recent New Yorker piece.