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'fte 1;(440, ,R01411'1417# Resolution No. 15-013
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RESOLUTION REQUESTING THE GOVERNOR TAKE A MORE ACTIVE ROLE
AT THE FEDERAL LEVEL TO MITIGATE THE ON-GOING AND INCREASING RISK OF CATASTROPHIC WILDFIRES
ON FEDERAL WILD AND FOREST LANDS
WHEREAS, catastrophic wildfires continue to threaten lives, property and the natural resources of the
state of California; and
WHEREAS, the Governor of California declared a drought emergency for the entire state, based on the
occurrence of the driest year on record in California; and
WHEREAS, fire threat is no longer limited to a season, but ongoing throughout the year due to the
multi-year drought, increasing suppression costs and wiping out of funds slated for fire prevention projects;
and
WHEREAS, the elected and appointed officials of both the state and the nation have an obligation to
preserve public safety and protect the citizenry and their homes and businesses by ensuring that the
landscape is as fire-resilient as possible and that firefighting efforts can be effective and as safe as possible for
fire fighters; and
WHEREAS, California is approximately 50% publicly owned land and many rural counties have
substantially higher percentages of federally managed land; and
WHEREAS, Butte County has more than 151,000 acres of federally managed land which is 14% of the
total land in the county; and
WHEREAS, the management of lands, particularly regarding fire protection and fuel reduction, on
national forest system lands under the jurisdiction of the United States Department of Agriculture Forest
Service is wholly inadequate, and is significantly underfunded, placing private and state lands in significant
peril and at great risk in the event that catastrophic wildfires occur, thereby threatening lives, and destroying
public resources, private property, businesses, and the natural environment; and
WHEREAS, 189 square miles of Butte County have been destroyed by catastrophic wildfire over the
last 10 years, destroying lives, property, businesses, and the environment; and
WHEREAS, California has more than 43 million acres of federal land, much of which has not been
adequately managed to mitigate the risk of catastrophic wildfire; and
WHEREAS, 4 of the 5 largest wildfires in California in the past 100 years have been on federal land with
the other having had a substantial federal component; and
WHEREAS, many acres of dead and decaying trees remain in the national forests within Butte County
due to constraints on forestry management practices on federal lands; and
WHEREAS, more than a billion dollars are spent each year fighting fires in our national forests; and
WHEREAS, the escalating costs of fighting fires on federal land over the last 10 years has significantly
diminished the available resources for the critically needed prevention measures that can minimize these
catastrophic fires; and
WHEREAS„ the U.S. Forest Service and Department of Interior have spent over $1 billion on fire
suppression every year since 2000 with suppression costs now consuming more than 50% of the total wildland
fire budget, as compared to 13% of the total fire budget in 1991, leaving few resources for critically needed
preventive maintenance of our national forests in the west and throughout the country; and
WHEREAS, the resources to manage the federal lands to reduce fire risk would be a small investment
relative to the skyrocketing costs of fire suppression; and
WHEREAS, the occurrence of catastrophic wildfires in Butte County will result in harmful secondary
environmental effects, including diminished air and water quality, impacted watershed, increased air pollutant
emissions, and threatened habitats of sensitive wildlife species; and
WHEREAS, approximately eighty percent of the State's developed surface water supply originates on
watershed lands within our rural counties. California's residents use a portion of this water for domestic,
commercial, agricultural, industrial, recreational, and other beneficial uses and these rivers, lakes, and
watershed lands also serve as habitat for hundreds of species of fish and wildlife; and
WHEREAS,the detrimental effects on these watersheds affect all of California, not just rural California;
and
WHEREAS,the occurrence of catastrophic wildfires significantly impacts the levels of greenhouse gases
in Butte County and throughout the state; and
WHEREAS, the mitigation of wildfire emissions is vital to reach the goals stated in the California Global
Warming Solutions Act of 2006 (AB 32); and
WHEREAS, there continues to be a widely recognized extremely high risk of catastrophic wildfires in
Butte County due to unnaturally heavy fuel loads and the early drying of wildland vegetation; and
WHEREAS, the Butte County Board of Supervisors calls for immediate measures to be taken to prevent
imminent catastrophic wildfires.
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the Butte County Board of Supervisors declares that there is
an ongoing emergency due to the actual and perceived threat of wildfire in California, that the state and local
governments have taken many steps to resolve this issue, and now requests that the Governor take a more
active role at the federal level to demand that the United States Forest Service take action in California's
federal wild and forest lands to do the prevention and maintenance work required to mitigate the ongoing
and increasing risk of catastrophic wildfires.
PASSED AND ADOPTED by the Butte County Board of Supervisors this 10th day of February 2015, by
the following votes:
AYES: Supervisors Connelly, Wahl, Kirk, Lambert and Supervisor Teeter
NOES: None
ABSENT: None
NOT VOTING: None DOUG TEETER, Chair
Board of Supervisors
ATTEST: /
Chief Ad
op
And Cls
By / 40 ^ 1)Y i
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