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"content": "\u003cp>Citing searing summer temperatures and expected energy shortages, California lawmakers approved legislation aimed at extending the life of the state’s last-operating nuclear power plant.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The Diablo Canyon plant – the state’s largest single source of electricity – had been \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2016/06/21/482997213/californias-last-nuclear-power-plant-to-be-shut-down\">slated to shutter\u003c/a> by 2025. The last-minute proposal passed by the state legislature early Thursday could keep it open five years longer, in part by giving the plant’s owner, Pacific Gas and Electric (PG&E), a $1.4 billion forgivable loan.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>California, like other U.S. states and countries, has been struggling to reduce its climate-warming emissions while adapting to a rapidly warming world. Record-breaking heat waves have stressed the state’s increasingly carbon-free electrical grid in recent years, triggering rolling blackouts as recently as 2020. Grid operators, fearing a similar crash, issued a statewide alert to conserve energy last month.[aside label=\"Related Stories\" tag=\"diablo-canyon\"]The state has set the goal of getting \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2018/09/10/646373423/california-sets-goal-of-100-percent-renewable-electric-power-by-2045\">100 percent\u003c/a> of its electricity from clean and renewable sources by 2045. Advocates for Diablo Canyon claim that target will be difficult to achieve without the 2,250 megawatt nuclear power plant. Diablo Canyon generated \u003ca href=\"https://www.energy.ca.gov/data-reports/energy-almanac/california-electricity-data/2021-total-system-electric-generation\">nearly 9 percent\u003c/a> of the state’s electricity last year and roughly 15 percent of the state’s clean energy production.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Maintaining operations at Diablo Canyon will keep our power on while preventing millions of tons of carbon from being released into the atmosphere,” said Isabelle Boemeke of the group Save Clean Energy. “This is a true win-win for the people of California and our planet.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Nuclear power has seen a \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2022/06/30/1108264499/nuclear-power-gains-support-years-decline-hurdles\">resurgence\u003c/a> in recent years as the climate crisis has worsened and governments increase efforts to cut climate-warming emissions. The Biden administration launched a $6 billion effort earlier this year aimed at keeping the country’s aging nuclear plants running.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Have no doubt, President Biden is serious about doing everything possible to get the U.S. to be powered by clean energy,” Assistant Secretary for Nuclear Energy Kathryn Huff told attendees at a nuclear energy assembly in Washington, D.C., earlier this summer. “Nuclear energy is really essential to this,” she said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Roughly one-fifth of the country’s electricity comes from nuclear power plants. That’s as much as all other clean energy sources combined. But nuclear power isn’t without its warts.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Despite decades of debate and billions of dollars spent, the U.S. still does not have a permanent storage site for its growing amount of nuclear waste. Diablo Canyon, located on California’s Central Coast, sits near several seismic fault lines, inspiring long-held fears of a nuclear disaster similar to the kind experienced in Fukushima, Japan in 2011.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>PG&E has long maintained that Diablo Canyon is safe from tsunamis, earthquakes and flooding. But \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11897239/californias-last-nuclear-plant-is-slated-to-close-in-2025-why-some-scientists-worry-thats-bad-news-for-carbon-emissions\">concerns remain\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Juliet Christian-Smith, a regional director at the Union of Concerned Scientists estimates an earthquake-induced accident could cause more than $100 billion in damages and 10,000 cancer deaths.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The bill ignores the plant’s environmental impacts and vulnerability to earthquakes,” she said. “Safety cannot take a back seat in our quest to keep the lights on and reduce global warming emissions.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The bill now heads to Governor Newsom’s desk where he’s expected to sign it.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2022/09/01/1119778975/california-lawmakers-extend-the-life-of-the-states-last-nuclear-power-plant\">This story was first published in NPR.\u003c/a>\u003c/p>\n\n",
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"excerpt": "While the Diablo Canyon plant was initially set to close in 2025, this bill would keep it running until 2030.",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>Citing searing summer temperatures and expected energy shortages, California lawmakers approved legislation aimed at extending the life of the state’s last-operating nuclear power plant.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The Diablo Canyon plant – the state’s largest single source of electricity – had been \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2016/06/21/482997213/californias-last-nuclear-power-plant-to-be-shut-down\">slated to shutter\u003c/a> by 2025. The last-minute proposal passed by the state legislature early Thursday could keep it open five years longer, in part by giving the plant’s owner, Pacific Gas and Electric (PG&E), a $1.4 billion forgivable loan.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>California, like other U.S. states and countries, has been struggling to reduce its climate-warming emissions while adapting to a rapidly warming world. Record-breaking heat waves have stressed the state’s increasingly carbon-free electrical grid in recent years, triggering rolling blackouts as recently as 2020. Grid operators, fearing a similar crash, issued a statewide alert to conserve energy last month.\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>The state has set the goal of getting \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2018/09/10/646373423/california-sets-goal-of-100-percent-renewable-electric-power-by-2045\">100 percent\u003c/a> of its electricity from clean and renewable sources by 2045. Advocates for Diablo Canyon claim that target will be difficult to achieve without the 2,250 megawatt nuclear power plant. Diablo Canyon generated \u003ca href=\"https://www.energy.ca.gov/data-reports/energy-almanac/california-electricity-data/2021-total-system-electric-generation\">nearly 9 percent\u003c/a> of the state’s electricity last year and roughly 15 percent of the state’s clean energy production.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Maintaining operations at Diablo Canyon will keep our power on while preventing millions of tons of carbon from being released into the atmosphere,” said Isabelle Boemeke of the group Save Clean Energy. “This is a true win-win for the people of California and our planet.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Nuclear power has seen a \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2022/06/30/1108264499/nuclear-power-gains-support-years-decline-hurdles\">resurgence\u003c/a> in recent years as the climate crisis has worsened and governments increase efforts to cut climate-warming emissions. The Biden administration launched a $6 billion effort earlier this year aimed at keeping the country’s aging nuclear plants running.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Have no doubt, President Biden is serious about doing everything possible to get the U.S. to be powered by clean energy,” Assistant Secretary for Nuclear Energy Kathryn Huff told attendees at a nuclear energy assembly in Washington, D.C., earlier this summer. “Nuclear energy is really essential to this,” she said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Roughly one-fifth of the country’s electricity comes from nuclear power plants. That’s as much as all other clean energy sources combined. But nuclear power isn’t without its warts.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Despite decades of debate and billions of dollars spent, the U.S. still does not have a permanent storage site for its growing amount of nuclear waste. Diablo Canyon, located on California’s Central Coast, sits near several seismic fault lines, inspiring long-held fears of a nuclear disaster similar to the kind experienced in Fukushima, Japan in 2011.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>PG&E has long maintained that Diablo Canyon is safe from tsunamis, earthquakes and flooding. But \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11897239/californias-last-nuclear-plant-is-slated-to-close-in-2025-why-some-scientists-worry-thats-bad-news-for-carbon-emissions\">concerns remain\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Juliet Christian-Smith, a regional director at the Union of Concerned Scientists estimates an earthquake-induced accident could cause more than $100 billion in damages and 10,000 cancer deaths.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The bill ignores the plant’s environmental impacts and vulnerability to earthquakes,” she said. “Safety cannot take a back seat in our quest to keep the lights on and reduce global warming emissions.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The bill now heads to Governor Newsom’s desk where he’s expected to sign it.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2022/09/01/1119778975/california-lawmakers-extend-the-life-of-the-states-last-nuclear-power-plant\">This story was first published in NPR.\u003c/a>\u003c/p>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"title": "Watered-Down State Bill to Punish Refinery Pollution Gets Scrapped After Oil Industry Pushback",
"headTitle": "Watered-Down State Bill to Punish Refinery Pollution Gets Scrapped After Oil Industry Pushback | KQED",
"content": "\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">A proposal that would have punished oil refineries that illegally pollute the air with toxic chemicals is dead, after opposition from the industry led to such a weakening of the bill that its own author pulled her support.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">The state Senate was poised to vote later this month on a proposal to increase the maximum penalties for California oil refineries that violate air quality laws. If passed by the Legislature and signed by the governor, it would have marked the first major change to the penalty structure specific to the oil refining industry in the state in more than two decades. \u003c/span>[pullquote size=\"medium\" align=\"right\" citation=\"Assemblymember Buffy Wicks (D-Oakland)\"]‘I’m disappointed that changes made to the bill by the Appropriations Committee weakened the maximum penalties for polluters.’[/pullquote]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">But two weeks ago, legislators weakened the bill so much that California’s leading oil industry group dropped its months-long opposition to it. Now, the East Bay Assemblymember behind the push, whose district includes one of California’s largest refineries, has decided to kill the bill and push for another piece of legislation that has similar goals but does not go as far as her original proposal. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">The legislation’s changes did not take place during multiple public hearings where lawmakers debated AB 1897 and then overwhelmingly backed the bill four separate times. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Instead, in a hearing behind closed doors earlier this month, state senators apparently bowed to oil industry demands, reducing some of the bill’s proposed fine increases and making the standard for the hikes more stringent. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">The changes were made in the Senate Appropriations Committee, a panel charged with weighing the costs of proposed legislation. During their annual suspense file hearing, legislators decide the fate of hundreds of bills away from the public eye — and legislative leaders often use the opaque process to kill or change bills that aren’t just expensive but politically unpalatable. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">“I’m disappointed that changes made to the bill by the Appropriations Committee weakened the maximum penalties for polluters,” said Assemblymember Buffy Wicks (D-Oakland), the proposal’s author. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Wicks represents the area of Chevron’s Richmond refinery, which has committed scores of violations against local air regulations over the last decade. On Tuesday she decided to drop AB 1897, prompted by its recent changes.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Environmentalists have long criticized fine structures for California’s refineries, complaining that companies that own the state’s petroleum plants end up paying small penalties when they often make significant profits. For example, Chevron says it made $11.6 billion in the second quarter of this year. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">When Wicks proposed the bill in February, the legislation would have increased the civil penalty maximum for violations of air quality regulations from $10,000 to $30,000 if that violation resulted in “severe disruption to the community.”\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">The Senate Appropriations Committee cut out that phrase and replaced it with a much higher standard: “a significant increase in hospitalizations, residential displacement, shelter in place, evacuation, or destruction of property.”\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">The initial proposal called for maximum $100,000 fines against refineries with a “subsequent violation” within a one-year period. The appropriations panel cut that down to $50,000.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">“I was watching, like, everyone else to see what would happen with the bill,” said Alan Abbs, the legislative director for the Bay Area Air Quality Management District, which sponsored Wicks’ proposal. “I didn’t know what the amendments would be until I saw them in print later in the day.”\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">In March, the \u003ca href=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2022/08/WSPA-AB-1897-Wicks-Oppose-Letter-3.14.22.pdf\">Western States Petroleum Association sent a letter to Wicks\u003c/a>, expressing opposition to the bill. The industry group said then that AB 1897 unfairly singled out refineries.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">That opposition was not enough to deter majorities of the Assembly Natural Resources Committee, the Assembly Judiciary Committee, the Assembly Appropriations Committee, the full Assembly, the Senate Environmental Quality Committee and the Senate Judiciary Committee — all panels that advanced the bill.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">But after the changes were made in the Senate Appropriations Committee, the petroleum association changed their position last week. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">“The change in our position is due to amendments that make the proposed legislation more consistent with the way air quality violations have been assessed in the past,” stated Kevin Slagle, a representative for the industry group, in an email.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">A representative for Wicks says her office had no control over the amendments and was left in the dark about what prompted them. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">“We don’t know who ultimately pushed these changes — the appropriations process is very opaque, and we don’t have visibility into the decisions or control over what gets adopted,” said Erin Ivie, the lawmaker’s communications director.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">“Some of these changes seem to respond to criticism of the bill made by the oil industry … While we don’t know who exactly, the why seems to be to make the bill less objectionable to the oil industry.”\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Earlier in the summer, the Newsom administration also quietly expressed opposition to the original version of AB 1897. In June, months before it was changed, state finance officials raised concerns about a part of the proposal that directed penalty revenue to communities affected by violations that led to the fines — instead of to local air districts charged with monitoring emissions. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">“(The California Air Resources Board) maintains that the bill would effectively defund the districts due to the districts’ historical reliance on the civil penalties collected, in part, to fund their operations,” the Department of Finance wrote in its fiscal analysis of the bill. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">The administration argued that if local air districts couldn’t collect enough penalty money, the state’s air resources board would need to provide more support to such agencies, something finance officials said would create “cost pressures” on state funds. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">A staff analysis by the Senate Appropriations Committee made a similar argument in the days before the committee amended the bill and sent it to the Senate floor. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">The death of Wicks’ bill marks the third time in the last 10 years that a proposal specifically to increase fines for refineries died in the state Legislature. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">In 2013, on the heels of a major fire at Richmond’s Chevron refinery, then-state Sen. Loni Hancock, D-Berkeley, introduced legislation to raise such penalties. The state Senate approved the bill, but it died on the Assembly floor amid opposition from energy companies. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Five years later state Sen. Bill Dodd, D-Napa, proposed tripling some of the most serious penalties for refineries. He said then that he authored that bill, in part, because of a major refinery accident at Valero’s Benicia plant in 2017. That proposal never received its first committee hearing after opposition not only from the oil industry but also from environmentalists and the mayors of Richmond and Benicia, who said it wasn’t strong enough. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">On Tuesday, Wicks decided to abandon her bill and join as a co-author on AB 2910, which would increase maximum fines for large industrial facilities that violate air pollution regulations, including refineries, from $10,000 to $30,000. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">But, unlike the other bill, it would not increase penalties associated with multiple violations. And while AB 2910 calls for some revenue from those fines to go to local communities affected by authorized industry facility releases, it’s unclear how much. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">The Western States Petroleum Association did not add its name to the list of groups opposed to that bill. The state Senate is expected to vote on AB 2910 next week. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">But two weeks ago, legislators weakened the bill so much that California’s leading oil industry group dropped its months-long opposition to it. Now, the East Bay Assemblymember behind the push, whose district includes one of California’s largest refineries, has decided to kill the bill and push for another piece of legislation that has similar goals but does not go as far as her original proposal. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">The legislation’s changes did not take place during multiple public hearings where lawmakers debated AB 1897 and then overwhelmingly backed the bill four separate times. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Instead, in a hearing behind closed doors earlier this month, state senators apparently bowed to oil industry demands, reducing some of the bill’s proposed fine increases and making the standard for the hikes more stringent. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">The changes were made in the Senate Appropriations Committee, a panel charged with weighing the costs of proposed legislation. During their annual suspense file hearing, legislators decide the fate of hundreds of bills away from the public eye — and legislative leaders often use the opaque process to kill or change bills that aren’t just expensive but politically unpalatable. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">“I’m disappointed that changes made to the bill by the Appropriations Committee weakened the maximum penalties for polluters,” said Assemblymember Buffy Wicks (D-Oakland), the proposal’s author. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Wicks represents the area of Chevron’s Richmond refinery, which has committed scores of violations against local air regulations over the last decade. On Tuesday she decided to drop AB 1897, prompted by its recent changes.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Environmentalists have long criticized fine structures for California’s refineries, complaining that companies that own the state’s petroleum plants end up paying small penalties when they often make significant profits. For example, Chevron says it made $11.6 billion in the second quarter of this year. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">When Wicks proposed the bill in February, the legislation would have increased the civil penalty maximum for violations of air quality regulations from $10,000 to $30,000 if that violation resulted in “severe disruption to the community.”\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">The Senate Appropriations Committee cut out that phrase and replaced it with a much higher standard: “a significant increase in hospitalizations, residential displacement, shelter in place, evacuation, or destruction of property.”\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">The initial proposal called for maximum $100,000 fines against refineries with a “subsequent violation” within a one-year period. The appropriations panel cut that down to $50,000.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">“I was watching, like, everyone else to see what would happen with the bill,” said Alan Abbs, the legislative director for the Bay Area Air Quality Management District, which sponsored Wicks’ proposal. “I didn’t know what the amendments would be until I saw them in print later in the day.”\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">In March, the \u003ca href=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2022/08/WSPA-AB-1897-Wicks-Oppose-Letter-3.14.22.pdf\">Western States Petroleum Association sent a letter to Wicks\u003c/a>, expressing opposition to the bill. The industry group said then that AB 1897 unfairly singled out refineries.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">That opposition was not enough to deter majorities of the Assembly Natural Resources Committee, the Assembly Judiciary Committee, the Assembly Appropriations Committee, the full Assembly, the Senate Environmental Quality Committee and the Senate Judiciary Committee — all panels that advanced the bill.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">But after the changes were made in the Senate Appropriations Committee, the petroleum association changed their position last week. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">“The change in our position is due to amendments that make the proposed legislation more consistent with the way air quality violations have been assessed in the past,” stated Kevin Slagle, a representative for the industry group, in an email.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">A representative for Wicks says her office had no control over the amendments and was left in the dark about what prompted them. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">“We don’t know who ultimately pushed these changes — the appropriations process is very opaque, and we don’t have visibility into the decisions or control over what gets adopted,” said Erin Ivie, the lawmaker’s communications director.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">“Some of these changes seem to respond to criticism of the bill made by the oil industry … While we don’t know who exactly, the why seems to be to make the bill less objectionable to the oil industry.”\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Earlier in the summer, the Newsom administration also quietly expressed opposition to the original version of AB 1897. In June, months before it was changed, state finance officials raised concerns about a part of the proposal that directed penalty revenue to communities affected by violations that led to the fines — instead of to local air districts charged with monitoring emissions. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">“(The California Air Resources Board) maintains that the bill would effectively defund the districts due to the districts’ historical reliance on the civil penalties collected, in part, to fund their operations,” the Department of Finance wrote in its fiscal analysis of the bill. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">The administration argued that if local air districts couldn’t collect enough penalty money, the state’s air resources board would need to provide more support to such agencies, something finance officials said would create “cost pressures” on state funds. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">A staff analysis by the Senate Appropriations Committee made a similar argument in the days before the committee amended the bill and sent it to the Senate floor. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">The death of Wicks’ bill marks the third time in the last 10 years that a proposal specifically to increase fines for refineries died in the state Legislature. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">In 2013, on the heels of a major fire at Richmond’s Chevron refinery, then-state Sen. Loni Hancock, D-Berkeley, introduced legislation to raise such penalties. The state Senate approved the bill, but it died on the Assembly floor amid opposition from energy companies. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Five years later state Sen. Bill Dodd, D-Napa, proposed tripling some of the most serious penalties for refineries. He said then that he authored that bill, in part, because of a major refinery accident at Valero’s Benicia plant in 2017. That proposal never received its first committee hearing after opposition not only from the oil industry but also from environmentalists and the mayors of Richmond and Benicia, who said it wasn’t strong enough. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">On Tuesday, Wicks decided to abandon her bill and join as a co-author on AB 2910, which would increase maximum fines for large industrial facilities that violate air pollution regulations, including refineries, from $10,000 to $30,000. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">But, unlike the other bill, it would not increase penalties associated with multiple violations. And while AB 2910 calls for some revenue from those fines to go to local communities affected by authorized industry facility releases, it’s unclear how much. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">The Western States Petroleum Association did not add its name to the list of groups opposed to that bill. The state Senate is expected to vote on AB 2910 next week. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"title": "You Can Get a $7,500 Tax Credit to Buy an Electric Car, But It's Really Complicated",
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"content": "\u003cp>The big climate and health care bill signed into law by President Biden has what at first sight looks like a big incentive for those shopping for a car: a revamped $7,500 tax credit if you buy a new electric vehicle, or $4,000 if you get a used one.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Although tax credits for electric cars have been offered before, the new bill revamps those incentives. But there are so many caveats — on everything from the buyers’ income level to which models can qualify — that many electric cars may actually not be eligible for the tax credit.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Nonetheless, the caveats are there for two key reasons: to eventually make electric cars more affordable for more Americans and to bring more of the production across the supply chain to the U.S.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>If the bill succeeds in accomplishing those two goals, experts believe the law could catapult the electric vehicle market into the mainstream in ways the country hasn’t seen before.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Here’s what to know about the tax credits.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>So, who qualifies for the revamped tax credits?\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Not everybody.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Only singles with incomes up to $150,000 a year and couples who file taxes jointly who earn up to $300,000 will qualify.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>This income cap requirement is meant to help less affluent people afford electric cars — and incentivize automakers to expand their customer base.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The high cost of electric cars has long been seen as a major impediment to the adoption of these vehicles. Currently \u003ca href=\"https://electrek.co/2022/07/25/average-electric-car-price-hit-66000-us-whole-story/\">the average price of an electric vehicle \u003c/a>is $66,000.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>What about the requirements for the electric vehicles?\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>There are some major requirements, both on how the car — and its battery — is produced and the overall price of the vehicle.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>To start with, to get the full tax credit, the car has to be assembled in North America. This provision of the law went into effect when President Biden signed the legislation into law last week. There are more than two dozen vehicles that meet this requirement, according to the \u003ca href=\"https://afdc.energy.gov/laws/inflation-reduction-act\">U.S. Department of Energy\u003c/a>, but dozens more have already been disqualified from the tax credit with this requirement alone.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Starting Jan. 1, 2023, more caveats come into effect.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Sedans have to be under $55,000 to qualify, and the cost of trucks, vans, and sports utility vehicles can’t exceed $80,000.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The price caps for used electric vehicles is $25,000, but the cars won’t have to comply with the made-in-America requirements.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Are there requirements for the batteries as well?\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Yes, and that’s important because batteries are the most important part of any electric car\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[aside label=\"related coverage\" tag=\"electric-vehicles\"]A certain percentage of minerals in the EV battery must come from North America or a country that has a free trade agreement with the U.S.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Much of the battery components must also be manufactured or assembled in North America.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That’s expected to complicate things for auto companies.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“That’s going to be a huge burden and hurdle to overcome,” says Carla Bailo, CEO of the Center for Automotive Research. “We don’t have the mining, we don’t have the critical minerals that are needed in North America or from our free trade partners, and almost 90% of the refining is done in China.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Currently, no electric vehicle on the market will qualify for the full tax credit when battery requirements take effect in 2023, according to the \u003ca href=\"https://www.autosinnovate.org/posts/blog/what-if-no-evs-qualify-for-the-ev-tax-credit\">Alliance for Automotive Innovation\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Is it possible to qualify for a partial tax credit?\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>It is.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A buyer could get a partial credit of $3,750 if 40% of the critical minerals in EV batteries are sourced from countries with which the U.S. has a free trade agreement.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The other $3,750 is linked to battery components. Starting in 2023, 50% of components will have to be manufactured or assembled in North America.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Over time, the required amount of minerals in the EV batteries sourced from the U.S. or trading partners will increase. So too will the required amount of components manufactured or assembled in North America.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Which automakers win and lose under this law?\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Based on what’s currently available on the market, higher-end electric car companies like Rivian stand to lose customers who qualify for the tax credit based on the cost of their vehicles.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Companies like Tesla or General Motors that have been producing cars in the U.S. and have already shifted their supply chains are better poised to meet the many requirements.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“They’re probably at the forefront of this technology right now with some vehicles on the market and many more on the way,” says Jessica Caldwell, executive director of insights at Edmunds.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Meanwhile, international automakers, like Toyota and Hyundai, face some big decisions.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“For the Asian and European automakers who have some limited production in North America, that’s where we might see some more weighing of the scales in terms of, ‘Is it worthwhile for us to shift production of vehicles or sourcing of materials to qualify for this, or do we just walk away?,’ ” says Michael Fiske, associated director of Powertrain and Compliance for S&P Global Mobility.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Don’t these caveats make it hard to get the tax credit?\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Initially, yes.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It will be difficult, if not impossible, for buyers to qualify for the full $7,500 tax credit as automakers rethink their operations to meet the various requirements.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But this is a long-term play by the Biden administration. By incentivizing automakers to cater to a less affluent crowd and by pushing automakers to bring their supply chains to the U.S., the administration believes it can make EVs more mainstream and accelerate toward an ambitious goal: to have half of all new car sales be for electric models by 2030, up from only 3% today.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Another motivating factor is China.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>China controls about \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2022/03/13/1085707854/how-a-handful-of-metals-could-determine-the-future-of-the-electric-car-industry\">three-quarters of the market for the minerals\u003c/a> that are essential for batteries and the Biden administration has been worried about continued access to those minerals. By bolstering domestic supply chains, the administration intends to reduce China’s ability to roil the electric vehicle market.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“This is about protecting American national security” says Fiske. ” We’ve seen a lot of the challenges that have come from being reliant on the Middle East for oil for the last half century or more. Now, I think there are valid concerns about becoming overly reliant on Asian countries for processing and manufacturing of batteries and battery-related materials for the next decade or 50 years.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cdiv class=\"fullattribution\">Copyright 2022 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.\u003cimg decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://www.google-analytics.com/__utm.gif?utmac=UA-5828686-4&utmdt=You+can+get+a+%247%2C500+tax+credit+to+buy+an+electric+car%2C+but+it%27s+really+complicated&utme=8(APIKey)9(MDAxOTAwOTE4MDEyMTkxMDAzNjczZDljZA004)\">\u003c/div>\n\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>The big climate and health care bill signed into law by President Biden has what at first sight looks like a big incentive for those shopping for a car: a revamped $7,500 tax credit if you buy a new electric vehicle, or $4,000 if you get a used one.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Although tax credits for electric cars have been offered before, the new bill revamps those incentives. But there are so many caveats — on everything from the buyers’ income level to which models can qualify — that many electric cars may actually not be eligible for the tax credit.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Nonetheless, the caveats are there for two key reasons: to eventually make electric cars more affordable for more Americans and to bring more of the production across the supply chain to the U.S.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>If the bill succeeds in accomplishing those two goals, experts believe the law could catapult the electric vehicle market into the mainstream in ways the country hasn’t seen before.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Here’s what to know about the tax credits.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>So, who qualifies for the revamped tax credits?\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Not everybody.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Only singles with incomes up to $150,000 a year and couples who file taxes jointly who earn up to $300,000 will qualify.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>This income cap requirement is meant to help less affluent people afford electric cars — and incentivize automakers to expand their customer base.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The high cost of electric cars has long been seen as a major impediment to the adoption of these vehicles. Currently \u003ca href=\"https://electrek.co/2022/07/25/average-electric-car-price-hit-66000-us-whole-story/\">the average price of an electric vehicle \u003c/a>is $66,000.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>What about the requirements for the electric vehicles?\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>There are some major requirements, both on how the car — and its battery — is produced and the overall price of the vehicle.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>To start with, to get the full tax credit, the car has to be assembled in North America. This provision of the law went into effect when President Biden signed the legislation into law last week. There are more than two dozen vehicles that meet this requirement, according to the \u003ca href=\"https://afdc.energy.gov/laws/inflation-reduction-act\">U.S. Department of Energy\u003c/a>, but dozens more have already been disqualified from the tax credit with this requirement alone.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Starting Jan. 1, 2023, more caveats come into effect.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Sedans have to be under $55,000 to qualify, and the cost of trucks, vans, and sports utility vehicles can’t exceed $80,000.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The price caps for used electric vehicles is $25,000, but the cars won’t have to comply with the made-in-America requirements.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Are there requirements for the batteries as well?\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Yes, and that’s important because batteries are the most important part of any electric car\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>A certain percentage of minerals in the EV battery must come from North America or a country that has a free trade agreement with the U.S.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Much of the battery components must also be manufactured or assembled in North America.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That’s expected to complicate things for auto companies.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“That’s going to be a huge burden and hurdle to overcome,” says Carla Bailo, CEO of the Center for Automotive Research. “We don’t have the mining, we don’t have the critical minerals that are needed in North America or from our free trade partners, and almost 90% of the refining is done in China.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Currently, no electric vehicle on the market will qualify for the full tax credit when battery requirements take effect in 2023, according to the \u003ca href=\"https://www.autosinnovate.org/posts/blog/what-if-no-evs-qualify-for-the-ev-tax-credit\">Alliance for Automotive Innovation\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Is it possible to qualify for a partial tax credit?\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>It is.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A buyer could get a partial credit of $3,750 if 40% of the critical minerals in EV batteries are sourced from countries with which the U.S. has a free trade agreement.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The other $3,750 is linked to battery components. Starting in 2023, 50% of components will have to be manufactured or assembled in North America.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Over time, the required amount of minerals in the EV batteries sourced from the U.S. or trading partners will increase. So too will the required amount of components manufactured or assembled in North America.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Which automakers win and lose under this law?\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Based on what’s currently available on the market, higher-end electric car companies like Rivian stand to lose customers who qualify for the tax credit based on the cost of their vehicles.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Companies like Tesla or General Motors that have been producing cars in the U.S. and have already shifted their supply chains are better poised to meet the many requirements.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“They’re probably at the forefront of this technology right now with some vehicles on the market and many more on the way,” says Jessica Caldwell, executive director of insights at Edmunds.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Meanwhile, international automakers, like Toyota and Hyundai, face some big decisions.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“For the Asian and European automakers who have some limited production in North America, that’s where we might see some more weighing of the scales in terms of, ‘Is it worthwhile for us to shift production of vehicles or sourcing of materials to qualify for this, or do we just walk away?,’ ” says Michael Fiske, associated director of Powertrain and Compliance for S&P Global Mobility.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Don’t these caveats make it hard to get the tax credit?\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Initially, yes.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It will be difficult, if not impossible, for buyers to qualify for the full $7,500 tax credit as automakers rethink their operations to meet the various requirements.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But this is a long-term play by the Biden administration. By incentivizing automakers to cater to a less affluent crowd and by pushing automakers to bring their supply chains to the U.S., the administration believes it can make EVs more mainstream and accelerate toward an ambitious goal: to have half of all new car sales be for electric models by 2030, up from only 3% today.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Another motivating factor is China.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>China controls about \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2022/03/13/1085707854/how-a-handful-of-metals-could-determine-the-future-of-the-electric-car-industry\">three-quarters of the market for the minerals\u003c/a> that are essential for batteries and the Biden administration has been worried about continued access to those minerals. By bolstering domestic supply chains, the administration intends to reduce China’s ability to roil the electric vehicle market.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“This is about protecting American national security” says Fiske. ” We’ve seen a lot of the challenges that have come from being reliant on the Middle East for oil for the last half century or more. Now, I think there are valid concerns about becoming overly reliant on Asian countries for processing and manufacturing of batteries and battery-related materials for the next decade or 50 years.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cdiv class=\"fullattribution\">Copyright 2022 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.\u003cimg decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://www.google-analytics.com/__utm.gif?utmac=UA-5828686-4&utmdt=You+can+get+a+%247%2C500+tax+credit+to+buy+an+electric+car%2C+but+it%27s+really+complicated&utme=8(APIKey)9(MDAxOTAwOTE4MDEyMTkxMDAzNjczZDljZA004)\">\u003c/div>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"content": "\u003cp>As wildfires rage across California each year, often with increasing ferocity, exhausted firefighters call for reinforcements from wherever they can get them — even as far as Australia.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Yet one homegrown resource is rarely used: thousands of experienced firefighters who earned their chops in prison. Two state programs designed to get more formerly incarcerated firefighters hired professionally have barely made a dent, according to an Associated Press review. One of them, a $30 million effort, has netted jobs for just over 100 firefighters, accounting for little more than one-third of those enrolled in the program.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Clad in distinctive orange uniforms, scores of incarcerated crews fan out across the state each summer and fall to protect multimillion-dollar homes by cutting brush and trees with chain saws and scraping the earth to create barriers they hope will stop flames. For that sometimes life-threatening labor, most are paid just a few dollars a day.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Once freed from prison, however, the formerly incarcerated have trouble getting hired professionally because of their criminal records, despite a first-in-the-nation, 18-month-old law designed to ease their way and a four-year-old training program that cost taxpayers at least $180,000 per graduate.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[pullquote align=\"right\" size=\"medium\" citation=\"Genevieve Rimer, Forestry and Fire Recruitment Program\"]‘Thousands of people are coming back from California’s fire camps annually. They have already been trained. They have a desire to go and put their lives on the line in order to ensure public safety.’[/pullquote]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It’s absolutely an untapped pool of talent,” said Genevieve Rimer, director of supportive services at the \u003ca href=\"https://www.forestryfirerp.org/about-us\">Forestry and Fire Recruitment Program\u003c/a>, where she helps formerly incarcerated people try to clear their records. “Thousands of people are coming back from California’s fire camps annually. They have already been trained. They have a desire to go and put their lives on the line in order to ensure public safety.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>California is hardly alone in needing seasoned firefighters, but the nation’s most populous state faces different challenges from other more sparsely settled Western regions. A wildfire that nearly leveled the Sierra Nevada foothills town of Paradise nearly four years ago, for instance, was \u003ca href=\"https://apnews.com/article/wildfires-business-environment-and-nature-gavin-newsom-paradise-dbae2ef725b32d91ff4c612de38f01e2\">the nation’s deadliest wildfire in nearly a century\u003c/a>, killing 85 people.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The \u003ca href=\"https://www.feinstein.senate.gov/public/_cache/files/6/4/645ad1b0-4842-4fe7-855e-f4d51239bdd0/380BFCC77F96A54AF618DCA07EDA2923.final-letter---firefighter-salaries-07.19.22.pdf\">U.S. Forest Service and Interior Department are short about 1,650 firefighters\u003c/a>, nearly 650 of them in California, according to Sens. Dianne Feinstein and Alex Padilla, in a recent letter to Biden administration officials.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Gov. Gavin Newsom signed the California legislation in 2020, which \u003ca href=\"https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billTextClient.xhtml?bill_id=201920200AB2147\">allows people who were formerly incarcerated for mostly nonviolent offenses to seek to withdraw guilty pleas or overturn convictions\u003c/a>. A judge can then dismiss those charges.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Since the law took effect, the Forestry and Fire Recruitment Program, started by \u003ca href=\"https://apnews.com/article/wildfires-california-forests-fires-ac38905f8f1edaf0f63ac04eedc8a683\">two formerly incarcerated firefighters\u003c/a>, has worked with the Legal Aid Foundation of Los Angeles to help other formerly incarcerated people clear their records and get hired.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Yet they have only been able to file 34 petitions, and just 12 had records expunged during what the program warns “can be a long and drawn out process.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Ashleigh Dennis, one of at least three attorneys filing expungement petitions through the Oakland-based advocacy group \u003ca href=\"https://live-rootandrebound.pantheonsite.io/\">Root & Rebound\u003c/a>, said she has only been able to file 23 requests, of which just 14 have been granted.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Among \u003ca href=\"https://roadmap.rootandrebound.org/understanding-cleaning-up-your-criminal-record/expungement-appendix/petition-for-dismissal-california-expungement/\">other hurdles\u003c/a>, applicants must demonstrate to a judge that they have been rehabilitated. Furthermore, the expungement only applies to the specific convictions that led to their firefighting duties while incarcerated. Many people have unrelated convictions that must be separately expunged.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It’s been a learning curve to educate judges about the law and get the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR) to speed up the court certification process, said Dennis.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Da’Ton Harris Jr. can attest to that. His record was finally cleared in August, about 18 months after starting the process.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I’m out here, a public servant, risking my life every day to try and better my community,” said Harris. “I don’t think it was a smooth transaction at all.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Despite his record, Harris obtained firefighting jobs with the U.S. Forest Service, the state’s firefighting agency Cal Fire, and the Forestry and Fire Recruitment Program.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But his initial advancement was limited because his criminal record made him ineligible for an emergency medical technician (EMT) certification, an obstacle that disappeared with the expungement. Outside of temporary federal and state firefighting agency jobs, most fire departments require applicants to be licensed EMTs — a certification the state bans certain incarcerated people from obtaining because \u003ca href=\"https://cdn.ca9.uscourts.gov/datastore/memoranda/2022/06/09/21-15414.pdf\">the job comes with access to narcotics and sharp objects\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[aside label=\"related coverage\" tag=\"inmate-firefighters\"]Rimer, of the Forestry and Fire Recruitment Program, said California should automatically expunge records of eligible formerly incarcerated people, much as it does for those convicted of antiquated marijuana crimes. And, she added, it should include their entire criminal record.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I think it spearheaded opportunity for people, but I don’t think it’s good enough,” she said of the current expungement law.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The law’s author, Assembly Majority Leader Eloise Gómez Reyes, a Democrat from San Bernardino, has been struggling ever since the measure took effect to find out how many formerly incarcerated people it has helped. She said many beneficiaries of the program have contacted her office to praise “the life-changing impact of the legislation.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.cdcr.ca.gov/facility-locator/conservation-camps/fire_camp_expungement/\">CDCR informs eligible incarcerated people about the law\u003c/a> but doesn’t track expungements, said department spokesperson Tessa Outhyse. Cal Fire, the court system and the state Department of Justice also couldn’t say how many have had their records expunged.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In another effort, California in 2018 created a training program to help formerly incarcerated people get hired professionally.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The 18-month program is run by Cal Fire, the California Conservation Corps, the state corrections department and the nonprofit \u003ca href=\"https://antirecidivism.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/ARC-Brochure_Digital.11.30.2020.pdf\">Anti-Recidivism Coalition\u003c/a> at the \u003ca href=\"https://www.cdcr.ca.gov/facility-locator/conservation-camps/ventura/\">Ventura Training Center\u003c/a> northwest of Los Angeles.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Participants spend six months on life skills and \u003ca href=\"https://vimeo.com/727783253/727783253\">firefighter training\u003c/a> and the next year fighting or preventing fires and doing other community service, for which they are paid $1,905 a month. The center has 60 participants, working on four fire crews.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In four years the program has cost over $29.5 million, but has had just 106 graduates.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Nearly all found a professional job: Ninety-eight are with Cal Fire, and three are with other agencies, including the Orange County Fire Authority and the U.S. Forest Service, according to CDCR officials. Cal Fire provided slightly different figures.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But they’re the fortunate ones among the 277 who have participated since the program’s inception. Another 111 participants, or 40%, left before completing the program, said Outhyse.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Climate change is making wildfires more frequent and destructive, so the shortage comes at a time when demand for wildfire crews is on the rise.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And the state is turning more to professional wildland firefighters, largely because incarcerated crews are less available due to the growing number of lower-level incarcerated people who have been released early in recent years — the result of voter initiatives and measures to stem COVID outbreaks.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>This August, about 1,670 incarcerated people are in fire camps, doing work such as cooking and laundry, down about 40% from August 2019. CDCR was budgeted for 152 crews this year, but fielded just 51, each with about 15 to 18 firefighters.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>With fewer incarcerated crews, California is relying more on other agencies, including the conservation corps, and is creating what officials are calling the first all-hazards fire engine strike team, which is \u003ca href=\"https://www.dropbox.com/sh/mvyd6pym4n4hjpv/AABtto7DN7qMd4u7FpQjiNkXa?dl=0&preview=TRANSFER+AT+MATHER++VIDEO.mp4\">operated by a state National Guard unit\u003c/a>, and can respond both to wildfires and urban blazes.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We’ve recognized for a few years now that due to early release, due to COVID, a number of other reasons, we have to do something,” said Battalion Chief Isaac Sanchez, a Cal Fire spokesperson.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci data-stringify-type=\"italic\">An earlier version of this story misstated the U.S. Forest Service and Interior Department firefighter shortage in California. It is about 650, not 1,000.\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Gabe Stern, of The Associated Press/Report for America Statehouse News Initiative, contributed to this story from Reno, Nevada.\u003c/em>\u003cbr>\n[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>As wildfires rage across California each year, often with increasing ferocity, exhausted firefighters call for reinforcements from wherever they can get them — even as far as Australia.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Yet one homegrown resource is rarely used: thousands of experienced firefighters who earned their chops in prison. Two state programs designed to get more formerly incarcerated firefighters hired professionally have barely made a dent, according to an Associated Press review. One of them, a $30 million effort, has netted jobs for just over 100 firefighters, accounting for little more than one-third of those enrolled in the program.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Clad in distinctive orange uniforms, scores of incarcerated crews fan out across the state each summer and fall to protect multimillion-dollar homes by cutting brush and trees with chain saws and scraping the earth to create barriers they hope will stop flames. For that sometimes life-threatening labor, most are paid just a few dollars a day.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Once freed from prison, however, the formerly incarcerated have trouble getting hired professionally because of their criminal records, despite a first-in-the-nation, 18-month-old law designed to ease their way and a four-year-old training program that cost taxpayers at least $180,000 per graduate.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It’s absolutely an untapped pool of talent,” said Genevieve Rimer, director of supportive services at the \u003ca href=\"https://www.forestryfirerp.org/about-us\">Forestry and Fire Recruitment Program\u003c/a>, where she helps formerly incarcerated people try to clear their records. “Thousands of people are coming back from California’s fire camps annually. They have already been trained. They have a desire to go and put their lives on the line in order to ensure public safety.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>California is hardly alone in needing seasoned firefighters, but the nation’s most populous state faces different challenges from other more sparsely settled Western regions. A wildfire that nearly leveled the Sierra Nevada foothills town of Paradise nearly four years ago, for instance, was \u003ca href=\"https://apnews.com/article/wildfires-business-environment-and-nature-gavin-newsom-paradise-dbae2ef725b32d91ff4c612de38f01e2\">the nation’s deadliest wildfire in nearly a century\u003c/a>, killing 85 people.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The \u003ca href=\"https://www.feinstein.senate.gov/public/_cache/files/6/4/645ad1b0-4842-4fe7-855e-f4d51239bdd0/380BFCC77F96A54AF618DCA07EDA2923.final-letter---firefighter-salaries-07.19.22.pdf\">U.S. Forest Service and Interior Department are short about 1,650 firefighters\u003c/a>, nearly 650 of them in California, according to Sens. Dianne Feinstein and Alex Padilla, in a recent letter to Biden administration officials.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Gov. Gavin Newsom signed the California legislation in 2020, which \u003ca href=\"https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billTextClient.xhtml?bill_id=201920200AB2147\">allows people who were formerly incarcerated for mostly nonviolent offenses to seek to withdraw guilty pleas or overturn convictions\u003c/a>. A judge can then dismiss those charges.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Since the law took effect, the Forestry and Fire Recruitment Program, started by \u003ca href=\"https://apnews.com/article/wildfires-california-forests-fires-ac38905f8f1edaf0f63ac04eedc8a683\">two formerly incarcerated firefighters\u003c/a>, has worked with the Legal Aid Foundation of Los Angeles to help other formerly incarcerated people clear their records and get hired.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Yet they have only been able to file 34 petitions, and just 12 had records expunged during what the program warns “can be a long and drawn out process.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Ashleigh Dennis, one of at least three attorneys filing expungement petitions through the Oakland-based advocacy group \u003ca href=\"https://live-rootandrebound.pantheonsite.io/\">Root & Rebound\u003c/a>, said she has only been able to file 23 requests, of which just 14 have been granted.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Among \u003ca href=\"https://roadmap.rootandrebound.org/understanding-cleaning-up-your-criminal-record/expungement-appendix/petition-for-dismissal-california-expungement/\">other hurdles\u003c/a>, applicants must demonstrate to a judge that they have been rehabilitated. Furthermore, the expungement only applies to the specific convictions that led to their firefighting duties while incarcerated. Many people have unrelated convictions that must be separately expunged.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It’s been a learning curve to educate judges about the law and get the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR) to speed up the court certification process, said Dennis.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Da’Ton Harris Jr. can attest to that. His record was finally cleared in August, about 18 months after starting the process.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I’m out here, a public servant, risking my life every day to try and better my community,” said Harris. “I don’t think it was a smooth transaction at all.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Despite his record, Harris obtained firefighting jobs with the U.S. Forest Service, the state’s firefighting agency Cal Fire, and the Forestry and Fire Recruitment Program.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But his initial advancement was limited because his criminal record made him ineligible for an emergency medical technician (EMT) certification, an obstacle that disappeared with the expungement. Outside of temporary federal and state firefighting agency jobs, most fire departments require applicants to be licensed EMTs — a certification the state bans certain incarcerated people from obtaining because \u003ca href=\"https://cdn.ca9.uscourts.gov/datastore/memoranda/2022/06/09/21-15414.pdf\">the job comes with access to narcotics and sharp objects\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>Rimer, of the Forestry and Fire Recruitment Program, said California should automatically expunge records of eligible formerly incarcerated people, much as it does for those convicted of antiquated marijuana crimes. And, she added, it should include their entire criminal record.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I think it spearheaded opportunity for people, but I don’t think it’s good enough,” she said of the current expungement law.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The law’s author, Assembly Majority Leader Eloise Gómez Reyes, a Democrat from San Bernardino, has been struggling ever since the measure took effect to find out how many formerly incarcerated people it has helped. She said many beneficiaries of the program have contacted her office to praise “the life-changing impact of the legislation.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.cdcr.ca.gov/facility-locator/conservation-camps/fire_camp_expungement/\">CDCR informs eligible incarcerated people about the law\u003c/a> but doesn’t track expungements, said department spokesperson Tessa Outhyse. Cal Fire, the court system and the state Department of Justice also couldn’t say how many have had their records expunged.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In another effort, California in 2018 created a training program to help formerly incarcerated people get hired professionally.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The 18-month program is run by Cal Fire, the California Conservation Corps, the state corrections department and the nonprofit \u003ca href=\"https://antirecidivism.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/ARC-Brochure_Digital.11.30.2020.pdf\">Anti-Recidivism Coalition\u003c/a> at the \u003ca href=\"https://www.cdcr.ca.gov/facility-locator/conservation-camps/ventura/\">Ventura Training Center\u003c/a> northwest of Los Angeles.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Participants spend six months on life skills and \u003ca href=\"https://vimeo.com/727783253/727783253\">firefighter training\u003c/a> and the next year fighting or preventing fires and doing other community service, for which they are paid $1,905 a month. The center has 60 participants, working on four fire crews.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In four years the program has cost over $29.5 million, but has had just 106 graduates.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Nearly all found a professional job: Ninety-eight are with Cal Fire, and three are with other agencies, including the Orange County Fire Authority and the U.S. Forest Service, according to CDCR officials. Cal Fire provided slightly different figures.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But they’re the fortunate ones among the 277 who have participated since the program’s inception. Another 111 participants, or 40%, left before completing the program, said Outhyse.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Climate change is making wildfires more frequent and destructive, so the shortage comes at a time when demand for wildfire crews is on the rise.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And the state is turning more to professional wildland firefighters, largely because incarcerated crews are less available due to the growing number of lower-level incarcerated people who have been released early in recent years — the result of voter initiatives and measures to stem COVID outbreaks.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>This August, about 1,670 incarcerated people are in fire camps, doing work such as cooking and laundry, down about 40% from August 2019. CDCR was budgeted for 152 crews this year, but fielded just 51, each with about 15 to 18 firefighters.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>With fewer incarcerated crews, California is relying more on other agencies, including the conservation corps, and is creating what officials are calling the first all-hazards fire engine strike team, which is \u003ca href=\"https://www.dropbox.com/sh/mvyd6pym4n4hjpv/AABtto7DN7qMd4u7FpQjiNkXa?dl=0&preview=TRANSFER+AT+MATHER++VIDEO.mp4\">operated by a state National Guard unit\u003c/a>, and can respond both to wildfires and urban blazes.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We’ve recognized for a few years now that due to early release, due to COVID, a number of other reasons, we have to do something,” said Battalion Chief Isaac Sanchez, a Cal Fire spokesperson.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci data-stringify-type=\"italic\">An earlier version of this story misstated the U.S. Forest Service and Interior Department firefighter shortage in California. It is about 650, not 1,000.\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Gabe Stern, of The Associated Press/Report for America Statehouse News Initiative, contributed to this story from Reno, Nevada.\u003c/em>\u003cbr>\n\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cp>\u003cb>Threat of “Megafloods”\u003cbr>\n\u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">A new study indicates that California could be in for torrential storms that last for weeks, overwhelming rivers and devastating urban areas with a series of what scientists are dubbing “megafloods.” We talk to \u003c/span>\u003cb>UCLA climate scientist Daniel Swain\u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> about how climate change is increasing the risk of catastrophic flooding that could “change the face of California forever” and how the state can best prepare.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>826 Valencia Celebrates 20 Years\u003cbr>\n\u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">A pirate supply store and a tree house are just two ways in which a San Francisco-based nonprofit brings the wonder of writing to youth. Founded in 2002 by Bay Area author Dave Eggers and veteran public school teacher Nínive Calegari, 826 Valencia Street has inspired a national network of youth writing and publishing centers serving hundreds of thousands of students across the country. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Guests:\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cul>\n\u003cli style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Nínive Calegari, 826 Valencia co-founder\u003c/span>\u003c/li>\n\u003cli style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Dave Eggers, 826 Valencia co-founder\u003c/span>\u003c/li>\n\u003cli style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Bita Nazarian, 826 Valencia executive director\u003c/span>\u003c/li>\n\u003c/ul>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Something Beautiful: San Francisco Women’s Building\u003cbr>\n\u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">A home for emerging women-led projects since 1979, the San Francisco Women’s Building is covered in a vibrant mural celebrating the accomplishments of female role models. Completed in 1994, the mural depicts the likes of Georgia O’Keefe and Rigoberta Mench\u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">ú\u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> alongside Aztec and Chinese goddesses. More than 170 organizations trace their roots to the building, one of the first women-owned-and-operated community centers in the country — and it’s this week’s Something Beautiful.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>\u003cb>Threat of “Megafloods”\u003cbr>\n\u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">A new study indicates that California could be in for torrential storms that last for weeks, overwhelming rivers and devastating urban areas with a series of what scientists are dubbing “megafloods.” We talk to \u003c/span>\u003cb>UCLA climate scientist Daniel Swain\u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> about how climate change is increasing the risk of catastrophic flooding that could “change the face of California forever” and how the state can best prepare.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>826 Valencia Celebrates 20 Years\u003cbr>\n\u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">A pirate supply store and a tree house are just two ways in which a San Francisco-based nonprofit brings the wonder of writing to youth. Founded in 2002 by Bay Area author Dave Eggers and veteran public school teacher Nínive Calegari, 826 Valencia Street has inspired a national network of youth writing and publishing centers serving hundreds of thousands of students across the country. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Guests:\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cul>\n\u003cli style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Nínive Calegari, 826 Valencia co-founder\u003c/span>\u003c/li>\n\u003cli style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Dave Eggers, 826 Valencia co-founder\u003c/span>\u003c/li>\n\u003cli style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Bita Nazarian, 826 Valencia executive director\u003c/span>\u003c/li>\n\u003c/ul>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Something Beautiful: San Francisco Women’s Building\u003cbr>\n\u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">A home for emerging women-led projects since 1979, the San Francisco Women’s Building is covered in a vibrant mural celebrating the accomplishments of female role models. Completed in 1994, the mural depicts the likes of Georgia O’Keefe and Rigoberta Mench\u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">ú\u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> alongside Aztec and Chinese goddesses. More than 170 organizations trace their roots to the building, one of the first women-owned-and-operated community centers in the country — and it’s this week’s Something Beautiful.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"slug": "stalled-u-s-forest-service-project-could-have-protected-california-town-from-caldor-fire-destruction",
"title": "Stalled US Forest Service Project Could Have Protected California Town From Caldor Fire Destruction",
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"content": "\u003cp>Before the Caldor Fire sparked one year ago this week — before its 150-foot flames devoured century-old ponderosa pines in California’s Sierra Nevada, and before it destroyed more than 400 of the 600 homes in Grizzly Flats — Mark Almer had a plan.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The 60-year-old retired fire inspector had spent over a decade fireproofing his Grizzly Flats home, trading wood deck boards for composite material and replacing traditional siding with a protective cement shell.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Hardening the home is huge,” he said. “But it’s just one piece of the puzzle.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Almer had an even bigger plan to protect his community.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>For more than a decade, he’s led the Grizzly Flats Fire Safe Council, a group of two-dozen volunteers that raised money for wildfire mitigation projects, educated the town’s roughly 1,400 residents about defensible space and regularly gathered local, state and federal fire officials to help improve their fire response plan.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The Caldor Fire would be the council’s ultimate test.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11922564\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003ca href=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2022/08/ALMERBQ3A8396.jpg\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-11922564\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2022/08/ALMERBQ3A8396-800x534.jpg\" alt='A man with pale skin wearing a light sage t-shirt and SF Giants ball cap stands in front of a light blue home with white painted wood railing and steps leading to the front door. A round logo on his shirt reads \"hashtag Grizzly Flats Strong\" over an image of trees and a mountain.' width=\"800\" height=\"534\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/08/ALMERBQ3A8396-800x534.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/08/ALMERBQ3A8396-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/08/ALMERBQ3A8396-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/08/ALMERBQ3A8396-1536x1025.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/08/ALMERBQ3A8396-1920x1281.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/08/ALMERBQ3A8396.jpg 2000w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Mark Almer poses outside his Grizzly Flats home on Thursday, Aug. 4, 2022. \u003ccite>(Andrew Nixon/CapRadio)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>On August 16, 2021, two days after the fire ignited, gusty winds pushed the flames out like billowing sails, spreading across thousands of acres overloaded with shrubs and trees in the neighboring Eldorado National Forest.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Almer and his wife didn’t grab much on their way out the door. Their six cats, corralled into six crates, took up most of the car space.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>He was more concerned about making sure everyone else in the community got out safely. Before the official evacuation order came, Almer called his next door neighbor, Victor Diaz.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I thought we still had time,” Diaz said in a recent interview.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But Almer’s voice indicated otherwise. An even-keeled speaker with a clean vocabulary, Almer barked his warning with a rare four-letter word that Diaz declined to repeat.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“You need to get the beep out,” Diaz recalled.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11922598\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003ca href=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2022/08/Flames-Photo-scaled.jpeg\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-11922598\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2022/08/Flames-Photo-800x600.jpeg\" alt=\"Dark orange and red glow through the silhouette of burnt trees and branches. Yellow and white flames are visible on a distant ridge through the forest, with white hotspots in the foreground.\" width=\"800\" height=\"600\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/08/Flames-Photo-800x600.jpeg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/08/Flames-Photo-1020x765.jpeg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/08/Flames-Photo-160x120.jpeg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/08/Flames-Photo-1536x1152.jpeg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/08/Flames-Photo-2048x1536.jpeg 2048w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/08/Flames-Photo-1920x1440.jpeg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">The Caldor Fire burns south of Grizzly Flats on Aug. 15, 2021. \u003ccite>(Courtesy Eric Henton)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Diaz, his wife, their six kids and the family dog raced down Grizzly Flat Road in a two-car caravan, leaving behind the fire’s red glow and the home they’d never see again.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Many residents knew this day might come. At a community meeting in the early 2000s, the U.S. Forest Service, with chilling foresight, had warned that a wildfire mirroring the Caldor Fire’s burn progression could easily wipe Grizzly Flats off the map.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In the years that followed, the Forest Service took steps to prevent such a catastrophe. But a nine-month investigation by CapRadio and The California Newsroom, a public media collaboration, found that the Forest Service’s plan to protect Grizzly Flats fell far short:\u003c/p>\n\u003cul>\n\u003cli>After the community meeting, the Forest Service took a decade to announce a comprehensive 15,000-acre forest management and fire mitigation plan, called the Trestle Forest Health Project. It aimed to “reduce the threat of large high intensity wildfire and threats to Grizzly Flat[s]” and other nearby landowners by removing excess brush and vegetation that fuel increasingly devastating wildfires, according to project documents.\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>The Forest Service originally committed to finishing the Trestle Project by 2020 — a year before the Caldor Fire would later ignite. Due to a complex web of regulatory delays, logistical challenges and resource shortages, the agency pushed back the completion date to as late as 2032 — three decades after its initial warning to Grizzly Flats.\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>The Forest Service’s data overstated Trestle Project accomplishments, claiming the agency completed work on at least 24% of the project before the Caldor Fire. \u003ca href=\"https://www.capradio.org/grizzly-flats-methodology\">Original analysis of corrected Forest Service data provided by the agency shows only 14% completion\u003c/a>. The agency confirmed the inaccurate information had been online for more than a month; it updated its database less than a week before publication of this story.\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>The corrected data also suggests that in the decade-and-a-half leading up to the Caldor Fire, the Forest Service completed 15,000 acres of fuel reduction work within a five-mile buffer around Grizzly Flats — coincidentally, the same number of planned acres in the Trestle Project. However, the actual coverage of that work was limited to 5,800 acres because of the agency’s decades-long and highly criticized practice of counting repeat treatments on the same parcel. Furthermore, the majority of that work occurred several miles from the town’s border.\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>The Forest Service failed to complete sections of the Trestle Project along the southern border of Grizzly Flats, identified as “first priority” due to the area’s susceptibility to wildfire. Instead, the agency prioritized removing trees — often far from the town’s borders and not a part of the “first priority” area — that generate revenue.\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>Despite more than five requests, the Forest Service failed to provide complete data on its national wildland fire management budget, citing a recent data transfer in which it lost some information from the past two decades. The agency also could not provide similar budget information at the regional and forest level, saying numerous changes to the budget structure and process over the last 20 years made retrieving the data especially difficult and would render any analysis “incomparable.”\u003c/li>\n\u003c/ul>\n\u003cp>\u003c!-- iframe plugin v.4.3 wordpress.org/plugins/iframe/ -->\u003cbr>\n\u003ciframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https://projects.capradio.org/grizzly-flats-forest-management\" style=\"border: 0px #FFFFFF none;\" name=\"myiFrame\" scrolling=\"no\" marginheight=\"0px\" marginwidth=\"0px\" allowfullscreen width=\"100%\" height=\"700px\" class=\"iframe-class\" frameborder=\"0\">\u003c/iframe>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Agency leaders say a slew of hurdles stood in the way of the project’s completion: limited funding, pushback from environmentalists and fewer opportunities to complete essential prescribed burns due to staff shortages and climate change.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I am committed to doing everything I possibly can to mitigate [wildfire risks] on our landscapes,” said Forest Service Chief Randy Moore in an interview.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>When asked if his agency bears any responsibility for the devastation in Grizzly Flats as a result of the stalled Trestle Project, he cited financial constraints.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I mean, do[es] anybody bear any responsibility for not having the budget to do the work that we need to do?”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.fs.usda.gov/detailfull/r5/home/?cid=stelprdb5289758&width=full\">The Eldorado National Forest falls under the Forest Service’s Pacific Southwest Region\u003c/a>, which Moore led from 2007 to July 2021, when he was appointed chief by President Joe Biden’s administration. He assumed office just a few weeks before the Caldor Fire ignited. Moore declined multiple opportunities to say whether completing the Trestle Project would have resulted in a different outcome in Grizzly Flats.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11922570\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003ca href=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2022/08/MOORE51419974631_abd86cdfe9_o-scaled-e1660598505892.jpg\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-11922570\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2022/08/MOORE51419974631_abd86cdfe9_o-scaled-e1660598505892-800x752.jpg\" alt=\"An image of a man with coffee skin and short-cropped hair, wearing a black uniform with a forest service patch on the arm, in front of an American flag and a U.S. Forest Service flag. The first service flag is dark green with an orange logo .\" width=\"800\" height=\"752\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/08/MOORE51419974631_abd86cdfe9_o-scaled-e1660598505892-800x752.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/08/MOORE51419974631_abd86cdfe9_o-scaled-e1660598505892-1020x959.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/08/MOORE51419974631_abd86cdfe9_o-scaled-e1660598505892-160x150.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/08/MOORE51419974631_abd86cdfe9_o-scaled-e1660598505892-1536x1445.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/08/MOORE51419974631_abd86cdfe9_o-scaled-e1660598505892-1920x1806.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/08/MOORE51419974631_abd86cdfe9_o-scaled-e1660598505892.jpg 2048w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">United States Department of Agriculture Forest Service Chief Randy Moore on Aug. 25, 2021. \u003ccite>(Tom Witham/USDA)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“I’m not really sure why we keep talking about that question,” he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>After reviewing this investigation’s findings, a dozen sources — including wildfire experts, career firefighters, former Forest Service officials and residents — said they believe Grizzly Flats would have stood a better chance of surviving the Caldor Fire if the Trestle Project had been completed.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Among the sources was one of the project’s key architects, former Eldorado National Forest District Ranger Duane Nelson.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“There would have been a very high probability that Grizzly Flats would not have burned in the Caldor Fire” if the Forest Service completed the Trestle Project, Nelson, 67, said in an interview. “It could’ve meant survival.”\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>\u003cstrong>An early warning\u003c/strong>\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>On a chilly day this past March, Almer sat in his idling white Toyota Tundra pickup next to where the Grizzly Flats Community Church once stood. The small yellow chapel bordered by white picket fencing had vanished, along with most of the community, in the Caldor Fire’s wake. From the driver’s seat, Almer observed rows of charred metal chairs facing an absent pulpit.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It’s kind of eerie,” he remarked, “as if they were still ready to accept parishioners.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11922572\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003ca href=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2022/08/Community-Church-After-Fire-scaled.jpg\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-11922572\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2022/08/Community-Church-After-Fire-800x360.jpg\" alt=\"A burnt tree trunk lies crossways over the image on a forest floor white with ash. In the background, tall burnt tree trunks and branches spread across the image.\" width=\"800\" height=\"360\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/08/Community-Church-After-Fire-800x360.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/08/Community-Church-After-Fire-1020x459.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/08/Community-Church-After-Fire-160x72.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/08/Community-Church-After-Fire-1536x692.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/08/Community-Church-After-Fire-2048x922.jpg 2048w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/08/Community-Church-After-Fire-1920x865.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">The remains of the Grizzly Flats Community Church after the Caldor Fire, Sept. 2021. \u003ccite>(Courtesy Bill Brown)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>The church is where local Forest Service officials, in the early 2000s, held their town meeting to warn residents about wildfires. Grizzly Flats is surrounded on three sides by the Eldorado National Forest; the agency acknowledged that a devastating fire would likely rip across federal land before reaching town. Using a PowerPoint to show fire modeling scenarios, they gamed out all the ways Grizzly Flats could go up in smoke.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It was important for us to start talking to people and make sure that they had the information that we had about what our models were showing,” said Kathy Hardy, a former district ranger who attended the meeting.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>One scenario showed what would happen if the fire started a few miles south of town in the Eldorado National Forest, close to where the Caldor Fire would ignite years later.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The modeling said that it would take out Grizzly Flats within about 24 hours,” Almer recently recalled. “Well, 20 years later, that’s pretty much exactly what happened.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The Forest Service has not provided records related to the meeting in response to a Freedom of Information Act request filed in December 2021.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As Forest Service officials flipped through presentation slides, residents shifted uncomfortably in their metal chairs. This was a town that had just installed its first all-way stop sign. The Grizzly Pines School had recently earned a Distinguished School Award from the California Department of Education despite having only 36 students. The place, in many ways, was idyllic — so remotely located and so small that it had no grocery store, no gas station, no diner, not even a local bar. Now, the Forest Service was telling them, with data to back it up, that their town and their lives sat in Mother Nature’s crosshairs.\u003c/p>\n\u003cdiv class=\"mceTemp\">\u003c/div>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11922588\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003ca href=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2022/08/WALTERTYLERDSCF2225.jpg\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-11922588\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2022/08/WALTERTYLERDSCF2225-800x533.jpg\" alt=\"A huge heap of burnt metal, pipes and ashy detritus fill the foreground, with a pocket of flames still burning. In the background is the metal scaffolding of a children's playground with slide and swingset. In the far left background are some ashy green trees.\" width=\"800\" height=\"533\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/08/WALTERTYLERDSCF2225-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/08/WALTERTYLERDSCF2225-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/08/WALTERTYLERDSCF2225-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/08/WALTERTYLERDSCF2225-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/08/WALTERTYLERDSCF2225-1920x1280.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/08/WALTERTYLERDSCF2225.jpg 2000w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A gas leak burns the day after the Caldor Fire hit Walter Tyler Elementary School in Grizzly Flats, Aug. 17, 2021. \u003ccite>(Andrew Nixon/CapRadio)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003ch2>\u003cstrong>Two fire plans, two timelines\u003c/strong>\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Grizzly Flats wasn’t the only town in peril. For years, the federal government had been wringing its hands over the nation’s growing wildfire crisis. \u003ca href=\"https://www.nifc.gov/fire-information/statistics/wildfires\">In 2000, wildfires burned over 7 million acres across the country\u003c/a> — a stunning total at the time, and a harbinger for even worse years to come.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In response, the U.S. Department of Agriculture and Department of the Interior — the agencies that managed much of the land that had been scorched — developed a \u003ca href=\"https://www.fs.fed.us/database/budgetoffice/NFP_final32601.pdf\">National Fire Plan\u003c/a>. It emphasized forest management and fuel reduction as key preventive measures. Methods traditionally used by the federal government include commercial thinning (cutting some trees to be sold as timber or wood pellets), removing brush with heavy machinery (a process known as mastication), and prescribed burning (intentionally setting lower-intensity fires that benefit the landscape).\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>To figure out where to put its resources, the Forest Service — which operates under the USDA — helped compile \u003ca href=\"https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2001/08/17/01-20592/urban-wildland-interface-communities-within-the-vicinity-of-federal-lands-that-are-at-high-risk-from#citation-1-p43384\">a list of communities nationwide at “high risk from wildfire.”\u003c/a> It included thousands of communities, identified primarily for being in the “wildland-urban interface” or WUI, a term used to describe the intersection of developed land and the natural environment.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Buried on the list was “Grizzly Flat.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>(The town, throughout history, has been referred to as “Grizzly Flat” and “Grizzly Flats.” The latter is more common.)\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Shortly after the Forest Service’s cautionary meeting at the local church, Almer and two-dozen other residents formed the Grizzly Flats Fire Safe Council. They set up an informational phone line, installed a nine-foot community bulletin board at the post office and started an adopt-a-hydrant program, which got residents to shovel out hydrants after snowstorms.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11922590\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003ca href=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2022/08/GFFSC-BBQ-2018.jpeg\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-11922590\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2022/08/GFFSC-BBQ-2018-800x533.jpeg\" alt=\"People sit eating and talking at long tables covered with red or orange tablecloths. Strings of lights are overhead, with dark green trees in the background. Vases of fresh orange, yellow and white flowers adorn the tables.\" width=\"800\" height=\"533\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/08/GFFSC-BBQ-2018-800x533.jpeg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/08/GFFSC-BBQ-2018-1020x680.jpeg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/08/GFFSC-BBQ-2018-160x107.jpeg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/08/GFFSC-BBQ-2018-1536x1024.jpeg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/08/GFFSC-BBQ-2018.jpeg 1824w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">The Grizzly Flats Fire Safe Council holds its 14th annual barbecue, July 21, 2018. \u003ccite>(Courtesy Grizzly Flats Fire Safe Council)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>The council served as an essential community thread in the simple quilt of Grizzly Flats.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“There was no government, there was no mayor,” said Kathy Melvin, 78, who joined the council in 2007. “There was just the fire safe council, the church and the school. Everything kind of revolved around those entities because we didn’t have anything else.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Within a couple years of its founding, the council commissioned its own community wildfire protection plan. The 74-page document laid out plans to clear evacuation routes and assist residents with defensible space around homes.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It also proposed a series of fuel-reduction projects, including an ambitious “shaded fuel break” in the shape of a horseshoe around Grizzly Flats. Shaded fuel breaks remove ground vegetation to reduce wildfire intensity and provide a staging area for firefighters. The horseshoe covered the east, north and west sides of town; the community was banking on the Forest Service to tackle fuel reduction work along the southern border to complete the protective buffer.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11922589\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\" style=\"max-width: 631px\">\u003ca href=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2022/08/2006-GFFSC-shaded-fuel-break-plan.png\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-11922589\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2022/08/2006-GFFSC-shaded-fuel-break-plan.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"631\" height=\"466\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/08/2006-GFFSC-shaded-fuel-break-plan.png 631w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/08/2006-GFFSC-shaded-fuel-break-plan-160x118.png 160w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 631px) 100vw, 631px\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A 2006 map of the Grizzly Flats Fire Safe Council’s planned fuel breaks around three sides of the community. \u003ccite>(Courtesy Grizzly Flats Fire Safe Council)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>The plan would cost millions of dollars, and the council raised money however it could. An area couple hosted 150 people at their home for a wine tasting under paper lanterns and summer stars. The council held annual barbecues. What money it couldn’t raise, it made up for with grants.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The efforts paid off. Over the next 15 years, the fire safe council cleared more than 1,500 acres of fire-prone vegetation around town, completing almost all of the horseshoe fuel break at a cost of nearly $2 million. \u003ca href=\"https://www.iafc.org/press-releases/press-release/partnership-announces-2018-wildfire-mitigation-awardees\">The council even earned national recognition for its productivity and wildfire mitigation work\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2022/08/GFFSC-BBQ-2018.jpeg\"> \u003c/a>Meanwhile, most of the Forest Service land to the south of Grizzly Flats remained dense and overgrown — a reminder to residents that their community was dangerously exposed.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>\u003cstrong>‘Big, hairy, audacious goal’\u003c/strong>\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>As a district ranger in the Eldorado National Forest, Duane Nelson started each day with a clean, pressed uniform and aimed to clock out with dirty shirtsleeves and muddy boots.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I wasn’t going to just be a ranger sitting in the office behind a computer all the time,” he said. “I made a promise to myself that I would be out looking at projects, checking up on crews or going by fire stations.”[pullquote size='small' align='left' citation='Duane Nelson, former district ranger, Eldorado National Forest']‘We needed to reverse this massive fuels accumulation that had developed over 100 years of overly aggressive fire suppression.’[/pullquote]His 38-year career in the Forest Service can be traced to a childhood vacation to the Rocky Mountains. Sitting in the back of his family’s faux wood-paneled Ford Country Squire, he watched hours of hypnotic prairielands roll by. All of a sudden, purple mountaintops pierced the horizon, surrounded by timber canyons.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It’s an image that’s been in my head ever since,” he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Nelson earned a degree in forestry and left his Midwest roots behind, preferring the mountains and conifer forests of Northern California.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>When he took over as the Eldorado National Forest’s Placerville District Ranger in 2007, he didn’t like what he saw. The majority of his district was dense, dry and prone to catastrophic wildfires — especially around Grizzly Flats.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A few years before Nelson arrived, the district had thinned and burned 1,000 acres to the south of Grizzly Flats, including areas along the town’s southern border. But other fuel reduction efforts were scattered and piecemeal, often deep in woods and miles from town.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>So Nelson devised what he called a “big, hairy, audacious goal.” He wanted to reduce forest congestion across his entire district.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11922592\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003ca href=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2022/08/Nelson_2.jpg\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-11922592\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2022/08/Nelson_2-800x600.jpg\" alt=\"A man with pale skin wearing a white hardhat, yellow shirt and black pants stands on a cleared area of soil and green grasses, with trees and white smoke in the background. He carries a map and wears a pack at the small of his back and a walkie talkie in front.\" width=\"800\" height=\"600\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/08/Nelson_2-800x600.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/08/Nelson_2-1020x765.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/08/Nelson_2-160x120.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/08/Nelson_2.jpg 1280w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Duane Nelson, former Placerville district ranger, during an annual live fire training in the late 2000s near Grizzly Flats. \u003ccite>(Courtesy Duane Nelson)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>To do that, he said, “We needed to reverse this massive fuels accumulation that had developed over 100 years of overly aggressive fire suppression.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Before the advent of modern firefighting, naturally occurring fires served the important role of balancing ecosystems and preventing the accumulation of fuels. For millennia, indigenous communities set fire to forests and wildlands for a variety of reasons, including hunting and cultural practices, which also kept the land in check. But according to fire ecologists and historians, the federal government’s century-long practice of snuffing out every wildfire, instead of letting them perform their natural role on the landscape, has left forests overloaded. Combined with hotter, drier conditions caused by climate change, the heavy fuel loads are spurring bigger, more destructive blazes.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Nelson helped devise the Trestle Project as a big step toward his goal. It would create a miles-wide fuel reduction buffer east and south of Grizzly Flats.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>When the Forest Service finally announced the project in 2013, the agency sent a letter to residents describing 16,000 acres of planned work. (A miscalculation led to the document overstating the work by nearly 1,000 acres. The actual number was just over 15,000.) It laid out an expeditious — and optimistic — timeline. The analysis was supposed to take about a year, with the forest management work scheduled to wrap up by 2020.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Almost immediately the project encountered an onslaught of hurdles and delays.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It’s sad to think about what could have been,” said Michael Wara, a \u003ca href=\"https://twitter.com/MichaelWWara/status/1541784173047709696?s=20&t=NPO1IzD-aF1yaQXcj4-mFg\">climate policy expert at Stanford University who recently toured Grizzly Flats\u003c/a>. “[If] all this work was done by 2020, Grizzly Flats might still be there.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11922636\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003ca href=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2022/08/GATEDSCF2157.jpg\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-11922636\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2022/08/GATEDSCF2157-800x533.jpg\" alt=\"Thick stands of burnt trees with ashen branches line a red dirt road. A metal gate bars the road. White smoke hangs in the air. \" width=\"800\" height=\"533\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/08/GATEDSCF2157-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/08/GATEDSCF2157-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/08/GATEDSCF2157-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/08/GATEDSCF2157-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/08/GATEDSCF2157-1920x1280.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/08/GATEDSCF2157.jpg 2000w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Grizzly Flats, Aug. 17, 2021. \u003ccite>(Andrew Nixon/CapRadio)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003ch2>\u003cstrong>‘We don’t have that kind of time any longer’\u003c/strong>\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>One of the most aggressive objections to the Trestle Project came from Chad Hanson, co-founder of the John Muir Project, a nonprofit that aims to protect biodiversity in national forests and fiercely opposes tree removal. One of Hanson’s primary concerns was the spotted owl, which is designated as “threatened” under the Endangered Species Act.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In a written objection to the Forest Service in 2015, Hanson argued the Trestle Project would “pose a serious and unacceptable threat to owl populations on the Eldorado National Forest.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Elsewhere, \u003ca href=\"https://www.nytimes.com/2022/07/30/opinion/california-wildfires-oak-fire-yosemite-sequoias.html\">Hanson has argued that commercial tree removal could exacerbate wildfire intensity\u003c/a>. Leading fire scientists have publicly pushed back against a number of Hanson’s claims; \u003ca href=\"https://www.sacbee.com/news/california/fires/article254957722.html\">one expert even called his positions “self-serving garbage.”\u003c/a>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The project’s 296-page environmental impact statement devoted dozens of pages to analyzing potential impacts on the spotted owl. The report also invited public comment that demanded thoroughly researched responses from the Forest Service. The agency developed alternative maps, taking into account spotted owls and sensitive species of frog and trout.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The Forest Service also put out other reports, including \u003ca href=\"https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/22131479-fuels-and-fire-analysis-trestle-forest-health-project\">one that identified a likely ignition point very close to where the Caldor Fire would later start\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As the Forest Service spun out reams of paperwork, Almer reminded the agency that Grizzly Flats remained woefully exposed to wildfires that were growing more severe every year.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The most aggressive treatment of the [Trestle Project’s] fire fuels is critical to preventing the ‘loss of our community,’” wrote Almer in a 2015 public comment about the project on behalf of the Grizzly Flats Fire Safe Council. “Everything that can be done, must be done.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>He followed up this plea with a 2017 letter addressed to Randy Moore, who at the time led the agency’s Pacific Southwest Region.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11922594\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003ca href=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2022/08/Almer-letter-to-Moore-with-page-tear.png\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-11922594\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2022/08/Almer-letter-to-Moore-with-page-tear-800x491.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"491\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/08/Almer-letter-to-Moore-with-page-tear-800x491.png 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/08/Almer-letter-to-Moore-with-page-tear-160x98.png 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/08/Almer-letter-to-Moore-with-page-tear.png 822w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Mark Almer sent a letter to then-regional forester Randy Moore, imploring the Forest Service to quickly and thoroughly tackle the Trestle Project in order to protect Grizzly Flats, May 12, 2017. \u003ccite>(US Forest Service)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“Maximum treatment must be given to the defense and threat zones abutting Grizzly Flats … to prevent spot fires from a wildland fire igniting homes within the community,” Almer wrote in his letter.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In an interview, Moore said he did not recall the letter from Almer. The threat Grizzly Flats faced “is not unique,” he said. “I can tell you that that’s going to be common for a number of communities all across the West.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The Forest Service acknowledges that its regulatory approval process for desperately needed forest management projects can be a slog. But trying to streamline it is a delicate balance.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As Scot Rogers, the current Placerville district ranger, said in an interview, it’s essential that “the American public has an opportunity to engage in the management of their lands.” But, he added, “That doesn’t necessarily mean that we need to get lost in a sea of analysis and unable to actually execute these projects — because we don’t have that kind of time any longer.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The Trestle Project wasn’t approved until late 2017, more than four years after its announcement and more than a decade after the agency called the initial meeting at the church.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But by that time Duane Nelson, one of the project’s main architects, was gone. Burnout had set in, exacerbated by persistent staffing shortages. Sleepless nights left his nerves shot.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“If it’s hot, dry and windy, rangers don’t sleep,” he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Nelson retired in early 2017, a year before he’d originally planned. Before submitting his notice, he took a drive through his district, following the backroads that bisected dense tree stands. He wanted to see the condition of the forest before making his official decision. Driving through the Trestle Project area, he envisioned the southern border of Grizzly Flats cleared of brush and returned to something like its natural condition after prescribed burning.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We had done a lot of good things,” he said, reflecting on his retirement. “But there was still a lot of work that needed to be done.”\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>\u003cstrong>Stalled out\u003c/strong>\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Over the next four years, the Forest Service completed only a fraction of the Trestle Project.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It called for fuel reduction across more than 15,000 acres of land around Grizzly Flats, but completed work on just over 2,000 of those acres.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11922595\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003ca href=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2022/08/CELLBQ3A8103.jpg\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-11922595\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2022/08/CELLBQ3A8103-800x534.jpg\" alt=\"A cell phone tower is disguised as a tree with green branches of the same length sticking out on all sides. It's the only thing in the landscape that isn't charred and blackened. \" width=\"800\" height=\"534\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/08/CELLBQ3A8103-800x534.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/08/CELLBQ3A8103-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/08/CELLBQ3A8103-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/08/CELLBQ3A8103-1536x1025.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/08/CELLBQ3A8103-1920x1281.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/08/CELLBQ3A8103.jpg 2000w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A cellphone tower disguised as a tree is the only green ‘tree’ near the center of Grizzly Flats, Aug. 4, 2022. \u003ccite>(Andrew Nixon/CapRadio)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Prescribed fire, considered crucial by fire scientists, was nowhere to be found. The project called for more than 10,000 acres of intentional low-intensity fire, but the agency only completed 136 acres of “pile burns,” the process of collecting and burning logs and vegetation that is widely considered much less impactful.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The agency instead prioritized commercial tree thinning, which generates revenue that offsets costs.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Generally, commercial thinning and other treatments designed to reduce fuel loads are a necessary precursor to prescribed fires, according to Rogers.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Largely, we’re not going to be able to put fire on the ground before that work is completed,” he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But Trestle Project reports and Forest Service data show the vast majority of the planned prescribed fire was intended as the first treatment.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Wildfire researchers and former Forest Service officials say it’s disappointing the agency would focus on commercial thinning over other forms of treatment.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The evidence that commercial thinning really reduces risk is not that good,” said Wara, the Stanford climate policy expert. “If you thin and then burn in an area, then you get dramatic risk reduction.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Meanwhile, areas adjacent to the community that the Forest Service identified as “first priority” were left untouched and overgrown. One stands out: The highly overgrown — and highly combustible — southern border, which would have dovetailed with the buffer zone that Mark Almer and the Grizzly Flats Fire Safe Council worked on for over a decade.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The part that didn’t get treated was the part we should have been most worried about,” said Hugh Safford, who spent two decades as the Forest Service’s senior ecologist in California before retiring in late 2021.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The steep, dense and dry south-facing terrain made it one of the more complicated parts of the project, but also the most essential, Safford noted.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11922580\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003ca href=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2022/08/Flames-Photo-2-scaled.jpeg\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-11922580\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2022/08/Flames-Photo-2-800x600.jpeg\" alt=\"White-yellow flames and an orange sky show through shadows of burnt trees. The flames and colors and reflected in a stream to the lower left of the image. A dark embankment is in the center right of the image.\" width=\"800\" height=\"600\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/08/Flames-Photo-2-800x600.jpeg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/08/Flames-Photo-2-1020x765.jpeg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/08/Flames-Photo-2-160x120.jpeg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/08/Flames-Photo-2-1536x1152.jpeg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/08/Flames-Photo-2-2048x1536.jpeg 2048w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/08/Flames-Photo-2-1920x1440.jpeg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">The Caldor Fire burns south of Grizzly Flats on Aug. 15, 2021. \u003ccite>(Courtesy Eric Henton)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Melvin, the longtime fire safe council member, lived on the south end of Grizzly Flats and shared a property line with the Forest Service for nearly four decades. Her house was among the first in town to face the Caldor Fire’s wrath.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>She took defensible space seriously, clearing shrubs “down to the dirt” before every fire season. By contrast, she said, the nearby Forest Service land remained overgrown with trees, brush and highly flammable mountain misery shrubs.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Melvin kept her expectations about the Trestle Project in check.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The history of the Forest Service, in the time that we lived there, was that everything took forever,” she said. “I wish they had done more.”\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>\u003cstrong>No money, no mitigation\u003c/strong>\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>In a series of interviews, Forest Service officials offered an array of reasons why efforts like the Trestle Project face delays and are sometimes not completed.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>At the top of the list: money.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Let’s not make any bones about this,” said Chief Moore in an interview. “We do not have the funding to do the level of work that needs to be done out there.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Compared to the soaring costs of preparing for and fighting wildfire, spending on hazardous fuels reduction has barely increased over the last 15 years when adjusted for inflation, according to incomplete data provided by the agency.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That doesn’t mean all projects struggle to secure funding. From 2008 to 2019, a partnership of private organizations and government agencies, including the Forest Service, pulled together $150 million and \u003ca href=\"https://tahoe.ca.gov/wp-content/uploads/sites/257/2019/08/Lake-Tahoe-Basin-Forest-Action-Plan.pdf\">tackled 57,000 acres of fuel reduction around Lake Tahoe, not far from Grizzly Flats\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Chief Moore \u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wYttPaT6a0U\">lauded those efforts around Tahoe during testimony before Congress in March\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c!-- iframe plugin v.4.3 wordpress.org/plugins/iframe/ -->\u003cbr>\n\u003ciframe loading=\"lazy\" width=\"800\" height=\"530\" src=\"https://www.c-span.org/video/standalone/?518626-1/house-hearing-wildfire-management\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\" frameborder=\"0\" scrolling=\"yes\" class=\"iframe-class\">\u003c/iframe>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Last year, the Caldor Fire in California blew right through scattered small treatments on the Eldorado National Forest,” he testified, “then hit an area of treatment at-scale on the Lake Tahoe Basin Management Unit.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The work, he said, allowed firefighters to engage with the Caldor Fire and keep it “from burning into South Lake Tahoe.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The Forest Service repeatedly declined to — or could not — provide basic budget information for the agency’s nationwide wildfire management work, the Pacific Southwest Region and the Eldorado National Forest. The agency also could not provide funding information related to the Trestle Project.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In December, CapRadio and the California Newsroom filed a FOIA request for detailed budget information from the Eldorado National Forest, which remains pending.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Forest Service officials described the process of securing funding for specific projects as fluid and sometimes unpredictable.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“[The] budget is not a one-and-done thing,” said Erin Uloth, Acting Deputy Director of Strategic Planning, Budget, and Accountability for the agency. “It’s a very ongoing, constantly shifting, evolving thing.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And since Congress routinely delays funding to the agency — doling out money on an interim basis as politicians in Washington clash over the federal budget — it’s not always clear how much will be available for individual national forests.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The Forest Service conceded as much in Trestle Project documents: “With several other large-scale projects occurring on the [Eldorado National] Forest, it is unlikely that funding for this project will be prioritized over funding for other projects.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The Forest Service estimated timber sales would have covered about 80% of the $1.3 million cost for commercial tree thinning.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The real challenge is funding prescribed fires. Setting controlled burns under the Trestle Project would have cost about $3 million, according to project documents.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The \u003ca href=\"https://www.fs.usda.gov/sites/default/files/WCS-CommunicationAid.pdf\">bipartisan infrastructure law signed last year sets aside roughly $3 billion\u003c/a> over five years for restoring ecosystems and fuels reduction. Chief Moore called it “a shot in the arm” for future forest management projects, but said more money is required to tackle the work needed across the Western U.S. The Inflation Reduction Act plans to provide $1.8 billion to the Forest Service for hazardous fuels reduction projects.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The money can’t come soon enough.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As former district ranger Nelson put it, the agency’s inability to get work done isn’t isolated to the Trestle Project and Grizzly Flats. Across the increasingly dry and fire-prone West, he said, the Forest Service has “over-promised and under-delivered on fire mitigation — work that could have changed fire behavior on these landscapes.”\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>\u003cstrong>Climate and crews\u003c/strong>\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Forest Service employees call them “Goldilocks days” — the brief window when weather, moisture levels, personnel demands and air quality all line up so prescribed burns can be done safely. Those days are becoming increasingly rare as hotter temperatures, severe drought and erratic weather patterns become facts of everyday life.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Rogers, the current Placerville district ranger, said his unit had a prescribed burn planned for spring of 2021, months before the Caldor Fire ignited.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We had to cancel because conditions just weren’t quite right,” he said. “The historic drought conditions really cannot be overstated.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Even Goldilocks days come with an asterisk. Concerns over escaped prescribed fires have also stymied plans. \u003ca href=\"https://www.fs.usda.gov/inside-fs/leadership/chiefs-desk-reviewing-our-prescribed-fire-program\">Less than 1% of prescribed burns get out of control\u003c/a>, according to the Forest Service. But the ones that do can be devastating, creating PR nightmares and souring public support for this increasingly essential method of fuel reduction. Most recently, \u003ca href=\"https://www.nytimes.com/2022/06/21/us/new-mexico-wildfire-forest-service.html\">the Calf Canyon/Hermits Peak Fire in New Mexico, which destroyed hundreds of homes\u003c/a>, started after two Forest Service prescribed fires escaped.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Prescribed burns run amok can cause risk-aversion within the agency — from district rangers all the way to the top. Forest Service Chief Moore announced \u003ca href=\"https://www.fs.usda.gov/news/releases/statement-forest-service-chief-randy-moore-announcing-pause-prescribed-fire\">separate agency-wide prescribed burn suspensions this year\u003c/a> and \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2021/08/09/1026137249/with-extreme-fires-burning-forest-service-stops-good-fires-too\">last year\u003c/a>. Before Moore stepped in as chief, the \u003ca href=\"https://www.reuters.com/article/us-health-coronavirus-usa-wildfires/trump-administration-halts-wildfire-prevention-tool-in-california-over-coronavirus-idUSKCN21X1HD\">Trump administration had suspended the practice in California\u003c/a> in 2020.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Moore said this year’s pause only impacted “about 10%” of the agency’s planned prescribed burns, since most are done in the fall and early spring. But \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2022/07/03/1108748259/ecologists-wildfire-plans-climate-change\">many prescribed-fire experts say\u003c/a> the \u003ca href=\"https://twitter.com/lenyaqd/status/1528010302834413568?s=20&t=qpZlp7ORP7OLoyaWJ6nZow\">move is a dangerous step backward\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Then there’s the staffing problem. Setting and managing a prescribed fire requires a lot of personnel. Longer and more extreme fire seasons mean crews ping-pong from district to district and fire to fire, often remaining on the frontlines for weeks at a time with no break. That prevents them from managing prescribed burns and tackling other vegetation reduction projects in their home districts.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The Forest Service struggles to retain staff due to the untenable stress of working extreme fires and stagnant pay. President Biden vowed to improve firefighter wages, but \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2022/06/11/1103982837/federal-firefighters-waiting-for-pay-raises-they-hope-will-help-fill-their-ranks\">getting money to people on the frontlines has been a slow process\u003c/a>. After a time-consuming analysis of which regions struggled most with high vacancy rates, \u003ca href=\"https://www.usda.gov/sites/default/files/documents/interagency-faqs.pdf\">the federal government concluded\u003c/a> “it is difficult to recruit or retain wildland firefighters in every geographic area.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Lawmakers and labor unions are pushing the Forest Service to get the money out the door quickly.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Employees are living in their trucks, vans, hammocks, or are ‘couch-surfing’ while working for the Forest Service,” wrote Randy Erwin, National President of the National Federation of Federal Employees, \u003ca href=\"https://www.usda.gov/sites/default/files/documents/interagency-faqs.pdf\">in a recent letter to the heads of the USDA and the Forest Service\u003c/a>. “This is most often not by choice but out of necessity.”\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>\u003cstrong>‘We did our job’\u003c/strong>\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>The day after Grizzly Flats burned, in August of 2021, former district ranger Duane Nelson had a call to make.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>He had moved to southwestern Colorado after retiring from the Forest Service. He watched from afar as the Caldor Fire barreled through the Trestle Project area, leveled Grizzly Flats and then took off across the Eldorado National Forest.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It was hugely frustrating,” he said. “My entire ranger district basically burned up.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Frustration quickly gave way to anguish. Standing in a grocery store parking lot as shopping carts rattled by, Nelson dialed a close friend he hadn’t seen in years — Mark Almer.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“All I could say to him before I started crying was, ‘Mark, I’m so sorry,’” Nelson said. “Because I felt like we had not done all that we had hoped.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The two men had worked for years toward the same goal — protecting Grizzly Flats — on opposite sides of the Forest Service boundary.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11922603\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003ca href=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2022/08/POSTOFFICEBQ3A8073.jpg\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-11922603\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2022/08/POSTOFFICEBQ3A8073-800x534.jpg\" alt=\"An American flag flies atop a sliver pole at the corner of a cement pad covered by burnt and rusted metal. A row of burnt trees are in the background. \" width=\"800\" height=\"534\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/08/POSTOFFICEBQ3A8073-800x534.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/08/POSTOFFICEBQ3A8073-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/08/POSTOFFICEBQ3A8073-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/08/POSTOFFICEBQ3A8073-1536x1025.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/08/POSTOFFICEBQ3A8073-1920x1281.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/08/POSTOFFICEBQ3A8073.jpg 2000w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Nearly a year after the Caldor Fire, the Grizzly Flats Post Office remains a rubble pile, Aug. 4, 2022. \u003ccite>(Andrew Nixon/CapRadio)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Nelson said he’s still processing the tragedy of the Caldor Fire.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I’m not going to say I felt guilt,” he said. “We had done a lot of work trying to make that area as resilient to fire as possible. But what I did feel was remorse.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Almer placed no blame on Nelson or the Forest Service for the devastation of the Caldor Fire. He gave them credit for at least drawing up a plan to protect the community, even if the Trestle Project fell years behind schedule.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We’re neighbors, and neighbors take care of each other,” he said. “But sometimes, the best intentions don’t happen quickly.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>While the fire safe council’s efforts didn’t prevent the Caldor Fire from destroying most of Grizzly Flats, Almer views their work as a success.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“If everybody got out of here alive, then we did our job,” said Almer, noting that residents safely evacuated along routes cleared by the council. “People can rebuild — people can replace their stuff. But you can’t replace somebody’s life.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Wara, the Stanford climate policy expert, marveled at the council’s dedication and handiwork after a recent trip to Grizzly Flats.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I was driving those roads and said, how did no one get killed in this fire?” he recalled. “How is it that everyone got out? And the answer is, the community invested.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11922604\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\" style=\"max-width: 480px\">\u003ca href=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2022/08/EVACUTATIONNOTEPHOTOIMG_6314-e1660605153170.jpg\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-11922604\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2022/08/EVACUTATIONNOTEPHOTOIMG_6314-e1660605153170.jpg\" alt='A white piece of paper taped on a door reads: \"Evacuated 8-16, 22:18 hours.' width=\"480\" height=\"390\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/08/EVACUTATIONNOTEPHOTOIMG_6314-e1660605153170.jpg 480w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/08/EVACUTATIONNOTEPHOTOIMG_6314-e1660605153170-160x130.jpg 160w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 480px) 100vw, 480px\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A note Mark Almer left taped to the front door of his home on Aug. 16, 2021. \u003ccite>(Courtesy Mark Almer)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Almer’s home survived a flurry of embers, some the size of baseballs. He spent 12 weeks in a Sacramento hotel with his wife and six cats, waiting to return to a barely recognizable neighborhood.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Others in the community, including residents who lost everything in the fire, are more critical of the Forest Service. In interviews, some laid blame at the agency’s feet.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“They did predict it, and they knew it was going to happen,” said Grant Ingram, a retired firefighter who now owns a fire-mapping business. The local fire district commissioned him to examine what happened before, during and after the Caldor Fire.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“If it’s predictable,” he added, “it’s preventable.”\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>\u003cstrong>Uncertain future\u003c/strong>\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Today, Grizzly Flats is stuck in a negotiation between devastation and recovery. One of the only green trees left in town isn’t a tree at all. It’s a rehabbed cell tower, covered with fake green boughs, across the street from where the Community Church once stood. The tower’s vibrant color contrasts with the remaining real trees, all of them burned like a forest of spent match sticks.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Up the road, a confused twister of scorched mail carts and collapsed P.O. boxes is all that’s left of the post office. An American flag flies above the rubble. In the parking lot, a couple of charred four-by-fours support a blackened crossbeam — the only remnants of the community bulletin board built by the Grizzly Flats Fire Safe Council over a decade ago.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>While a few wood frames have gone up where homes once stood, it’s unclear how many Caldor Fire survivors will return to Grizzly Flats. Many are looking at homes elsewhere, ready for a new beginning.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Kathy Melvin, the longtime fire safe council member, lost her home. She recently purchased a new one in the suburbs of Sacramento. She’s holding onto her land in Grizzly Flats, maybe for her children to rebuild one day.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11922635\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003ca href=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2022/08/DIAZBQ3A8301.jpg\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-11922635\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2022/08/DIAZBQ3A8301-800x534.jpg\" alt=\"A man with light skin, black hair and a black beard sits on the foundation of a home being built. He's sitting in a doorway, framed walls rising beside him. He's wearing a blue short-sleeved shirt with narrow white stripes and blue jeans. \" width=\"800\" height=\"534\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/08/DIAZBQ3A8301-800x534.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/08/DIAZBQ3A8301-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/08/DIAZBQ3A8301-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/08/DIAZBQ3A8301-1536x1025.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/08/DIAZBQ3A8301-1920x1281.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/08/DIAZBQ3A8301.jpg 2000w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Victor Diaz sits on the foundation of the new home he is building to replace his home lost in the Caldor Fire, Aug. 4, 2022. \u003ccite>(Andrew Nixon/CapRadio)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Victor Diaz, who escaped with his wife and six kids after Almer called and told him to evacuate, also lost his house. The entire family has been living in an RV since winter, next to where their new home is being built.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11922611\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003ca href=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2022/08/DIAZFAMILYBQ3A8203.jpg\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-11922611\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2022/08/DIAZFAMILYBQ3A8203-800x534.jpg\" alt=\"A man and his wife with their six children and in front of an RV where they live. The family has light brown skin and dark hair. The children range in age from 5 to 11. They wear jeans with t-shirts in blue, white, or pink.\" width=\"800\" height=\"534\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/08/DIAZFAMILYBQ3A8203-800x534.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/08/DIAZFAMILYBQ3A8203-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/08/DIAZFAMILYBQ3A8203-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/08/DIAZFAMILYBQ3A8203-1536x1025.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/08/DIAZFAMILYBQ3A8203-1920x1281.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/08/DIAZFAMILYBQ3A8203.jpg 2000w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Victor Diaz and his wife, Safiro, pose with their children (left to right), Anna, 5; Gabriel, 6; Esteban, 8; Adaia, 13; Daila, 11; and Sofia, 2, outside their RV they all share as a home, Aug. 4, 2022. \u003ccite>(Andrew Nixon/CapRadio)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>On a warm afternoon in late July, Almer stood on his fire-resilient deck and talked about a bright future for his town — even if it’s a distant one. He’s continuing to lead the fire safe council. And he’s optimistic that Grizzly Flats will eventually get a new community center; \u003ca href=\"https://eldoradocf.org\">the nonprofit El Dorado Community Foundation\u003c/a> has already raised at least a quarter million dollars toward the effort.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The community will never look the way it did before the fire in our lifetime,” he said. “We know that the community will come back — how quickly and in what form, we’re not quite sure.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11922612\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003ca href=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2022/08/REBUILTBQ3A8440.jpg\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-11922612\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2022/08/REBUILTBQ3A8440-800x534.jpg\" alt=\"A view through a window from inside a home being built. The view shows a tent in the foreground and a trailer in the background, with burnt trees and patches of green growing from the burnt ground.\" width=\"800\" height=\"534\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/08/REBUILTBQ3A8440-800x534.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/08/REBUILTBQ3A8440-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/08/REBUILTBQ3A8440-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/08/REBUILTBQ3A8440-1536x1025.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/08/REBUILTBQ3A8440-1920x1281.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/08/REBUILTBQ3A8440.jpg 2000w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A tent and RV can be seen from a home being rebuilt after the Caldor Fire, Aug. 4, 2022. \u003ccite>(Andrew Nixon/CapRadio)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Almer has already started the rebuilding process, fixing the things within his reach. He replaced the wood fence along his property that burned in the fire and the storage unit that holds cords of wood.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But some things he won’t replace. Pointing down at his deck, he called attention to several dark spots caused by scorching embers.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We have spare pieces of decking,” he said. “I haven’t wanted to change it out, because it’s a reminder how fortunate we are.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>The California Newsroom is a collaboration of California public radio stations, NPR and CalMatters.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n",
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"excerpt": "A nine-month investigation by CapRadio and The California Newsroom, a public media collaboration, found that the Forest Service's plan to protect Grizzly Flats fell far short.\r\n",
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"title": "Stalled US Forest Service Project Could Have Protected California Town From Caldor Fire Destruction | KQED",
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"headline": "Stalled US Forest Service Project Could Have Protected California Town From Caldor Fire Destruction",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>Before the Caldor Fire sparked one year ago this week — before its 150-foot flames devoured century-old ponderosa pines in California’s Sierra Nevada, and before it destroyed more than 400 of the 600 homes in Grizzly Flats — Mark Almer had a plan.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The 60-year-old retired fire inspector had spent over a decade fireproofing his Grizzly Flats home, trading wood deck boards for composite material and replacing traditional siding with a protective cement shell.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Hardening the home is huge,” he said. “But it’s just one piece of the puzzle.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Almer had an even bigger plan to protect his community.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>For more than a decade, he’s led the Grizzly Flats Fire Safe Council, a group of two-dozen volunteers that raised money for wildfire mitigation projects, educated the town’s roughly 1,400 residents about defensible space and regularly gathered local, state and federal fire officials to help improve their fire response plan.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The Caldor Fire would be the council’s ultimate test.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11922564\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003ca href=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2022/08/ALMERBQ3A8396.jpg\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-11922564\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2022/08/ALMERBQ3A8396-800x534.jpg\" alt='A man with pale skin wearing a light sage t-shirt and SF Giants ball cap stands in front of a light blue home with white painted wood railing and steps leading to the front door. A round logo on his shirt reads \"hashtag Grizzly Flats Strong\" over an image of trees and a mountain.' width=\"800\" height=\"534\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/08/ALMERBQ3A8396-800x534.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/08/ALMERBQ3A8396-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/08/ALMERBQ3A8396-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/08/ALMERBQ3A8396-1536x1025.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/08/ALMERBQ3A8396-1920x1281.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/08/ALMERBQ3A8396.jpg 2000w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Mark Almer poses outside his Grizzly Flats home on Thursday, Aug. 4, 2022. \u003ccite>(Andrew Nixon/CapRadio)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>On August 16, 2021, two days after the fire ignited, gusty winds pushed the flames out like billowing sails, spreading across thousands of acres overloaded with shrubs and trees in the neighboring Eldorado National Forest.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Almer and his wife didn’t grab much on their way out the door. Their six cats, corralled into six crates, took up most of the car space.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>He was more concerned about making sure everyone else in the community got out safely. Before the official evacuation order came, Almer called his next door neighbor, Victor Diaz.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I thought we still had time,” Diaz said in a recent interview.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But Almer’s voice indicated otherwise. An even-keeled speaker with a clean vocabulary, Almer barked his warning with a rare four-letter word that Diaz declined to repeat.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“You need to get the beep out,” Diaz recalled.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11922598\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003ca href=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2022/08/Flames-Photo-scaled.jpeg\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-11922598\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2022/08/Flames-Photo-800x600.jpeg\" alt=\"Dark orange and red glow through the silhouette of burnt trees and branches. Yellow and white flames are visible on a distant ridge through the forest, with white hotspots in the foreground.\" width=\"800\" height=\"600\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/08/Flames-Photo-800x600.jpeg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/08/Flames-Photo-1020x765.jpeg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/08/Flames-Photo-160x120.jpeg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/08/Flames-Photo-1536x1152.jpeg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/08/Flames-Photo-2048x1536.jpeg 2048w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/08/Flames-Photo-1920x1440.jpeg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">The Caldor Fire burns south of Grizzly Flats on Aug. 15, 2021. \u003ccite>(Courtesy Eric Henton)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Diaz, his wife, their six kids and the family dog raced down Grizzly Flat Road in a two-car caravan, leaving behind the fire’s red glow and the home they’d never see again.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Many residents knew this day might come. At a community meeting in the early 2000s, the U.S. Forest Service, with chilling foresight, had warned that a wildfire mirroring the Caldor Fire’s burn progression could easily wipe Grizzly Flats off the map.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In the years that followed, the Forest Service took steps to prevent such a catastrophe. But a nine-month investigation by CapRadio and The California Newsroom, a public media collaboration, found that the Forest Service’s plan to protect Grizzly Flats fell far short:\u003c/p>\n\u003cul>\n\u003cli>After the community meeting, the Forest Service took a decade to announce a comprehensive 15,000-acre forest management and fire mitigation plan, called the Trestle Forest Health Project. It aimed to “reduce the threat of large high intensity wildfire and threats to Grizzly Flat[s]” and other nearby landowners by removing excess brush and vegetation that fuel increasingly devastating wildfires, according to project documents.\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>The Forest Service originally committed to finishing the Trestle Project by 2020 — a year before the Caldor Fire would later ignite. Due to a complex web of regulatory delays, logistical challenges and resource shortages, the agency pushed back the completion date to as late as 2032 — three decades after its initial warning to Grizzly Flats.\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>The Forest Service’s data overstated Trestle Project accomplishments, claiming the agency completed work on at least 24% of the project before the Caldor Fire. \u003ca href=\"https://www.capradio.org/grizzly-flats-methodology\">Original analysis of corrected Forest Service data provided by the agency shows only 14% completion\u003c/a>. The agency confirmed the inaccurate information had been online for more than a month; it updated its database less than a week before publication of this story.\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>The corrected data also suggests that in the decade-and-a-half leading up to the Caldor Fire, the Forest Service completed 15,000 acres of fuel reduction work within a five-mile buffer around Grizzly Flats — coincidentally, the same number of planned acres in the Trestle Project. However, the actual coverage of that work was limited to 5,800 acres because of the agency’s decades-long and highly criticized practice of counting repeat treatments on the same parcel. Furthermore, the majority of that work occurred several miles from the town’s border.\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>The Forest Service failed to complete sections of the Trestle Project along the southern border of Grizzly Flats, identified as “first priority” due to the area’s susceptibility to wildfire. Instead, the agency prioritized removing trees — often far from the town’s borders and not a part of the “first priority” area — that generate revenue.\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>Despite more than five requests, the Forest Service failed to provide complete data on its national wildland fire management budget, citing a recent data transfer in which it lost some information from the past two decades. The agency also could not provide similar budget information at the regional and forest level, saying numerous changes to the budget structure and process over the last 20 years made retrieving the data especially difficult and would render any analysis “incomparable.”\u003c/li>\n\u003c/ul>\n\u003cp>\u003c!-- iframe plugin v.4.3 wordpress.org/plugins/iframe/ -->\u003cbr>\n\u003ciframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https://projects.capradio.org/grizzly-flats-forest-management\" style=\"border: 0px #FFFFFF none;\" name=\"myiFrame\" scrolling=\"no\" marginheight=\"0px\" marginwidth=\"0px\" allowfullscreen width=\"100%\" height=\"700px\" class=\"iframe-class\" frameborder=\"0\">\u003c/iframe>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Agency leaders say a slew of hurdles stood in the way of the project’s completion: limited funding, pushback from environmentalists and fewer opportunities to complete essential prescribed burns due to staff shortages and climate change.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I am committed to doing everything I possibly can to mitigate [wildfire risks] on our landscapes,” said Forest Service Chief Randy Moore in an interview.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>When asked if his agency bears any responsibility for the devastation in Grizzly Flats as a result of the stalled Trestle Project, he cited financial constraints.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I mean, do[es] anybody bear any responsibility for not having the budget to do the work that we need to do?”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.fs.usda.gov/detailfull/r5/home/?cid=stelprdb5289758&width=full\">The Eldorado National Forest falls under the Forest Service’s Pacific Southwest Region\u003c/a>, which Moore led from 2007 to July 2021, when he was appointed chief by President Joe Biden’s administration. He assumed office just a few weeks before the Caldor Fire ignited. Moore declined multiple opportunities to say whether completing the Trestle Project would have resulted in a different outcome in Grizzly Flats.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11922570\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003ca href=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2022/08/MOORE51419974631_abd86cdfe9_o-scaled-e1660598505892.jpg\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-11922570\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2022/08/MOORE51419974631_abd86cdfe9_o-scaled-e1660598505892-800x752.jpg\" alt=\"An image of a man with coffee skin and short-cropped hair, wearing a black uniform with a forest service patch on the arm, in front of an American flag and a U.S. Forest Service flag. The first service flag is dark green with an orange logo .\" width=\"800\" height=\"752\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/08/MOORE51419974631_abd86cdfe9_o-scaled-e1660598505892-800x752.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/08/MOORE51419974631_abd86cdfe9_o-scaled-e1660598505892-1020x959.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/08/MOORE51419974631_abd86cdfe9_o-scaled-e1660598505892-160x150.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/08/MOORE51419974631_abd86cdfe9_o-scaled-e1660598505892-1536x1445.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/08/MOORE51419974631_abd86cdfe9_o-scaled-e1660598505892-1920x1806.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/08/MOORE51419974631_abd86cdfe9_o-scaled-e1660598505892.jpg 2048w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">United States Department of Agriculture Forest Service Chief Randy Moore on Aug. 25, 2021. \u003ccite>(Tom Witham/USDA)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“I’m not really sure why we keep talking about that question,” he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>After reviewing this investigation’s findings, a dozen sources — including wildfire experts, career firefighters, former Forest Service officials and residents — said they believe Grizzly Flats would have stood a better chance of surviving the Caldor Fire if the Trestle Project had been completed.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Among the sources was one of the project’s key architects, former Eldorado National Forest District Ranger Duane Nelson.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“There would have been a very high probability that Grizzly Flats would not have burned in the Caldor Fire” if the Forest Service completed the Trestle Project, Nelson, 67, said in an interview. “It could’ve meant survival.”\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>\u003cstrong>An early warning\u003c/strong>\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>On a chilly day this past March, Almer sat in his idling white Toyota Tundra pickup next to where the Grizzly Flats Community Church once stood. The small yellow chapel bordered by white picket fencing had vanished, along with most of the community, in the Caldor Fire’s wake. From the driver’s seat, Almer observed rows of charred metal chairs facing an absent pulpit.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It’s kind of eerie,” he remarked, “as if they were still ready to accept parishioners.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11922572\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003ca href=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2022/08/Community-Church-After-Fire-scaled.jpg\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-11922572\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2022/08/Community-Church-After-Fire-800x360.jpg\" alt=\"A burnt tree trunk lies crossways over the image on a forest floor white with ash. In the background, tall burnt tree trunks and branches spread across the image.\" width=\"800\" height=\"360\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/08/Community-Church-After-Fire-800x360.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/08/Community-Church-After-Fire-1020x459.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/08/Community-Church-After-Fire-160x72.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/08/Community-Church-After-Fire-1536x692.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/08/Community-Church-After-Fire-2048x922.jpg 2048w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/08/Community-Church-After-Fire-1920x865.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">The remains of the Grizzly Flats Community Church after the Caldor Fire, Sept. 2021. \u003ccite>(Courtesy Bill Brown)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>The church is where local Forest Service officials, in the early 2000s, held their town meeting to warn residents about wildfires. Grizzly Flats is surrounded on three sides by the Eldorado National Forest; the agency acknowledged that a devastating fire would likely rip across federal land before reaching town. Using a PowerPoint to show fire modeling scenarios, they gamed out all the ways Grizzly Flats could go up in smoke.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It was important for us to start talking to people and make sure that they had the information that we had about what our models were showing,” said Kathy Hardy, a former district ranger who attended the meeting.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>One scenario showed what would happen if the fire started a few miles south of town in the Eldorado National Forest, close to where the Caldor Fire would ignite years later.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The modeling said that it would take out Grizzly Flats within about 24 hours,” Almer recently recalled. “Well, 20 years later, that’s pretty much exactly what happened.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The Forest Service has not provided records related to the meeting in response to a Freedom of Information Act request filed in December 2021.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As Forest Service officials flipped through presentation slides, residents shifted uncomfortably in their metal chairs. This was a town that had just installed its first all-way stop sign. The Grizzly Pines School had recently earned a Distinguished School Award from the California Department of Education despite having only 36 students. The place, in many ways, was idyllic — so remotely located and so small that it had no grocery store, no gas station, no diner, not even a local bar. Now, the Forest Service was telling them, with data to back it up, that their town and their lives sat in Mother Nature’s crosshairs.\u003c/p>\n\u003cdiv class=\"mceTemp\">\u003c/div>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11922588\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003ca href=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2022/08/WALTERTYLERDSCF2225.jpg\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-11922588\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2022/08/WALTERTYLERDSCF2225-800x533.jpg\" alt=\"A huge heap of burnt metal, pipes and ashy detritus fill the foreground, with a pocket of flames still burning. In the background is the metal scaffolding of a children's playground with slide and swingset. In the far left background are some ashy green trees.\" width=\"800\" height=\"533\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/08/WALTERTYLERDSCF2225-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/08/WALTERTYLERDSCF2225-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/08/WALTERTYLERDSCF2225-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/08/WALTERTYLERDSCF2225-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/08/WALTERTYLERDSCF2225-1920x1280.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/08/WALTERTYLERDSCF2225.jpg 2000w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A gas leak burns the day after the Caldor Fire hit Walter Tyler Elementary School in Grizzly Flats, Aug. 17, 2021. \u003ccite>(Andrew Nixon/CapRadio)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003ch2>\u003cstrong>Two fire plans, two timelines\u003c/strong>\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Grizzly Flats wasn’t the only town in peril. For years, the federal government had been wringing its hands over the nation’s growing wildfire crisis. \u003ca href=\"https://www.nifc.gov/fire-information/statistics/wildfires\">In 2000, wildfires burned over 7 million acres across the country\u003c/a> — a stunning total at the time, and a harbinger for even worse years to come.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In response, the U.S. Department of Agriculture and Department of the Interior — the agencies that managed much of the land that had been scorched — developed a \u003ca href=\"https://www.fs.fed.us/database/budgetoffice/NFP_final32601.pdf\">National Fire Plan\u003c/a>. It emphasized forest management and fuel reduction as key preventive measures. Methods traditionally used by the federal government include commercial thinning (cutting some trees to be sold as timber or wood pellets), removing brush with heavy machinery (a process known as mastication), and prescribed burning (intentionally setting lower-intensity fires that benefit the landscape).\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>To figure out where to put its resources, the Forest Service — which operates under the USDA — helped compile \u003ca href=\"https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2001/08/17/01-20592/urban-wildland-interface-communities-within-the-vicinity-of-federal-lands-that-are-at-high-risk-from#citation-1-p43384\">a list of communities nationwide at “high risk from wildfire.”\u003c/a> It included thousands of communities, identified primarily for being in the “wildland-urban interface” or WUI, a term used to describe the intersection of developed land and the natural environment.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Buried on the list was “Grizzly Flat.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>(The town, throughout history, has been referred to as “Grizzly Flat” and “Grizzly Flats.” The latter is more common.)\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Shortly after the Forest Service’s cautionary meeting at the local church, Almer and two-dozen other residents formed the Grizzly Flats Fire Safe Council. They set up an informational phone line, installed a nine-foot community bulletin board at the post office and started an adopt-a-hydrant program, which got residents to shovel out hydrants after snowstorms.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11922590\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003ca href=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2022/08/GFFSC-BBQ-2018.jpeg\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-11922590\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2022/08/GFFSC-BBQ-2018-800x533.jpeg\" alt=\"People sit eating and talking at long tables covered with red or orange tablecloths. Strings of lights are overhead, with dark green trees in the background. Vases of fresh orange, yellow and white flowers adorn the tables.\" width=\"800\" height=\"533\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/08/GFFSC-BBQ-2018-800x533.jpeg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/08/GFFSC-BBQ-2018-1020x680.jpeg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/08/GFFSC-BBQ-2018-160x107.jpeg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/08/GFFSC-BBQ-2018-1536x1024.jpeg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/08/GFFSC-BBQ-2018.jpeg 1824w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">The Grizzly Flats Fire Safe Council holds its 14th annual barbecue, July 21, 2018. \u003ccite>(Courtesy Grizzly Flats Fire Safe Council)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>The council served as an essential community thread in the simple quilt of Grizzly Flats.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“There was no government, there was no mayor,” said Kathy Melvin, 78, who joined the council in 2007. “There was just the fire safe council, the church and the school. Everything kind of revolved around those entities because we didn’t have anything else.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Within a couple years of its founding, the council commissioned its own community wildfire protection plan. The 74-page document laid out plans to clear evacuation routes and assist residents with defensible space around homes.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It also proposed a series of fuel-reduction projects, including an ambitious “shaded fuel break” in the shape of a horseshoe around Grizzly Flats. Shaded fuel breaks remove ground vegetation to reduce wildfire intensity and provide a staging area for firefighters. The horseshoe covered the east, north and west sides of town; the community was banking on the Forest Service to tackle fuel reduction work along the southern border to complete the protective buffer.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11922589\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\" style=\"max-width: 631px\">\u003ca href=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2022/08/2006-GFFSC-shaded-fuel-break-plan.png\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-11922589\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2022/08/2006-GFFSC-shaded-fuel-break-plan.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"631\" height=\"466\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/08/2006-GFFSC-shaded-fuel-break-plan.png 631w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/08/2006-GFFSC-shaded-fuel-break-plan-160x118.png 160w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 631px) 100vw, 631px\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A 2006 map of the Grizzly Flats Fire Safe Council’s planned fuel breaks around three sides of the community. \u003ccite>(Courtesy Grizzly Flats Fire Safe Council)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>The plan would cost millions of dollars, and the council raised money however it could. An area couple hosted 150 people at their home for a wine tasting under paper lanterns and summer stars. The council held annual barbecues. What money it couldn’t raise, it made up for with grants.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The efforts paid off. Over the next 15 years, the fire safe council cleared more than 1,500 acres of fire-prone vegetation around town, completing almost all of the horseshoe fuel break at a cost of nearly $2 million. \u003ca href=\"https://www.iafc.org/press-releases/press-release/partnership-announces-2018-wildfire-mitigation-awardees\">The council even earned national recognition for its productivity and wildfire mitigation work\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2022/08/GFFSC-BBQ-2018.jpeg\"> \u003c/a>Meanwhile, most of the Forest Service land to the south of Grizzly Flats remained dense and overgrown — a reminder to residents that their community was dangerously exposed.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>\u003cstrong>‘Big, hairy, audacious goal’\u003c/strong>\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>As a district ranger in the Eldorado National Forest, Duane Nelson started each day with a clean, pressed uniform and aimed to clock out with dirty shirtsleeves and muddy boots.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I wasn’t going to just be a ranger sitting in the office behind a computer all the time,” he said. “I made a promise to myself that I would be out looking at projects, checking up on crews or going by fire stations.”\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>His 38-year career in the Forest Service can be traced to a childhood vacation to the Rocky Mountains. Sitting in the back of his family’s faux wood-paneled Ford Country Squire, he watched hours of hypnotic prairielands roll by. All of a sudden, purple mountaintops pierced the horizon, surrounded by timber canyons.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It’s an image that’s been in my head ever since,” he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Nelson earned a degree in forestry and left his Midwest roots behind, preferring the mountains and conifer forests of Northern California.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>When he took over as the Eldorado National Forest’s Placerville District Ranger in 2007, he didn’t like what he saw. The majority of his district was dense, dry and prone to catastrophic wildfires — especially around Grizzly Flats.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A few years before Nelson arrived, the district had thinned and burned 1,000 acres to the south of Grizzly Flats, including areas along the town’s southern border. But other fuel reduction efforts were scattered and piecemeal, often deep in woods and miles from town.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>So Nelson devised what he called a “big, hairy, audacious goal.” He wanted to reduce forest congestion across his entire district.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11922592\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003ca href=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2022/08/Nelson_2.jpg\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-11922592\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2022/08/Nelson_2-800x600.jpg\" alt=\"A man with pale skin wearing a white hardhat, yellow shirt and black pants stands on a cleared area of soil and green grasses, with trees and white smoke in the background. He carries a map and wears a pack at the small of his back and a walkie talkie in front.\" width=\"800\" height=\"600\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/08/Nelson_2-800x600.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/08/Nelson_2-1020x765.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/08/Nelson_2-160x120.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/08/Nelson_2.jpg 1280w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Duane Nelson, former Placerville district ranger, during an annual live fire training in the late 2000s near Grizzly Flats. \u003ccite>(Courtesy Duane Nelson)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>To do that, he said, “We needed to reverse this massive fuels accumulation that had developed over 100 years of overly aggressive fire suppression.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Before the advent of modern firefighting, naturally occurring fires served the important role of balancing ecosystems and preventing the accumulation of fuels. For millennia, indigenous communities set fire to forests and wildlands for a variety of reasons, including hunting and cultural practices, which also kept the land in check. But according to fire ecologists and historians, the federal government’s century-long practice of snuffing out every wildfire, instead of letting them perform their natural role on the landscape, has left forests overloaded. Combined with hotter, drier conditions caused by climate change, the heavy fuel loads are spurring bigger, more destructive blazes.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Nelson helped devise the Trestle Project as a big step toward his goal. It would create a miles-wide fuel reduction buffer east and south of Grizzly Flats.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>When the Forest Service finally announced the project in 2013, the agency sent a letter to residents describing 16,000 acres of planned work. (A miscalculation led to the document overstating the work by nearly 1,000 acres. The actual number was just over 15,000.) It laid out an expeditious — and optimistic — timeline. The analysis was supposed to take about a year, with the forest management work scheduled to wrap up by 2020.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Almost immediately the project encountered an onslaught of hurdles and delays.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It’s sad to think about what could have been,” said Michael Wara, a \u003ca href=\"https://twitter.com/MichaelWWara/status/1541784173047709696?s=20&t=NPO1IzD-aF1yaQXcj4-mFg\">climate policy expert at Stanford University who recently toured Grizzly Flats\u003c/a>. “[If] all this work was done by 2020, Grizzly Flats might still be there.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11922636\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003ca href=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2022/08/GATEDSCF2157.jpg\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-11922636\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2022/08/GATEDSCF2157-800x533.jpg\" alt=\"Thick stands of burnt trees with ashen branches line a red dirt road. A metal gate bars the road. White smoke hangs in the air. \" width=\"800\" height=\"533\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/08/GATEDSCF2157-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/08/GATEDSCF2157-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/08/GATEDSCF2157-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/08/GATEDSCF2157-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/08/GATEDSCF2157-1920x1280.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/08/GATEDSCF2157.jpg 2000w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Grizzly Flats, Aug. 17, 2021. \u003ccite>(Andrew Nixon/CapRadio)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003ch2>\u003cstrong>‘We don’t have that kind of time any longer’\u003c/strong>\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>One of the most aggressive objections to the Trestle Project came from Chad Hanson, co-founder of the John Muir Project, a nonprofit that aims to protect biodiversity in national forests and fiercely opposes tree removal. One of Hanson’s primary concerns was the spotted owl, which is designated as “threatened” under the Endangered Species Act.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In a written objection to the Forest Service in 2015, Hanson argued the Trestle Project would “pose a serious and unacceptable threat to owl populations on the Eldorado National Forest.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Elsewhere, \u003ca href=\"https://www.nytimes.com/2022/07/30/opinion/california-wildfires-oak-fire-yosemite-sequoias.html\">Hanson has argued that commercial tree removal could exacerbate wildfire intensity\u003c/a>. Leading fire scientists have publicly pushed back against a number of Hanson’s claims; \u003ca href=\"https://www.sacbee.com/news/california/fires/article254957722.html\">one expert even called his positions “self-serving garbage.”\u003c/a>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The project’s 296-page environmental impact statement devoted dozens of pages to analyzing potential impacts on the spotted owl. The report also invited public comment that demanded thoroughly researched responses from the Forest Service. The agency developed alternative maps, taking into account spotted owls and sensitive species of frog and trout.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The Forest Service also put out other reports, including \u003ca href=\"https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/22131479-fuels-and-fire-analysis-trestle-forest-health-project\">one that identified a likely ignition point very close to where the Caldor Fire would later start\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As the Forest Service spun out reams of paperwork, Almer reminded the agency that Grizzly Flats remained woefully exposed to wildfires that were growing more severe every year.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The most aggressive treatment of the [Trestle Project’s] fire fuels is critical to preventing the ‘loss of our community,’” wrote Almer in a 2015 public comment about the project on behalf of the Grizzly Flats Fire Safe Council. “Everything that can be done, must be done.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>He followed up this plea with a 2017 letter addressed to Randy Moore, who at the time led the agency’s Pacific Southwest Region.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11922594\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003ca href=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2022/08/Almer-letter-to-Moore-with-page-tear.png\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-11922594\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2022/08/Almer-letter-to-Moore-with-page-tear-800x491.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"491\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/08/Almer-letter-to-Moore-with-page-tear-800x491.png 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/08/Almer-letter-to-Moore-with-page-tear-160x98.png 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/08/Almer-letter-to-Moore-with-page-tear.png 822w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Mark Almer sent a letter to then-regional forester Randy Moore, imploring the Forest Service to quickly and thoroughly tackle the Trestle Project in order to protect Grizzly Flats, May 12, 2017. \u003ccite>(US Forest Service)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“Maximum treatment must be given to the defense and threat zones abutting Grizzly Flats … to prevent spot fires from a wildland fire igniting homes within the community,” Almer wrote in his letter.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In an interview, Moore said he did not recall the letter from Almer. The threat Grizzly Flats faced “is not unique,” he said. “I can tell you that that’s going to be common for a number of communities all across the West.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The Forest Service acknowledges that its regulatory approval process for desperately needed forest management projects can be a slog. But trying to streamline it is a delicate balance.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As Scot Rogers, the current Placerville district ranger, said in an interview, it’s essential that “the American public has an opportunity to engage in the management of their lands.” But, he added, “That doesn’t necessarily mean that we need to get lost in a sea of analysis and unable to actually execute these projects — because we don’t have that kind of time any longer.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The Trestle Project wasn’t approved until late 2017, more than four years after its announcement and more than a decade after the agency called the initial meeting at the church.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But by that time Duane Nelson, one of the project’s main architects, was gone. Burnout had set in, exacerbated by persistent staffing shortages. Sleepless nights left his nerves shot.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“If it’s hot, dry and windy, rangers don’t sleep,” he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Nelson retired in early 2017, a year before he’d originally planned. Before submitting his notice, he took a drive through his district, following the backroads that bisected dense tree stands. He wanted to see the condition of the forest before making his official decision. Driving through the Trestle Project area, he envisioned the southern border of Grizzly Flats cleared of brush and returned to something like its natural condition after prescribed burning.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We had done a lot of good things,” he said, reflecting on his retirement. “But there was still a lot of work that needed to be done.”\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>\u003cstrong>Stalled out\u003c/strong>\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Over the next four years, the Forest Service completed only a fraction of the Trestle Project.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It called for fuel reduction across more than 15,000 acres of land around Grizzly Flats, but completed work on just over 2,000 of those acres.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11922595\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003ca href=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2022/08/CELLBQ3A8103.jpg\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-11922595\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2022/08/CELLBQ3A8103-800x534.jpg\" alt=\"A cell phone tower is disguised as a tree with green branches of the same length sticking out on all sides. It's the only thing in the landscape that isn't charred and blackened. \" width=\"800\" height=\"534\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/08/CELLBQ3A8103-800x534.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/08/CELLBQ3A8103-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/08/CELLBQ3A8103-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/08/CELLBQ3A8103-1536x1025.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/08/CELLBQ3A8103-1920x1281.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/08/CELLBQ3A8103.jpg 2000w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A cellphone tower disguised as a tree is the only green ‘tree’ near the center of Grizzly Flats, Aug. 4, 2022. \u003ccite>(Andrew Nixon/CapRadio)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Prescribed fire, considered crucial by fire scientists, was nowhere to be found. The project called for more than 10,000 acres of intentional low-intensity fire, but the agency only completed 136 acres of “pile burns,” the process of collecting and burning logs and vegetation that is widely considered much less impactful.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The agency instead prioritized commercial tree thinning, which generates revenue that offsets costs.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Generally, commercial thinning and other treatments designed to reduce fuel loads are a necessary precursor to prescribed fires, according to Rogers.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Largely, we’re not going to be able to put fire on the ground before that work is completed,” he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But Trestle Project reports and Forest Service data show the vast majority of the planned prescribed fire was intended as the first treatment.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Wildfire researchers and former Forest Service officials say it’s disappointing the agency would focus on commercial thinning over other forms of treatment.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The evidence that commercial thinning really reduces risk is not that good,” said Wara, the Stanford climate policy expert. “If you thin and then burn in an area, then you get dramatic risk reduction.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Meanwhile, areas adjacent to the community that the Forest Service identified as “first priority” were left untouched and overgrown. One stands out: The highly overgrown — and highly combustible — southern border, which would have dovetailed with the buffer zone that Mark Almer and the Grizzly Flats Fire Safe Council worked on for over a decade.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The part that didn’t get treated was the part we should have been most worried about,” said Hugh Safford, who spent two decades as the Forest Service’s senior ecologist in California before retiring in late 2021.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The steep, dense and dry south-facing terrain made it one of the more complicated parts of the project, but also the most essential, Safford noted.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11922580\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003ca href=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2022/08/Flames-Photo-2-scaled.jpeg\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-11922580\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2022/08/Flames-Photo-2-800x600.jpeg\" alt=\"White-yellow flames and an orange sky show through shadows of burnt trees. The flames and colors and reflected in a stream to the lower left of the image. A dark embankment is in the center right of the image.\" width=\"800\" height=\"600\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/08/Flames-Photo-2-800x600.jpeg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/08/Flames-Photo-2-1020x765.jpeg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/08/Flames-Photo-2-160x120.jpeg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/08/Flames-Photo-2-1536x1152.jpeg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/08/Flames-Photo-2-2048x1536.jpeg 2048w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/08/Flames-Photo-2-1920x1440.jpeg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">The Caldor Fire burns south of Grizzly Flats on Aug. 15, 2021. \u003ccite>(Courtesy Eric Henton)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Melvin, the longtime fire safe council member, lived on the south end of Grizzly Flats and shared a property line with the Forest Service for nearly four decades. Her house was among the first in town to face the Caldor Fire’s wrath.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>She took defensible space seriously, clearing shrubs “down to the dirt” before every fire season. By contrast, she said, the nearby Forest Service land remained overgrown with trees, brush and highly flammable mountain misery shrubs.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Melvin kept her expectations about the Trestle Project in check.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The history of the Forest Service, in the time that we lived there, was that everything took forever,” she said. “I wish they had done more.”\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>\u003cstrong>No money, no mitigation\u003c/strong>\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>In a series of interviews, Forest Service officials offered an array of reasons why efforts like the Trestle Project face delays and are sometimes not completed.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>At the top of the list: money.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Let’s not make any bones about this,” said Chief Moore in an interview. “We do not have the funding to do the level of work that needs to be done out there.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Compared to the soaring costs of preparing for and fighting wildfire, spending on hazardous fuels reduction has barely increased over the last 15 years when adjusted for inflation, according to incomplete data provided by the agency.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That doesn’t mean all projects struggle to secure funding. From 2008 to 2019, a partnership of private organizations and government agencies, including the Forest Service, pulled together $150 million and \u003ca href=\"https://tahoe.ca.gov/wp-content/uploads/sites/257/2019/08/Lake-Tahoe-Basin-Forest-Action-Plan.pdf\">tackled 57,000 acres of fuel reduction around Lake Tahoe, not far from Grizzly Flats\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Chief Moore \u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wYttPaT6a0U\">lauded those efforts around Tahoe during testimony before Congress in March\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c!-- iframe plugin v.4.3 wordpress.org/plugins/iframe/ -->\u003cbr>\n\u003ciframe loading=\"lazy\" width=\"800\" height=\"530\" src=\"https://www.c-span.org/video/standalone/?518626-1/house-hearing-wildfire-management\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\" frameborder=\"0\" scrolling=\"yes\" class=\"iframe-class\">\u003c/iframe>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Last year, the Caldor Fire in California blew right through scattered small treatments on the Eldorado National Forest,” he testified, “then hit an area of treatment at-scale on the Lake Tahoe Basin Management Unit.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The work, he said, allowed firefighters to engage with the Caldor Fire and keep it “from burning into South Lake Tahoe.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The Forest Service repeatedly declined to — or could not — provide basic budget information for the agency’s nationwide wildfire management work, the Pacific Southwest Region and the Eldorado National Forest. The agency also could not provide funding information related to the Trestle Project.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In December, CapRadio and the California Newsroom filed a FOIA request for detailed budget information from the Eldorado National Forest, which remains pending.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Forest Service officials described the process of securing funding for specific projects as fluid and sometimes unpredictable.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“[The] budget is not a one-and-done thing,” said Erin Uloth, Acting Deputy Director of Strategic Planning, Budget, and Accountability for the agency. “It’s a very ongoing, constantly shifting, evolving thing.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And since Congress routinely delays funding to the agency — doling out money on an interim basis as politicians in Washington clash over the federal budget — it’s not always clear how much will be available for individual national forests.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The Forest Service conceded as much in Trestle Project documents: “With several other large-scale projects occurring on the [Eldorado National] Forest, it is unlikely that funding for this project will be prioritized over funding for other projects.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The Forest Service estimated timber sales would have covered about 80% of the $1.3 million cost for commercial tree thinning.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The real challenge is funding prescribed fires. Setting controlled burns under the Trestle Project would have cost about $3 million, according to project documents.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The \u003ca href=\"https://www.fs.usda.gov/sites/default/files/WCS-CommunicationAid.pdf\">bipartisan infrastructure law signed last year sets aside roughly $3 billion\u003c/a> over five years for restoring ecosystems and fuels reduction. Chief Moore called it “a shot in the arm” for future forest management projects, but said more money is required to tackle the work needed across the Western U.S. The Inflation Reduction Act plans to provide $1.8 billion to the Forest Service for hazardous fuels reduction projects.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The money can’t come soon enough.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As former district ranger Nelson put it, the agency’s inability to get work done isn’t isolated to the Trestle Project and Grizzly Flats. Across the increasingly dry and fire-prone West, he said, the Forest Service has “over-promised and under-delivered on fire mitigation — work that could have changed fire behavior on these landscapes.”\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>\u003cstrong>Climate and crews\u003c/strong>\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Forest Service employees call them “Goldilocks days” — the brief window when weather, moisture levels, personnel demands and air quality all line up so prescribed burns can be done safely. Those days are becoming increasingly rare as hotter temperatures, severe drought and erratic weather patterns become facts of everyday life.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Rogers, the current Placerville district ranger, said his unit had a prescribed burn planned for spring of 2021, months before the Caldor Fire ignited.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We had to cancel because conditions just weren’t quite right,” he said. “The historic drought conditions really cannot be overstated.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Even Goldilocks days come with an asterisk. Concerns over escaped prescribed fires have also stymied plans. \u003ca href=\"https://www.fs.usda.gov/inside-fs/leadership/chiefs-desk-reviewing-our-prescribed-fire-program\">Less than 1% of prescribed burns get out of control\u003c/a>, according to the Forest Service. But the ones that do can be devastating, creating PR nightmares and souring public support for this increasingly essential method of fuel reduction. Most recently, \u003ca href=\"https://www.nytimes.com/2022/06/21/us/new-mexico-wildfire-forest-service.html\">the Calf Canyon/Hermits Peak Fire in New Mexico, which destroyed hundreds of homes\u003c/a>, started after two Forest Service prescribed fires escaped.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Prescribed burns run amok can cause risk-aversion within the agency — from district rangers all the way to the top. Forest Service Chief Moore announced \u003ca href=\"https://www.fs.usda.gov/news/releases/statement-forest-service-chief-randy-moore-announcing-pause-prescribed-fire\">separate agency-wide prescribed burn suspensions this year\u003c/a> and \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2021/08/09/1026137249/with-extreme-fires-burning-forest-service-stops-good-fires-too\">last year\u003c/a>. Before Moore stepped in as chief, the \u003ca href=\"https://www.reuters.com/article/us-health-coronavirus-usa-wildfires/trump-administration-halts-wildfire-prevention-tool-in-california-over-coronavirus-idUSKCN21X1HD\">Trump administration had suspended the practice in California\u003c/a> in 2020.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Moore said this year’s pause only impacted “about 10%” of the agency’s planned prescribed burns, since most are done in the fall and early spring. But \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2022/07/03/1108748259/ecologists-wildfire-plans-climate-change\">many prescribed-fire experts say\u003c/a> the \u003ca href=\"https://twitter.com/lenyaqd/status/1528010302834413568?s=20&t=qpZlp7ORP7OLoyaWJ6nZow\">move is a dangerous step backward\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Then there’s the staffing problem. Setting and managing a prescribed fire requires a lot of personnel. Longer and more extreme fire seasons mean crews ping-pong from district to district and fire to fire, often remaining on the frontlines for weeks at a time with no break. That prevents them from managing prescribed burns and tackling other vegetation reduction projects in their home districts.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The Forest Service struggles to retain staff due to the untenable stress of working extreme fires and stagnant pay. President Biden vowed to improve firefighter wages, but \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2022/06/11/1103982837/federal-firefighters-waiting-for-pay-raises-they-hope-will-help-fill-their-ranks\">getting money to people on the frontlines has been a slow process\u003c/a>. After a time-consuming analysis of which regions struggled most with high vacancy rates, \u003ca href=\"https://www.usda.gov/sites/default/files/documents/interagency-faqs.pdf\">the federal government concluded\u003c/a> “it is difficult to recruit or retain wildland firefighters in every geographic area.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Lawmakers and labor unions are pushing the Forest Service to get the money out the door quickly.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Employees are living in their trucks, vans, hammocks, or are ‘couch-surfing’ while working for the Forest Service,” wrote Randy Erwin, National President of the National Federation of Federal Employees, \u003ca href=\"https://www.usda.gov/sites/default/files/documents/interagency-faqs.pdf\">in a recent letter to the heads of the USDA and the Forest Service\u003c/a>. “This is most often not by choice but out of necessity.”\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>\u003cstrong>‘We did our job’\u003c/strong>\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>The day after Grizzly Flats burned, in August of 2021, former district ranger Duane Nelson had a call to make.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>He had moved to southwestern Colorado after retiring from the Forest Service. He watched from afar as the Caldor Fire barreled through the Trestle Project area, leveled Grizzly Flats and then took off across the Eldorado National Forest.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It was hugely frustrating,” he said. “My entire ranger district basically burned up.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Frustration quickly gave way to anguish. Standing in a grocery store parking lot as shopping carts rattled by, Nelson dialed a close friend he hadn’t seen in years — Mark Almer.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“All I could say to him before I started crying was, ‘Mark, I’m so sorry,’” Nelson said. “Because I felt like we had not done all that we had hoped.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The two men had worked for years toward the same goal — protecting Grizzly Flats — on opposite sides of the Forest Service boundary.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11922603\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003ca href=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2022/08/POSTOFFICEBQ3A8073.jpg\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-11922603\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2022/08/POSTOFFICEBQ3A8073-800x534.jpg\" alt=\"An American flag flies atop a sliver pole at the corner of a cement pad covered by burnt and rusted metal. A row of burnt trees are in the background. \" width=\"800\" height=\"534\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/08/POSTOFFICEBQ3A8073-800x534.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/08/POSTOFFICEBQ3A8073-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/08/POSTOFFICEBQ3A8073-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/08/POSTOFFICEBQ3A8073-1536x1025.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/08/POSTOFFICEBQ3A8073-1920x1281.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/08/POSTOFFICEBQ3A8073.jpg 2000w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Nearly a year after the Caldor Fire, the Grizzly Flats Post Office remains a rubble pile, Aug. 4, 2022. \u003ccite>(Andrew Nixon/CapRadio)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Nelson said he’s still processing the tragedy of the Caldor Fire.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I’m not going to say I felt guilt,” he said. “We had done a lot of work trying to make that area as resilient to fire as possible. But what I did feel was remorse.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Almer placed no blame on Nelson or the Forest Service for the devastation of the Caldor Fire. He gave them credit for at least drawing up a plan to protect the community, even if the Trestle Project fell years behind schedule.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We’re neighbors, and neighbors take care of each other,” he said. “But sometimes, the best intentions don’t happen quickly.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>While the fire safe council’s efforts didn’t prevent the Caldor Fire from destroying most of Grizzly Flats, Almer views their work as a success.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“If everybody got out of here alive, then we did our job,” said Almer, noting that residents safely evacuated along routes cleared by the council. “People can rebuild — people can replace their stuff. But you can’t replace somebody’s life.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Wara, the Stanford climate policy expert, marveled at the council’s dedication and handiwork after a recent trip to Grizzly Flats.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I was driving those roads and said, how did no one get killed in this fire?” he recalled. “How is it that everyone got out? And the answer is, the community invested.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11922604\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\" style=\"max-width: 480px\">\u003ca href=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2022/08/EVACUTATIONNOTEPHOTOIMG_6314-e1660605153170.jpg\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-11922604\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2022/08/EVACUTATIONNOTEPHOTOIMG_6314-e1660605153170.jpg\" alt='A white piece of paper taped on a door reads: \"Evacuated 8-16, 22:18 hours.' width=\"480\" height=\"390\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/08/EVACUTATIONNOTEPHOTOIMG_6314-e1660605153170.jpg 480w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/08/EVACUTATIONNOTEPHOTOIMG_6314-e1660605153170-160x130.jpg 160w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 480px) 100vw, 480px\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A note Mark Almer left taped to the front door of his home on Aug. 16, 2021. \u003ccite>(Courtesy Mark Almer)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Almer’s home survived a flurry of embers, some the size of baseballs. He spent 12 weeks in a Sacramento hotel with his wife and six cats, waiting to return to a barely recognizable neighborhood.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Others in the community, including residents who lost everything in the fire, are more critical of the Forest Service. In interviews, some laid blame at the agency’s feet.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“They did predict it, and they knew it was going to happen,” said Grant Ingram, a retired firefighter who now owns a fire-mapping business. The local fire district commissioned him to examine what happened before, during and after the Caldor Fire.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“If it’s predictable,” he added, “it’s preventable.”\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>\u003cstrong>Uncertain future\u003c/strong>\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Today, Grizzly Flats is stuck in a negotiation between devastation and recovery. One of the only green trees left in town isn’t a tree at all. It’s a rehabbed cell tower, covered with fake green boughs, across the street from where the Community Church once stood. The tower’s vibrant color contrasts with the remaining real trees, all of them burned like a forest of spent match sticks.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Up the road, a confused twister of scorched mail carts and collapsed P.O. boxes is all that’s left of the post office. An American flag flies above the rubble. In the parking lot, a couple of charred four-by-fours support a blackened crossbeam — the only remnants of the community bulletin board built by the Grizzly Flats Fire Safe Council over a decade ago.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>While a few wood frames have gone up where homes once stood, it’s unclear how many Caldor Fire survivors will return to Grizzly Flats. Many are looking at homes elsewhere, ready for a new beginning.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Kathy Melvin, the longtime fire safe council member, lost her home. She recently purchased a new one in the suburbs of Sacramento. She’s holding onto her land in Grizzly Flats, maybe for her children to rebuild one day.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11922635\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003ca href=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2022/08/DIAZBQ3A8301.jpg\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-11922635\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2022/08/DIAZBQ3A8301-800x534.jpg\" alt=\"A man with light skin, black hair and a black beard sits on the foundation of a home being built. He's sitting in a doorway, framed walls rising beside him. He's wearing a blue short-sleeved shirt with narrow white stripes and blue jeans. \" width=\"800\" height=\"534\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/08/DIAZBQ3A8301-800x534.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/08/DIAZBQ3A8301-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/08/DIAZBQ3A8301-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/08/DIAZBQ3A8301-1536x1025.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/08/DIAZBQ3A8301-1920x1281.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/08/DIAZBQ3A8301.jpg 2000w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Victor Diaz sits on the foundation of the new home he is building to replace his home lost in the Caldor Fire, Aug. 4, 2022. \u003ccite>(Andrew Nixon/CapRadio)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Victor Diaz, who escaped with his wife and six kids after Almer called and told him to evacuate, also lost his house. The entire family has been living in an RV since winter, next to where their new home is being built.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11922611\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003ca href=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2022/08/DIAZFAMILYBQ3A8203.jpg\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-11922611\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2022/08/DIAZFAMILYBQ3A8203-800x534.jpg\" alt=\"A man and his wife with their six children and in front of an RV where they live. The family has light brown skin and dark hair. The children range in age from 5 to 11. They wear jeans with t-shirts in blue, white, or pink.\" width=\"800\" height=\"534\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/08/DIAZFAMILYBQ3A8203-800x534.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/08/DIAZFAMILYBQ3A8203-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/08/DIAZFAMILYBQ3A8203-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/08/DIAZFAMILYBQ3A8203-1536x1025.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/08/DIAZFAMILYBQ3A8203-1920x1281.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/08/DIAZFAMILYBQ3A8203.jpg 2000w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Victor Diaz and his wife, Safiro, pose with their children (left to right), Anna, 5; Gabriel, 6; Esteban, 8; Adaia, 13; Daila, 11; and Sofia, 2, outside their RV they all share as a home, Aug. 4, 2022. \u003ccite>(Andrew Nixon/CapRadio)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>On a warm afternoon in late July, Almer stood on his fire-resilient deck and talked about a bright future for his town — even if it’s a distant one. He’s continuing to lead the fire safe council. And he’s optimistic that Grizzly Flats will eventually get a new community center; \u003ca href=\"https://eldoradocf.org\">the nonprofit El Dorado Community Foundation\u003c/a> has already raised at least a quarter million dollars toward the effort.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The community will never look the way it did before the fire in our lifetime,” he said. “We know that the community will come back — how quickly and in what form, we’re not quite sure.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11922612\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003ca href=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2022/08/REBUILTBQ3A8440.jpg\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-11922612\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2022/08/REBUILTBQ3A8440-800x534.jpg\" alt=\"A view through a window from inside a home being built. The view shows a tent in the foreground and a trailer in the background, with burnt trees and patches of green growing from the burnt ground.\" width=\"800\" height=\"534\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/08/REBUILTBQ3A8440-800x534.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/08/REBUILTBQ3A8440-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/08/REBUILTBQ3A8440-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/08/REBUILTBQ3A8440-1536x1025.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/08/REBUILTBQ3A8440-1920x1281.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/08/REBUILTBQ3A8440.jpg 2000w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A tent and RV can be seen from a home being rebuilt after the Caldor Fire, Aug. 4, 2022. \u003ccite>(Andrew Nixon/CapRadio)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Almer has already started the rebuilding process, fixing the things within his reach. He replaced the wood fence along his property that burned in the fire and the storage unit that holds cords of wood.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But some things he won’t replace. Pointing down at his deck, he called attention to several dark spots caused by scorching embers.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We have spare pieces of decking,” he said. “I haven’t wanted to change it out, because it’s a reminder how fortunate we are.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>The California Newsroom is a collaboration of California public radio stations, NPR and CalMatters.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cp>After decades of inaction in the face of escalating natural disasters and sustained global warming, a divided Congress gave final approval Friday to Democrats’ flagship climate and health care bill, a transformative piece of legislation that would provide the most spending to fight climate change by any one nation ever in a single push.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The House used a party-line 220-207 vote to pass the legislation, prompting hugs among Democrats on the House floor and cheers by White House staff watching on television. “Today, the American people won. Special interests lost,” tweeted the vacationing Biden, who was shown beaming in a White House photo as he watched the vote on TV from Kiawah Island, South Carolina. He said he would sign the legislation next week.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Friday’s action comes 34 years after a top scientist grabbed headlines warning Congress about the dangers of global warming. In the decades since, there have been 308 weather disasters that have \u003ca href=\"https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/access/billions/\">each cost the nation at least $1 billion\u003c/a>, the record for the hottest year has been broken 10 times and \u003ca href=\"https://www.nifc.gov/fire-information/statistics/wildfires\">wildfires have burned an area larger than Texas\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The crux of the long-delayed Inflation Reduction Act is to use incentives to spur investors to accelerate the expansion of clean energy such as wind and solar power, speeding the transition away from the oil, coal and gas that largely cause climate change.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The United States has put the most heat-trapping gasses into the air, burning more inexpensive dirty fuels than any other country. But the nearly $375 billion in climate incentives in the bill are designed to make the already plummeting costs of renewable energy substantially lower at home, on the highways and in the factory. Together these could help shrink U.S. carbon emissions by about 40% by 2030 and should chop emissions from electricity by as much as 80%.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Experts say it isn’t enough, but it’s a big start.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“This legislation is a true game-changer. It will create jobs, lower costs, increase U.S. competitiveness, reduce air pollution,” said former Vice President Al Gore, who held his first global warming hearing 40 years ago. “The momentum that will come out of this legislation, cannot be underestimated.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The U.S. action could spur other nations to do more — especially China and India, the two largest carbon emitters along with the U.S. That in turn could lower prices for renewable energy globally, experts said.[pullquote align=\"left\" size=\"medium\" citation=\"Al Gore, former U.S. vice president\"]'This legislation is a true game-changer. It will create jobs, lower costs, increase U.S. competitiveness, reduce air pollution … The momentum that will come out of this legislation, cannot be underestimated.'[/pullquote]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Because of the specific legislative process in which this compromise was formed, one that limits it to budget-related actions, the bill does not regulate greenhouse gas emissions, but deals mainly in spending, most of it through tax credits as well as rebates to industry, consumers and utilities.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Investments work better at fostering clean energy than regulations, said Leah Stokes, an environmental policy professor at the University of California, Santa Barbara. The climate bill is likely to spur billions in private investment, she said: “That’s what’s going to be so transformative.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The bill promotes vital technologies such as battery storage; it gives a big boost to clean energy manufacturing; it makes it cheaper for consumers to make climate-friendly purchasing decisions; it offers tax credits to make electric cars more affordable; it helps low-income people make energy-efficiency upgrades; and it provides incentives for rooftop solar and heat pumps.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>There are also incentives for nuclear power and projects that aim to capture and remove carbon from the atmosphere.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The bill moves to ensure that poor and minority communities that have borne the brunt of pollution benefit from climate spending. Farmers will receive help switching to climate-friendly practices and there’s money for energy research and to encourage electric heavy-duty trucks in place of diesel.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The Superfund program, used to pay for cleanup of the nation’s most heavily-polluted industrial sites, will receive more revenue from a bigger tax on oil.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The Rhodium Group research firm estimates the bill would dramatically change the arc of future U.S. greenhouse gas emissions, cutting them by 31% to 44% below 2005 levels by 2030, compared to what had been shaping up to be 24% to 35% without the bill, said Rhodium partner John Larsen. Clean power on the grid, an upcoming Rhodium report says, would jump from under 40% now to between 60% and 81% by 2030, he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It’s not as big as I want, but it’s also bigger than anything we’ve ever done,” said Sen. Brian Schatz, a Hawaii Democrat who leads the Senate climate caucus. “A 40% emissions reduction is nothing the U.S. has ever come close to before.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As decisive a change as it is for U.S. policy and emissions, it still does not reach the official U.S. goal of cutting carbon pollution roughly in half by 2030 to achieve net-zero carbon emissions across the economy by 2050.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Not everyone is impressed.[aside label=\"Related Stories\" postID=\"news_11922351,science_1978657,science_1951005\"]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“This law is big for the U.S. but in global terms long overdue,” said Niklas Hohne, co-founder of the New Climate Institute in Germany. “The U.S. has a long way to go on climate change and is starting from a very, very high emission level.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>When U.S. historic carbon emissions are factored in, U.S. spending still lags behind Italy, France, South Korea, Japan and Canada, according to Brian O’Callaghan, lead researcher at the Oxford Economic Recovery Project at the University of Oxford. He noted the bill has nothing to fulfill America’s broken promise of billions of dollars in climate aid for poor nations.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>President Joe Biden has frequently said America is back in the fight against climate change, but other leaders have been skeptical with no legislation to back his claim.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And there may be disappointment. Americans hoping to buy an electric car may\u003ca href=\"https://apnews.com/article/electric-vehicles-tax-credit-cfd3d9322230446f65d629b05c2ae551\"> find many models ineligible for rebates\u003c/a> until more components are made in the U.S. Local fights over siting new renewable energy projects could also hamper the pace of the buildout, some experts said. Environmental justice communities are concerned they’ll be asked to accept new carbon capture projects.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Republicans, who unanimously opposed the bill in the Senate, say it would add to consumers’ energy costs, with House GOP Whip Steve Scalise claiming it “wastes billions of dollars in Green New Deal slush funds.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Rhodium’s Larsen, who crunched the numbers in the bill, said it would lead to consumers paying up to $112 less a year in energy costs.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“As long as I’ve been in this game, progress on climate has always been higher costs for consumers. That’s not how this bill works,” Larsen said in an interview.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The Democrats didn’t have a vote to spare in the evenly divided Senate and Sen. Joe Manchin, a conservative Democrat from coal-producing West Virginia, had long dashed hopes of an ambitious deal. But two weeks ago, faced with public shaming by environmental groups and sharp criticism even from his own colleagues, he stunned Washington by announcing his support for a bill that reduces drug costs, targets inflation and boosts renewables. Since the deal was announced July 27, Manchin has been an avid cheerleader for its passage. Sen. Krysten Sinema, D-Arizona, provided the vital 50th vote, allowing Vice President Kamala Harris to \u003ca href=\"https://apnews.com/article/senate-climate-tax-deal-vote-dbdb3107c4c5e3e0e5af8a58d56c7bc1\">break the Senate tie\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[pullquote align=\"left\" size=\"medium\" citation=\"Niklas Hohne, co-founder of the New Climate Institute\"]'The U.S. has a long way to go on climate change and is starting from a very, very high emission level.'[/pullquote]The result is \u003ca href=\"https://www.congress.gov/117/bills/hr5376/BILLS-117hr5376eas.pdf\">a 730-page bill\u003c/a> that spends money without directly taking on fossil fuels, a disappointment to many on the left. Gore said the fossil fuel industry ran a decades-long “deeply unethical campaign to deceive people around the world,” casting doubt on climate change science.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The industry will face higher royalties and new fees for certain excess methane emissions, a potent greenhouse gas — a rare stick amid carrots. But the fossil fuel industry will remain a powerful force and have guaranteed opportunities to expand on federal lands and off the coast before renewables can be built in those places.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In 1988 on a steamy summer day, top NASA climate scientist Jim Hansen brought to public attention for the first time the decades-old concept of global warming when he told Congress carbon dioxide was heating up the Earth. That year became the hottest on record. Now, there have been so many hot years \u003ca href=\"https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/access/monitoring/climate-at-a-glance/global/time-series/globe/land_ocean/ann/2/1880-2021?trend=true&trend_base=10&begtrendyear=1980&endtrendyear=2020\">it ranks 28th hottest\u003c/a> and Hansen has said he wishes his warnings didn’t come true about climate change.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It’s a mark of shame that it took this long for our political system to react,” said Bill McKibben, a long-time climate activist, adding that it leaves the fossil fuel industry with too much power. “But this will help catalyze action elsewhere in the world; it’s a declaration that hydrocarbons are finally in decline and clean energy ascendant, and that the climate movement is finally at least something of a match for Big Oil.”\u003c/p>\n\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Because of the specific legislative process in which this compromise was formed, one that limits it to budget-related actions, the bill does not regulate greenhouse gas emissions, but deals mainly in spending, most of it through tax credits as well as rebates to industry, consumers and utilities.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Investments work better at fostering clean energy than regulations, said Leah Stokes, an environmental policy professor at the University of California, Santa Barbara. The climate bill is likely to spur billions in private investment, she said: “That’s what’s going to be so transformative.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The bill promotes vital technologies such as battery storage; it gives a big boost to clean energy manufacturing; it makes it cheaper for consumers to make climate-friendly purchasing decisions; it offers tax credits to make electric cars more affordable; it helps low-income people make energy-efficiency upgrades; and it provides incentives for rooftop solar and heat pumps.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>There are also incentives for nuclear power and projects that aim to capture and remove carbon from the atmosphere.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The bill moves to ensure that poor and minority communities that have borne the brunt of pollution benefit from climate spending. Farmers will receive help switching to climate-friendly practices and there’s money for energy research and to encourage electric heavy-duty trucks in place of diesel.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The Superfund program, used to pay for cleanup of the nation’s most heavily-polluted industrial sites, will receive more revenue from a bigger tax on oil.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The Rhodium Group research firm estimates the bill would dramatically change the arc of future U.S. greenhouse gas emissions, cutting them by 31% to 44% below 2005 levels by 2030, compared to what had been shaping up to be 24% to 35% without the bill, said Rhodium partner John Larsen. Clean power on the grid, an upcoming Rhodium report says, would jump from under 40% now to between 60% and 81% by 2030, he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It’s not as big as I want, but it’s also bigger than anything we’ve ever done,” said Sen. Brian Schatz, a Hawaii Democrat who leads the Senate climate caucus. “A 40% emissions reduction is nothing the U.S. has ever come close to before.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As decisive a change as it is for U.S. policy and emissions, it still does not reach the official U.S. goal of cutting carbon pollution roughly in half by 2030 to achieve net-zero carbon emissions across the economy by 2050.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Not everyone is impressed.\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“This law is big for the U.S. but in global terms long overdue,” said Niklas Hohne, co-founder of the New Climate Institute in Germany. “The U.S. has a long way to go on climate change and is starting from a very, very high emission level.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>When U.S. historic carbon emissions are factored in, U.S. spending still lags behind Italy, France, South Korea, Japan and Canada, according to Brian O’Callaghan, lead researcher at the Oxford Economic Recovery Project at the University of Oxford. He noted the bill has nothing to fulfill America’s broken promise of billions of dollars in climate aid for poor nations.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>President Joe Biden has frequently said America is back in the fight against climate change, but other leaders have been skeptical with no legislation to back his claim.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And there may be disappointment. Americans hoping to buy an electric car may\u003ca href=\"https://apnews.com/article/electric-vehicles-tax-credit-cfd3d9322230446f65d629b05c2ae551\"> find many models ineligible for rebates\u003c/a> until more components are made in the U.S. Local fights over siting new renewable energy projects could also hamper the pace of the buildout, some experts said. Environmental justice communities are concerned they’ll be asked to accept new carbon capture projects.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Republicans, who unanimously opposed the bill in the Senate, say it would add to consumers’ energy costs, with House GOP Whip Steve Scalise claiming it “wastes billions of dollars in Green New Deal slush funds.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Rhodium’s Larsen, who crunched the numbers in the bill, said it would lead to consumers paying up to $112 less a year in energy costs.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“As long as I’ve been in this game, progress on climate has always been higher costs for consumers. That’s not how this bill works,” Larsen said in an interview.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The Democrats didn’t have a vote to spare in the evenly divided Senate and Sen. Joe Manchin, a conservative Democrat from coal-producing West Virginia, had long dashed hopes of an ambitious deal. But two weeks ago, faced with public shaming by environmental groups and sharp criticism even from his own colleagues, he stunned Washington by announcing his support for a bill that reduces drug costs, targets inflation and boosts renewables. Since the deal was announced July 27, Manchin has been an avid cheerleader for its passage. Sen. Krysten Sinema, D-Arizona, provided the vital 50th vote, allowing Vice President Kamala Harris to \u003ca href=\"https://apnews.com/article/senate-climate-tax-deal-vote-dbdb3107c4c5e3e0e5af8a58d56c7bc1\">break the Senate tie\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "'The U.S. has a long way to go on climate change and is starting from a very, very high emission level.'",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>The result is \u003ca href=\"https://www.congress.gov/117/bills/hr5376/BILLS-117hr5376eas.pdf\">a 730-page bill\u003c/a> that spends money without directly taking on fossil fuels, a disappointment to many on the left. Gore said the fossil fuel industry ran a decades-long “deeply unethical campaign to deceive people around the world,” casting doubt on climate change science.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The industry will face higher royalties and new fees for certain excess methane emissions, a potent greenhouse gas — a rare stick amid carrots. But the fossil fuel industry will remain a powerful force and have guaranteed opportunities to expand on federal lands and off the coast before renewables can be built in those places.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In 1988 on a steamy summer day, top NASA climate scientist Jim Hansen brought to public attention for the first time the decades-old concept of global warming when he told Congress carbon dioxide was heating up the Earth. That year became the hottest on record. Now, there have been so many hot years \u003ca href=\"https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/access/monitoring/climate-at-a-glance/global/time-series/globe/land_ocean/ann/2/1880-2021?trend=true&trend_base=10&begtrendyear=1980&endtrendyear=2020\">it ranks 28th hottest\u003c/a> and Hansen has said he wishes his warnings didn’t come true about climate change.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It’s a mark of shame that it took this long for our political system to react,” said Bill McKibben, a long-time climate activist, adding that it leaves the fossil fuel industry with too much power. “But this will help catalyze action elsewhere in the world; it’s a declaration that hydrocarbons are finally in decline and clean energy ascendant, and that the climate movement is finally at least something of a match for Big Oil.”\u003c/p>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"content": "\u003cp>\u003cb>CAL FIRE Director Joe Tyler\u003c/b>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">As firefighters battle the McKinney Fire in Siskiyou County, we talk with CAL FIRE Director\u003c/span> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">and 31-year veteran of the department, \u003c/span>\u003cb>Chief Joe Tyler,\u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> about the agency’s approach to fighting wildfires. We also get his response to a \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/science/1979560/cal-fire-fumbles-key-responsibilities-to-prevent-catastrophic-wildfires-despite-historic-budget\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">KQED and CapRadio investigation\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> that found that the agency has fumbled key responsibilities in preventing catastrophic wildfires.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp> \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Something Beautiful: Mickaboo Companion Bird Rescue\u003c/b>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Every year thousands of wild birds are captured and brought to the United States to be sold as pets. While some parrots, parakeets, and others find loving homes, some become victims of abuse and neglect. This week’s Something Beautiful is Mickaboo Bird Companion Rescue in San Jose, where exotic birds of a feather have found a place to flock together. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>\u003cb>CAL FIRE Director Joe Tyler\u003c/b>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">As firefighters battle the McKinney Fire in Siskiyou County, we talk with CAL FIRE Director\u003c/span> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">and 31-year veteran of the department, \u003c/span>\u003cb>Chief Joe Tyler,\u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> about the agency’s approach to fighting wildfires. We also get his response to a \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/science/1979560/cal-fire-fumbles-key-responsibilities-to-prevent-catastrophic-wildfires-despite-historic-budget\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">KQED and CapRadio investigation\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> that found that the agency has fumbled key responsibilities in preventing catastrophic wildfires.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp> \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Something Beautiful: Mickaboo Companion Bird Rescue\u003c/b>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Every year thousands of wild birds are captured and brought to the United States to be sold as pets. While some parrots, parakeets, and others find loving homes, some become victims of abuse and neglect. This week’s Something Beautiful is Mickaboo Bird Companion Rescue in San Jose, where exotic birds of a feather have found a place to flock together. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"title": "Creating a Drought-Tolerant California Garden: How to Replace Your Thirsty Lawn With Lush Plants and Grasses",
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"content": "\u003cp>Skip to:\u003c/p>\n\u003cul>\n\u003cli>\u003cstrong>\u003ca href=\"#begin\">How do I begin?\u003c/a>\u003c/strong>\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>\u003cstrong>\u003ca href=\"#cost\">How much will this cost?\u003c/a>\u003c/strong>\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>\u003cstrong>\u003ca href=\"#plants\">What plants are best for low-water landscaping?\u003c/a>\u003c/strong>\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>\u003cstrong>\u003ca href=\"#care\">How do I care for my low-water garden?\u003c/a>\u003c/strong>\u003c/li>\n\u003c/ul>\n\u003cp>The megadrought California is enduring right now \u003ca href=\"https://www.nature.com/articles/s41558-022-01290-z.epdf\">is the worst in more than a millennium\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In the last two decades, we have only sporadically \u003cem>not\u003c/em> been in a state of drought, and the first three months of 2022 were the driest on record. Now, \u003ca href=\"https://droughtmonitor.unl.edu/CurrentMap/StateDroughtMonitor.aspx?CA\">nearly every inch of California is experiencing severe or extreme drought, or even worse\u003c/a>: A thick, donut-shaped ring in the Central Valley is in an exceptional drought\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> — \u003c/span>the highest drought designation the U.S. Drought Monitor gives.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Most residents, though, have not been moved to replace their lawns by the kinds of stark facts that seem only to lead to more restrictions. But what if moving to a low-water landscape meant more butterflies, more birds, and a startling array of colors and textures? Since about half of all residential water use goes to landscape irrigation, that’s a good place to look first to make some significant cuts in your water use, and your water bill.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>So, what are the best ways to begin? And are there other benefits to low-water landscaping besides the obvious?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>KQED Forum spoke with three experts about how to get started and what to do:\u003c/p>\n\u003cul>\n\u003cli>\u003cstrong>Flora Grubb\u003c/strong>, owner of \u003ca href=\"https://www.floragrubb.com\">Flora Grubb Gardens\u003c/a> in San Francisco\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>\u003cstrong>Shawn Maestretti\u003c/strong>, founder and principal of the landscape architectural design firm \u003ca href=\"https://studio-petrichor.com\">Studio Petrichor\u003c/a>\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>\u003cstrong>Caitlin Hernández\u003c/strong>, LA Explained reporter with KPCC-\u003ca href=\"https://laist.com\">LAist\u003c/a>\u003c/li>\n\u003c/ul>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11921968\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003ca href=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2022/08/GettyImages-1241966859-scaled.jpg\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-11921968\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2022/08/GettyImages-1241966859-800x533.jpg\" alt=\"A close-up shot of bright orange poppies, filling the image, with blurred greenery in the background. \" width=\"800\" height=\"533\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/08/GettyImages-1241966859-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/08/GettyImages-1241966859-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/08/GettyImages-1241966859-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/08/GettyImages-1241966859-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/08/GettyImages-1241966859-2048x1366.jpg 2048w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/08/GettyImages-1241966859-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">California poppies are a colorful feature in a regenerative front yard garden that has replaced a typical grass lawn, in Los Angeles in July 2022. Authorities are encouraging residents to replace their lawns with water-wise gardens that require very little irrigation by using native and non-native drought-tolerant plants coupled with terraforming that captures rainwater, to save water amid California’s historic drought. \u003ccite>(Robyn Beck/AFP via Getty Images)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003ch2>\u003cstrong>\u003ca id=\"begin\">\u003c/a>How and where do I begin?\u003c/strong>\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>First you want to build healthy soil, but you don’t actually have to take out your grass to do that. Instead, you can cover it up. Shawn Maestretti recommends what he calls “lasagna mulching.” Think of ordinary cardboard as the pasta and mulch as the cheese, and layer the cardboard and mulch right over the grass — using recycled moving boxes, for example, rather than ones with waxed or brightly colored cardboard.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>This part doesn’t need to cost a lot, Maestretti notes. Cardboard, of course, can be free; you can look for leftover moving boxes on sites like Craigslist and Buy Nothing, and sometimes you can find free mulch there, too. Some cities offer free mulch.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Overlapping that cardboard and layers of thick mulch help to prevent that grass from growing back and it starts to build healthy soil,” Maestretti says. “That’s a place to start.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Flora Grubb says the method for removing the lawn can depend on how large it is. Using a flat shovel to remove the grass may not be too much work for a small area.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan data-pm-slice='1 1 [\"paragraph-wrapper\",null,\"paragraph\",{\"id\":\"p26-0\"}]'>“I hopped on the YouTube to take a look,” she said, “and there are some great suggestions of DIY ways to remove a medium-sized lawn.”\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>What about using chemicals to get rid of the grass?\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Nope. For one thing, the chemicals may not be safe for children, pets or adults, says Grubb. They also work against one of the main things you’re trying to do, which is build healthy soil.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>It’s too much work. What about just using fake grass?\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That would be another nope. A lot of chemicals go into producing fake grass, so it also won’t build healthy soil. Then, there’s the heat. Synthetic turf increases the heat-island effect, Maestretti says, and with a gravel layer underneath it, water won’t get into the soil.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We want life,” he said. “We want to support life.”\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>\u003cstrong>\u003ca id=\"cost\">\u003c/a>How much will this cost?\u003c/strong>\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Major landscape overhauls can be expensive, depending on the size of your yard and how much you spend on plants, says Caitlin Hernández. In her recent story, “\u003ca href=\"https://laist.com/news/climate-environment/la-removing-grass-turf-lawn-drought-native-plants-rebate\">How to Swap Out Your Thirsty Lawn With Drought-Friendly Plants\u003c/a>,” Hernández describes the rebate programs some water districts offer. For example, some pay $2 to $4 per square foot to trade out your lawn.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[aside postID='news_11887053']“And there are rebate programs that will also even help you with converting your sprinklers to something like drip irrigation or a rain-capture system,” Hernández said. “So we always recommend, if you’re in a position to be able to afford an investment like this type of project, they’re great to do because you’re going to get paid back to do it.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>If you’re a renter, you can also petition your landlord and let them know about the residential rebates that could be available.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>\u003cstrong>\u003ca id=\"plants\">\u003c/a>What plants are best for low-water landscaping?\u003c/strong>\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>People used to think a low-water garden could only be made of cactus and stone, notes Flora Grubb, and that may be what you want, but if not, your garden can look as richly alive and unique as any garden.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[aside postID='science_20544']“I think that when we’re talking about using less water in the landscape, it’s just important to dispel the myth that it has to look any one way,” she said. “What we want is for people to have landscapes in their lives that they love.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>You might want to go golden, or choose a wide range of colors, or you might want a lot of green, Grubb says. You might also choose plants from other parts of the globe that are as dry, or drier, than California.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We have plants with big, lush, green leaves that use significantly less water,” Grubb said. “We have plants with really abundant flowers that use less water and, of course, plants that wildlife love.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Gardeners who’ve made the switch say they have flowers that bloom year-round; they have more wildlife, more bees, birds, squirrels, and maybe small lizards if they’re in your area.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Most local nurseries can tell you which low-water plants will do well in your area, Hernández says. You can also \u003ca href=\"https://calscape.org\">scope around for California native plants on websites like Calscape\u003c/a>, she adds, where you can search for plants by attributes like height or how much water they require.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“In my experience,” she said, “maybe the most useful is looking at by ZIP code. So you can pop in your ZIP code and see what’s growing locally near you.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But Hernández says it’s still worth checking with your local plant nursery, because some plants in databases like this may not grow as easily in the climate that California is developing today.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>What about my trees?\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Both the experts and people who have already traded out their lawns agree that trees can be worth preserving. Trees give you shade and cool in the summer, and, if you have deciduous trees, they mulch the landscape naturally when they drop their leaves, making more healthy soil.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The more we can support the carbon in the soil — leaves, mulch and organic materials in the soil — that increases our water-holding capacity,” said Maestretti.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In winter, the bare branches let more light in, and offer more passive solar heating in your home. It takes a lot of resources to grow a tree, so it can be worth making sure they don’t die by watering them at least minimally during the summer.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>\u003cstrong>\u003ca id=\"care\">\u003c/a>How do I care for my low-water garden?\u003c/strong>\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>You will need some amount of water, say Grubb and Maestretti. Some people hand-water, or you can look into whether your water district offers rebates for installing drip irrigation or rain barrels. One popular method, as drought has worsened, has been to install gray water systems, where residents can divert sink and shower water and use it to water their gardens.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11921967\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003ca href=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2022/08/GettyImages-479949111-scaled.jpg\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-11921967\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2022/08/GettyImages-479949111-800x534.jpg\" alt=\"Large succulents with broad, flat, silver leaves blend with tall, delicate yellow flowers. Behind the plantings is a tall garden gnome carved from wood.\" width=\"800\" height=\"534\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/08/GettyImages-479949111-800x534.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/08/GettyImages-479949111-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/08/GettyImages-479949111-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/08/GettyImages-479949111-1536x1025.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/08/GettyImages-479949111-2048x1366.jpg 2048w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/08/GettyImages-479949111-1920x1281.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Drought-tolerant succulents are displayed during the 29th annual San Francisco Flower and Garden Show at the San Mateo County Event Center in March 2014. \u003ccite>(Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>A tip sheet from the UC Master Gardener Program of Contra Costa County advises that \u003ca href=\"https://ccmg.ucanr.edu/files/289340.pdf\">gray water should be added to gardens with drip irrigation, and never with sprinklers\u003c/a>. It can also be used on food crops, as long as the edible part of the plant does not come in contact with the soil. Lettuces are out, and staked tomatoes are in, at least for the tomatoes higher up on the vines.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Maestretti says one more important thing to note about gray water, is that it typically has a high salt content.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Salt in the soil, or sodium in the soil, that sometimes comes with reclaimed water can restrict roots from being able to take up water, and our trees need water,” he said. “So being mindful of where you’re using gray water and what kind of gray water you’re using would be something I would explore.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://ecologycenter.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/06/greywater.cleaning.pdf\">Soaps and cleaning products that are plant-friendly\u003c/a> will generally be biodegradable and free of salts, boron and chlorine bleach.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>My water goes downhill and won’t stay in my garden.\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>This is a common problem, since many lawns were designed on purpose with a downward slope to prevent flooding in heavy rains and to funnel water to the street and stormwater drains. Hernández says when you design your low-water garden, you can create your own small water sinks to keep rain on site.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“This is an excellent opportunity for you to kind of dig out what they call concaves,” she said, “where you want to make a small bowl-shaped dip, where it actually retains water better than a standard lawn because it’s shaped to keep it in.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Can I stop weeds from growing in my garden?\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Well, no. Weeds are going to grow when their seeds drop onto the soil from above, or grow up from below, says Grubb. All gardens need some amount of care, and some amount of weed-pulling.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp class=\"tr-paragraph\" data-pm-slice='2 2 [\"paragraph-wrapper\",null]'>\u003cspan data-pm-slice='1 1 [\"paragraph-wrapper\",null,\"paragraph\",{\"id\":\"p67-0\"}]'>And this relationship of being with the land is important, says Maestretti. No matter how well-designed and how beautiful, the success and sustainability of your garden depends on your relationship to it. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n",
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"excerpt": "A drought-resistant garden can cut your water bill and be filled with flowers, butterflies and birds. Here are tips from experts on how to start.",
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"title": "Creating a Drought-Tolerant California Garden: How to Replace Your Thirsty Lawn With Lush Plants and Grasses | KQED",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>Skip to:\u003c/p>\n\u003cul>\n\u003cli>\u003cstrong>\u003ca href=\"#begin\">How do I begin?\u003c/a>\u003c/strong>\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>\u003cstrong>\u003ca href=\"#cost\">How much will this cost?\u003c/a>\u003c/strong>\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>\u003cstrong>\u003ca href=\"#plants\">What plants are best for low-water landscaping?\u003c/a>\u003c/strong>\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>\u003cstrong>\u003ca href=\"#care\">How do I care for my low-water garden?\u003c/a>\u003c/strong>\u003c/li>\n\u003c/ul>\n\u003cp>The megadrought California is enduring right now \u003ca href=\"https://www.nature.com/articles/s41558-022-01290-z.epdf\">is the worst in more than a millennium\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In the last two decades, we have only sporadically \u003cem>not\u003c/em> been in a state of drought, and the first three months of 2022 were the driest on record. Now, \u003ca href=\"https://droughtmonitor.unl.edu/CurrentMap/StateDroughtMonitor.aspx?CA\">nearly every inch of California is experiencing severe or extreme drought, or even worse\u003c/a>: A thick, donut-shaped ring in the Central Valley is in an exceptional drought\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> — \u003c/span>the highest drought designation the U.S. Drought Monitor gives.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Most residents, though, have not been moved to replace their lawns by the kinds of stark facts that seem only to lead to more restrictions. But what if moving to a low-water landscape meant more butterflies, more birds, and a startling array of colors and textures? Since about half of all residential water use goes to landscape irrigation, that’s a good place to look first to make some significant cuts in your water use, and your water bill.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>So, what are the best ways to begin? And are there other benefits to low-water landscaping besides the obvious?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>KQED Forum spoke with three experts about how to get started and what to do:\u003c/p>\n\u003cul>\n\u003cli>\u003cstrong>Flora Grubb\u003c/strong>, owner of \u003ca href=\"https://www.floragrubb.com\">Flora Grubb Gardens\u003c/a> in San Francisco\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>\u003cstrong>Shawn Maestretti\u003c/strong>, founder and principal of the landscape architectural design firm \u003ca href=\"https://studio-petrichor.com\">Studio Petrichor\u003c/a>\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>\u003cstrong>Caitlin Hernández\u003c/strong>, LA Explained reporter with KPCC-\u003ca href=\"https://laist.com\">LAist\u003c/a>\u003c/li>\n\u003c/ul>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11921968\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003ca href=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2022/08/GettyImages-1241966859-scaled.jpg\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-11921968\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2022/08/GettyImages-1241966859-800x533.jpg\" alt=\"A close-up shot of bright orange poppies, filling the image, with blurred greenery in the background. \" width=\"800\" height=\"533\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/08/GettyImages-1241966859-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/08/GettyImages-1241966859-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/08/GettyImages-1241966859-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/08/GettyImages-1241966859-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/08/GettyImages-1241966859-2048x1366.jpg 2048w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/08/GettyImages-1241966859-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">California poppies are a colorful feature in a regenerative front yard garden that has replaced a typical grass lawn, in Los Angeles in July 2022. Authorities are encouraging residents to replace their lawns with water-wise gardens that require very little irrigation by using native and non-native drought-tolerant plants coupled with terraforming that captures rainwater, to save water amid California’s historic drought. \u003ccite>(Robyn Beck/AFP via Getty Images)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003ch2>\u003cstrong>\u003ca id=\"begin\">\u003c/a>How and where do I begin?\u003c/strong>\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>First you want to build healthy soil, but you don’t actually have to take out your grass to do that. Instead, you can cover it up. Shawn Maestretti recommends what he calls “lasagna mulching.” Think of ordinary cardboard as the pasta and mulch as the cheese, and layer the cardboard and mulch right over the grass — using recycled moving boxes, for example, rather than ones with waxed or brightly colored cardboard.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>This part doesn’t need to cost a lot, Maestretti notes. Cardboard, of course, can be free; you can look for leftover moving boxes on sites like Craigslist and Buy Nothing, and sometimes you can find free mulch there, too. Some cities offer free mulch.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Overlapping that cardboard and layers of thick mulch help to prevent that grass from growing back and it starts to build healthy soil,” Maestretti says. “That’s a place to start.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Flora Grubb says the method for removing the lawn can depend on how large it is. Using a flat shovel to remove the grass may not be too much work for a small area.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan data-pm-slice='1 1 [\"paragraph-wrapper\",null,\"paragraph\",{\"id\":\"p26-0\"}]'>“I hopped on the YouTube to take a look,” she said, “and there are some great suggestions of DIY ways to remove a medium-sized lawn.”\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>What about using chemicals to get rid of the grass?\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Nope. For one thing, the chemicals may not be safe for children, pets or adults, says Grubb. They also work against one of the main things you’re trying to do, which is build healthy soil.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>It’s too much work. What about just using fake grass?\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That would be another nope. A lot of chemicals go into producing fake grass, so it also won’t build healthy soil. Then, there’s the heat. Synthetic turf increases the heat-island effect, Maestretti says, and with a gravel layer underneath it, water won’t get into the soil.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We want life,” he said. “We want to support life.”\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>\u003cstrong>\u003ca id=\"cost\">\u003c/a>How much will this cost?\u003c/strong>\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Major landscape overhauls can be expensive, depending on the size of your yard and how much you spend on plants, says Caitlin Hernández. In her recent story, “\u003ca href=\"https://laist.com/news/climate-environment/la-removing-grass-turf-lawn-drought-native-plants-rebate\">How to Swap Out Your Thirsty Lawn With Drought-Friendly Plants\u003c/a>,” Hernández describes the rebate programs some water districts offer. For example, some pay $2 to $4 per square foot to trade out your lawn.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>“And there are rebate programs that will also even help you with converting your sprinklers to something like drip irrigation or a rain-capture system,” Hernández said. “So we always recommend, if you’re in a position to be able to afford an investment like this type of project, they’re great to do because you’re going to get paid back to do it.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>If you’re a renter, you can also petition your landlord and let them know about the residential rebates that could be available.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>\u003cstrong>\u003ca id=\"plants\">\u003c/a>What plants are best for low-water landscaping?\u003c/strong>\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>People used to think a low-water garden could only be made of cactus and stone, notes Flora Grubb, and that may be what you want, but if not, your garden can look as richly alive and unique as any garden.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>“I think that when we’re talking about using less water in the landscape, it’s just important to dispel the myth that it has to look any one way,” she said. “What we want is for people to have landscapes in their lives that they love.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>You might want to go golden, or choose a wide range of colors, or you might want a lot of green, Grubb says. You might also choose plants from other parts of the globe that are as dry, or drier, than California.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We have plants with big, lush, green leaves that use significantly less water,” Grubb said. “We have plants with really abundant flowers that use less water and, of course, plants that wildlife love.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Gardeners who’ve made the switch say they have flowers that bloom year-round; they have more wildlife, more bees, birds, squirrels, and maybe small lizards if they’re in your area.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Most local nurseries can tell you which low-water plants will do well in your area, Hernández says. You can also \u003ca href=\"https://calscape.org\">scope around for California native plants on websites like Calscape\u003c/a>, she adds, where you can search for plants by attributes like height or how much water they require.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“In my experience,” she said, “maybe the most useful is looking at by ZIP code. So you can pop in your ZIP code and see what’s growing locally near you.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But Hernández says it’s still worth checking with your local plant nursery, because some plants in databases like this may not grow as easily in the climate that California is developing today.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>What about my trees?\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Both the experts and people who have already traded out their lawns agree that trees can be worth preserving. Trees give you shade and cool in the summer, and, if you have deciduous trees, they mulch the landscape naturally when they drop their leaves, making more healthy soil.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The more we can support the carbon in the soil — leaves, mulch and organic materials in the soil — that increases our water-holding capacity,” said Maestretti.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In winter, the bare branches let more light in, and offer more passive solar heating in your home. It takes a lot of resources to grow a tree, so it can be worth making sure they don’t die by watering them at least minimally during the summer.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>\u003cstrong>\u003ca id=\"care\">\u003c/a>How do I care for my low-water garden?\u003c/strong>\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>You will need some amount of water, say Grubb and Maestretti. Some people hand-water, or you can look into whether your water district offers rebates for installing drip irrigation or rain barrels. One popular method, as drought has worsened, has been to install gray water systems, where residents can divert sink and shower water and use it to water their gardens.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11921967\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003ca href=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2022/08/GettyImages-479949111-scaled.jpg\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-11921967\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2022/08/GettyImages-479949111-800x534.jpg\" alt=\"Large succulents with broad, flat, silver leaves blend with tall, delicate yellow flowers. Behind the plantings is a tall garden gnome carved from wood.\" width=\"800\" height=\"534\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/08/GettyImages-479949111-800x534.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/08/GettyImages-479949111-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/08/GettyImages-479949111-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/08/GettyImages-479949111-1536x1025.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/08/GettyImages-479949111-2048x1366.jpg 2048w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/08/GettyImages-479949111-1920x1281.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Drought-tolerant succulents are displayed during the 29th annual San Francisco Flower and Garden Show at the San Mateo County Event Center in March 2014. \u003ccite>(Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>A tip sheet from the UC Master Gardener Program of Contra Costa County advises that \u003ca href=\"https://ccmg.ucanr.edu/files/289340.pdf\">gray water should be added to gardens with drip irrigation, and never with sprinklers\u003c/a>. It can also be used on food crops, as long as the edible part of the plant does not come in contact with the soil. Lettuces are out, and staked tomatoes are in, at least for the tomatoes higher up on the vines.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Maestretti says one more important thing to note about gray water, is that it typically has a high salt content.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Salt in the soil, or sodium in the soil, that sometimes comes with reclaimed water can restrict roots from being able to take up water, and our trees need water,” he said. “So being mindful of where you’re using gray water and what kind of gray water you’re using would be something I would explore.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://ecologycenter.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/06/greywater.cleaning.pdf\">Soaps and cleaning products that are plant-friendly\u003c/a> will generally be biodegradable and free of salts, boron and chlorine bleach.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>My water goes downhill and won’t stay in my garden.\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>This is a common problem, since many lawns were designed on purpose with a downward slope to prevent flooding in heavy rains and to funnel water to the street and stormwater drains. Hernández says when you design your low-water garden, you can create your own small water sinks to keep rain on site.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“This is an excellent opportunity for you to kind of dig out what they call concaves,” she said, “where you want to make a small bowl-shaped dip, where it actually retains water better than a standard lawn because it’s shaped to keep it in.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Can I stop weeds from growing in my garden?\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Well, no. Weeds are going to grow when their seeds drop onto the soil from above, or grow up from below, says Grubb. All gardens need some amount of care, and some amount of weed-pulling.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp class=\"tr-paragraph\" data-pm-slice='2 2 [\"paragraph-wrapper\",null]'>\u003cspan data-pm-slice='1 1 [\"paragraph-wrapper\",null,\"paragraph\",{\"id\":\"p67-0\"}]'>And this relationship of being with the land is important, says Maestretti. No matter how well-designed and how beautiful, the success and sustainability of your garden depends on your relationship to it. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cp>Firefighters have gotten their first hold on California’s deadliest and most destructive fire of the year and expected that the blaze would remain stalled through the weekend.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The McKinney Fire near the Oregon border was 10% contained as of Thursday morning and bulldozers and hand crews were making progress carving firebreaks around much of the rest of the blaze, fire officials said at a community meeting.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The southeastern corner of the blaze above the Siskiyou County seat of Yreka, which has about 7,800 residents, was contained. Evacuation orders for sections of the town and Hawkinsville were downgraded to warnings, allowing people to return home but with a warning that the situation remained dangerous.[aside postID=\"news_11834901\" hero='https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2020/08/RS44522_002_KQED_SantaCruzCo_CZULightningComplex_08202020-qut-1020x680.jpg']About 1,300 residents remained under evacuation orders, officials said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The fire didn’t advance much on Wednesday, following several days of brief but heavy rain from thunderstorms that provided cloudy, damper weather.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“This is a sleeping giant right now,” said Darryl Laws, a unified incident commander on the blaze.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In addition, firefighters expected Thursday to fully surround a 1,000-acre spot fire on the northern edge of the McKinney Fire.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The fire broke out last Friday and has charred more than 58,000 acres of forestland, left tinder-dry by drought. More than 100 homes and other buildings have burned and four bodies have been found, including two in a burned car in a driveway.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The blaze was driven at first by fierce winds ahead of a thunderstorm cell. More storms earlier this week proved a mixed blessing. A drenching rain Tuesday dumped up to three inches on some eastern sections of the blaze but most of the fire area got next to nothing, said Dennis Burns, a fire behavior analyst.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The latest storm also brought concerns about possible river flooding and mudslides. A private contractor in a pickup truck who was aiding the firefighting effort was hurt when a bridge gave out and washed away the vehicle, Kreider said. The contractor had non-life-threatening injuries, she said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>However, no weather events were forecast for the next three or four days that could give the fire “legs,” Burns said.[pullquote size='medium' align='left' citation=\"Bill Simms, Klamath River homeowner\"]‘The house, the guest house and the RV were gone. It’s just wasteland, devastation.’[/pullquote]The good news came too late for many people in the scenic hamlet of Klamath River, which was home to about 200 people before the fire reduced many of the homes to ashes, along with the post office, community center and other buildings.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>At an evacuation center Wednesday, Bill Simms said that three of the four victims were his neighbors. Two were a married couple who lived up the road.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I don’t get emotional about stuff and material things,” Simms said. “But when you hear my next-door neighbors died … that gets a little emotional.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Their names haven’t been officially confirmed, which could take several days, said Courtney Kreider, a spokesperson with the Siskiyou County Sheriff’s Office.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Simms, a 65-year-old retiree, bought his property six years ago as a second home with access to hunting and fishing. He went back to check on his property Tuesday and found it was destroyed.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The house, the guest house and the RV were gone. It’s just wasteland, devastation,” Simms said. He found the body of one of his two cats, which he buried. The other cat is still missing. He was able to take his two dogs with him to the shelter.[aside label=\"Related Stories\" tag=\"mckinney-fire\"]Harlene Schwander, 82, lost the home she had just moved into a month ago to be closer to her son and daughter-in-law. Their home survived but her house was torched.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Schwander, an artist, said she only managed to grab a few family photos and some jewelry before evacuating. Everything else — including her art collection — went up in flames.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I’m sad. Everybody says it was just stuff, but it was all I had,” she said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>California and much of the rest of the West is in drought and wildfire danger is high, with the historically worst of the fire season still to come. Fires are burning in Montana, Idaho and Nebraska and have destroyed homes and threaten communities.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Scientists say climate change has made the West warmer and drier over the last three decades and will continue to make weather more extreme and wildfires more frequent and destructive. California has seen its largest, most destructive and deadliest wildfires in the last five years. In 2018, a massive blaze destroyed much of the city of Paradise and killed 85 people, the most deaths from a U.S. wildfire in a century.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In northwestern Montana, a fire that has destroyed at least four homes and forced the evacuation of about 150 residences west of Flathead Lake continued to be pushed north by winds on Wednesday, fire officials said.[pullquote size='medium' align='left' citation=\"Harlene Schwander, lost a home in the McKinney Fire\"]‘I’m sad. Everybody says it was just stuff, but it was all I had.’[/pullquote]Crews had to be pulled off the lines on Wednesday afternoon due to increased fire activity, Sara Rouse, a public information officer, told NBC Montana.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>There were concerns the fire could reach Lake Mary Ronan by Wednesday evening, officials said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The fire, which started on July 29 in grass on the Flathead Indian Reservation, quickly moved into timber and charred nearly 29 square miles.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The Moose Fire in Idaho has burned more than 85 square miles in the Salmon-Challis National Forest while threatening homes, mining operations and fisheries near the town of Salmon.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And a wildfire in northwestern Nebraska led to evacuations and destroyed or damaged several homes near the small city of Gering. The Carter Canyon Fire began Saturday as two separate fires that merged.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>About 1,300 residents remained under evacuation orders, officials said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The fire didn’t advance much on Wednesday, following several days of brief but heavy rain from thunderstorms that provided cloudy, damper weather.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“This is a sleeping giant right now,” said Darryl Laws, a unified incident commander on the blaze.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In addition, firefighters expected Thursday to fully surround a 1,000-acre spot fire on the northern edge of the McKinney Fire.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The fire broke out last Friday and has charred more than 58,000 acres of forestland, left tinder-dry by drought. More than 100 homes and other buildings have burned and four bodies have been found, including two in a burned car in a driveway.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The blaze was driven at first by fierce winds ahead of a thunderstorm cell. More storms earlier this week proved a mixed blessing. A drenching rain Tuesday dumped up to three inches on some eastern sections of the blaze but most of the fire area got next to nothing, said Dennis Burns, a fire behavior analyst.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The latest storm also brought concerns about possible river flooding and mudslides. A private contractor in a pickup truck who was aiding the firefighting effort was hurt when a bridge gave out and washed away the vehicle, Kreider said. The contractor had non-life-threatening injuries, she said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>However, no weather events were forecast for the next three or four days that could give the fire “legs,” Burns said.\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>The good news came too late for many people in the scenic hamlet of Klamath River, which was home to about 200 people before the fire reduced many of the homes to ashes, along with the post office, community center and other buildings.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>At an evacuation center Wednesday, Bill Simms said that three of the four victims were his neighbors. Two were a married couple who lived up the road.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I don’t get emotional about stuff and material things,” Simms said. “But when you hear my next-door neighbors died … that gets a little emotional.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Their names haven’t been officially confirmed, which could take several days, said Courtney Kreider, a spokesperson with the Siskiyou County Sheriff’s Office.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Simms, a 65-year-old retiree, bought his property six years ago as a second home with access to hunting and fishing. He went back to check on his property Tuesday and found it was destroyed.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The house, the guest house and the RV were gone. It’s just wasteland, devastation,” Simms said. He found the body of one of his two cats, which he buried. The other cat is still missing. He was able to take his two dogs with him to the shelter.\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>Harlene Schwander, 82, lost the home she had just moved into a month ago to be closer to her son and daughter-in-law. Their home survived but her house was torched.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Schwander, an artist, said she only managed to grab a few family photos and some jewelry before evacuating. Everything else — including her art collection — went up in flames.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I’m sad. Everybody says it was just stuff, but it was all I had,” she said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>California and much of the rest of the West is in drought and wildfire danger is high, with the historically worst of the fire season still to come. Fires are burning in Montana, Idaho and Nebraska and have destroyed homes and threaten communities.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Scientists say climate change has made the West warmer and drier over the last three decades and will continue to make weather more extreme and wildfires more frequent and destructive. California has seen its largest, most destructive and deadliest wildfires in the last five years. In 2018, a massive blaze destroyed much of the city of Paradise and killed 85 people, the most deaths from a U.S. wildfire in a century.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In northwestern Montana, a fire that has destroyed at least four homes and forced the evacuation of about 150 residences west of Flathead Lake continued to be pushed north by winds on Wednesday, fire officials said.\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>Crews had to be pulled off the lines on Wednesday afternoon due to increased fire activity, Sara Rouse, a public information officer, told NBC Montana.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>There were concerns the fire could reach Lake Mary Ronan by Wednesday evening, officials said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The fire, which started on July 29 in grass on the Flathead Indian Reservation, quickly moved into timber and charred nearly 29 square miles.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The Moose Fire in Idaho has burned more than 85 square miles in the Salmon-Challis National Forest while threatening homes, mining operations and fisheries near the town of Salmon.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And a wildfire in northwestern Nebraska led to evacuations and destroyed or damaged several homes near the small city of Gering. The Carter Canyon Fire began Saturday as two separate fires that merged.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"content": "\u003cp>The latest statewide water conservation numbers are improving, having more than doubled from May to June, and the Bay Area is leading the way.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In June, statewide water consumption dropped by 7.6% compared to June 2020, whereas in May, Californians reduced water use by just 3.1%, according to a report from the State Water Resources Control Board on Tuesday.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The second round of the drought emergency regulations took effect at the end of May and the numbers seem to indicate we’re seeing some positive impacts from that,” said Marielle Pinheiro, a data specialist with the Water Board’s Office of Research, Planning and Performance.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[pullquote size='medium' citation='Dave Eggerton Association of California Water Agencies']‘I think the numbers are definitely heading in the right direction.’[/pullquote]The emergency regulations require all of the state’s 436 urban water suppliers to implement Water Shortage Contingency Plans, which vary from supplier to supplier but can include things like incentives for conservation and for replacing water-intensive landscaping as well as fines or additional charges for overconsuming water.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>For example, the East Bay Municipal Utility District (EBMUD), which delivers drinking water to 1.4 million customers in Alameda and Contra Costa counties, mandated a 10% water-use reduction, tightened restrictions on outdoor water use and reinstated its Excessive Use Penalty Ordinance, which includes fines of $2 for every 748 gallons of water used above a 1,646-gallon threshold, among other things.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The district says it has recorded water-use reductions of 6% in May, 12% in June and 16% in July, compared to those months two years ago.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Customer savings figures are moving in the right direction, but we know we must do more,” said EBMUD General Manager Clifford Chan in a news release Tuesday.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“EBMUD asks its customers to continue to conserve, and if they are able, make more changes to make long-term impacts to their water use habits,” Chan said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[aside tag=water,drought label='Related Coverage']Also in June, the Water Board banned the use of potable water on “decorative or non-functional grass” at commercial, industrial and institutional properties across the state.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I think the numbers are definitely heading in the right direction,” said Dave Eggerton, executive director of the Association of California Water Agencies.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It’s positive and only getting better,” said Eggerton, whose association represents hundreds of water systems that collectively deliver about 90% of the state’s water to residential and commercial users.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Water Board chairman E. Joaquin Esquivel said June’s conservation numbers are heartening since they come on the heels of two months, March and April, when statewide water-use numbers rose by 18.7% and 17.8% respectively.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“What is important to see is that turnaround,” Esquivel said. “We did pass in late May our regs; all water agencies are now at Level 2 of their Water Shortage Contingency Plan and we began banning the irrigation of non-functional turf.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In June, all of the state’s 10 hydrologic regions reported a decrease in water use\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> — \u003c/span>the Bay Area heading up the list with 12.6%, followed by the North Coast and San Joaquin River regions with a bit over 10% each.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Marin County residents saved the most at 24.7% in May. Napa and Sonoma counties also beat Gov. Gavin Newsom’s targeted 15% conservation goal.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>San Francisco and Solano lagged behind, each at only around 5% savings.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]The South Coast region, which includes Los Angeles and San Diego and is home to more than 55% of the state’s population, recorded a nearly 6% drop in water use.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>From July 2021 to June 2022, the state’s cumulative water use dropped by 2.7% compared to 2020, well below the governor’s conservation goal.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We met with the governor recently and he made it very clear that he wants to see this happen,” Eggerton said. “It’s a critical part of our response to the drought.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Eggerton also said the state needs to continue investing in water storage and delivery systems in order to build resiliency in the face of ongoing temperature rise and precipitation declines.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We really need to capture as much (water) as we can when we do have wet years so we’re in a better position to deal with the challenges we have now,” he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>KQED’s Kevin Stark and Bay City News contributed to this report. \u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>The latest statewide water conservation numbers are improving, having more than doubled from May to June, and the Bay Area is leading the way.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In June, statewide water consumption dropped by 7.6% compared to June 2020, whereas in May, Californians reduced water use by just 3.1%, according to a report from the State Water Resources Control Board on Tuesday.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The second round of the drought emergency regulations took effect at the end of May and the numbers seem to indicate we’re seeing some positive impacts from that,” said Marielle Pinheiro, a data specialist with the Water Board’s Office of Research, Planning and Performance.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>The emergency regulations require all of the state’s 436 urban water suppliers to implement Water Shortage Contingency Plans, which vary from supplier to supplier but can include things like incentives for conservation and for replacing water-intensive landscaping as well as fines or additional charges for overconsuming water.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>For example, the East Bay Municipal Utility District (EBMUD), which delivers drinking water to 1.4 million customers in Alameda and Contra Costa counties, mandated a 10% water-use reduction, tightened restrictions on outdoor water use and reinstated its Excessive Use Penalty Ordinance, which includes fines of $2 for every 748 gallons of water used above a 1,646-gallon threshold, among other things.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The district says it has recorded water-use reductions of 6% in May, 12% in June and 16% in July, compared to those months two years ago.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Customer savings figures are moving in the right direction, but we know we must do more,” said EBMUD General Manager Clifford Chan in a news release Tuesday.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“EBMUD asks its customers to continue to conserve, and if they are able, make more changes to make long-term impacts to their water use habits,” Chan said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>Also in June, the Water Board banned the use of potable water on “decorative or non-functional grass” at commercial, industrial and institutional properties across the state.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I think the numbers are definitely heading in the right direction,” said Dave Eggerton, executive director of the Association of California Water Agencies.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It’s positive and only getting better,” said Eggerton, whose association represents hundreds of water systems that collectively deliver about 90% of the state’s water to residential and commercial users.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Water Board chairman E. Joaquin Esquivel said June’s conservation numbers are heartening since they come on the heels of two months, March and April, when statewide water-use numbers rose by 18.7% and 17.8% respectively.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“What is important to see is that turnaround,” Esquivel said. “We did pass in late May our regs; all water agencies are now at Level 2 of their Water Shortage Contingency Plan and we began banning the irrigation of non-functional turf.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In June, all of the state’s 10 hydrologic regions reported a decrease in water use\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> — \u003c/span>the Bay Area heading up the list with 12.6%, followed by the North Coast and San Joaquin River regions with a bit over 10% each.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Marin County residents saved the most at 24.7% in May. Napa and Sonoma counties also beat Gov. Gavin Newsom’s targeted 15% conservation goal.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>San Francisco and Solano lagged behind, each at only around 5% savings.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>The South Coast region, which includes Los Angeles and San Diego and is home to more than 55% of the state’s population, recorded a nearly 6% drop in water use.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>From July 2021 to June 2022, the state’s cumulative water use dropped by 2.7% compared to 2020, well below the governor’s conservation goal.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We met with the governor recently and he made it very clear that he wants to see this happen,” Eggerton said. “It’s a critical part of our response to the drought.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Eggerton also said the state needs to continue investing in water storage and delivery systems in order to build resiliency in the face of ongoing temperature rise and precipitation declines.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We really need to capture as much (water) as we can when we do have wet years so we’re in a better position to deal with the challenges we have now,” he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>KQED’s Kevin Stark and Bay City News contributed to this report. \u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"content": "\u003cp>Roger Derry, 80, and his son have lived together in the tiny scenic hamlet of Klamath River in Northern California for more than 40 years.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>They know most of the town’s 200 or so residents.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Now, they’re one of the few families left after California’s largest and deadliest wildfire of the year raged through the modest homes and stores of the riverside town.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[aside postID=\"news_11834901\" hero='https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2020/08/RS44522_002_KQED_SantaCruzCo_CZULightningComplex_08202020-qut-1020x680.jpg']\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It’s very sad. It’s very disheartening,” Derry said. “Some of our oldest homes, 100-year-old homes, are gone. It’s a small community. Good people, good folks, for the most part, live here and in time will rebuild. But it’s going to take some time now.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The McKinney Fire that erupted last Friday remained out of control, despite some progress as firefighters took advantage of thunderstorms that dumped rain, temporarily taking a bit of heat out of the parched, scorched region not far from the Oregon border.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The area saw another thunderstorm Tuesday that dumped heavy rain and swelled rivers.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The fire has burned more than 57,000 acres, and is the largest of several wildfires burning in the Klamath National Forest.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The blaze grew very little Tuesday, and fire officials said crews were able to use bulldozers to carve firebreaks along a ridge to protect homes and buildings in and around the small city of Yreka.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But several thousand people remained under evacuation orders; 100 buildings ranging from homes to greenhouses have burned and at least four bodies have been found in the region.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The destruction of a small community has sadly become a real possibility as wildfires become fiercer in the Western United States.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[aside label=\"Related Stories\" tag=\"mckinney-fire\"]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Wildfires in Montana, Idaho and Nebraska have destroyed some homes and continue to threaten communities.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Just four years ago, a massive blaze in the Sierra Nevada foothills of California virtually razed the Butte County town of Paradise, killing 85 people.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Scientists have said climate change has made the West warmer and drier over the last three decades and will continue to make weather more extreme and wildfires more frequent and destructive.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>When it began, the McKinney Fire was only a couple hundred acres and firefighters thought they would quickly have it under control. But then, a thunderstorm cell came in with ferocious wind gusts that within hours had pushed it into an unstoppable conflagration.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Roger Derry and his son, whose name is spelled Rodger Derry, decided not to evacuate when the fire broke out and said their home, which they’d tried to safeguard by trimming away nearby bushes, survived. Firefighters also showed up and dug firebreaks around the neighborhood.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[pullquote size='medium' align='left' citation=\"Roger Derry, resident of the town of Klamath River \"]‘When that fire came over that ridgeline, it had 100-foot flames for about five miles and the wind was blowing. It was coming down like a solid blowtorch.’[/pullquote]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But they could see the fire as it tore its way through the places around them.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“When that fire came over that ridgeline, it had 100-foot flames for about five miles and the wind was blowing. It was coming down like a solid blowtorch,” Roger Derry said. “There was nothing to stop it,”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The fire destroyed most of the homes, including those in a trailer park, along with the post office, community hall and other scattered businesses.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The cause hasn’t been determined.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>https://twitter.com/Klamath_NF/status/1554877429772128263\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In northwestern Montana, a fire that started Friday near the town of Elmo on the Flathead Indian Reservation has burned some structures, but authorities said they didn’t immediately know if any were homes. The blaze burned more than 18,000 acres on Wednesday, with 16% containment, fire officials said. Some residents were forced to flee Monday as gusting afternoon winds drove the fire.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The Moose Fire in Idaho has burned more than 62,000 acres in the Salmon-Challis National Forest while threatening homes, mining operations and fisheries near the town of Salmon. It was 20% contained Wednesday, according to the National Interagency Coordination Center.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And a wildfire raging in northwestern Nebraska led to evacuations and destroyed or damaged several homes near the small city of Gering. The Carter Canyon Fire began Saturday as two separate fires that merged. It was more than 30% contained by Tuesday.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Weber reported from Los Angeles. Associated Press reporters Amy Hanson in Helena, Montana; Margery Beck in Omaha, Nebraska; and Keith Ridler in Boise, Idaho, contributed to this report.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n",
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},
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"info": "KQED’s statewide radio news program providing daily coverage of issues, trends and public policy decisions.",
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"officialWebsiteLink": "/californiareport",
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"order": 8
},
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"info": "Every week, The California Report Magazine takes you on a road trip for the ears: to visit the places and meet the people who make California unique. The in-depth storytelling podcast from the California Report.",
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},
"link": "https://www.cityarts.net",
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"order": 1
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"info": "\u003cem>Code Switch\u003c/em>, which listeners will hear in the first part of the hour, has fearless and much-needed conversations about race. Hosted by journalists of color, the show tackles the subject of race head-on, exploring how it impacts every part of society — from politics and pop culture to history, sports and more.\u003cbr />\u003cbr />\u003cem>Life Kit\u003c/em>, which will be in the second part of the hour, guides you through spaces and feelings no one prepares you for — from finances to mental health, from workplace microaggressions to imposter syndrome, from relationships to parenting. The show features experts with real world experience and shares their knowledge. Because everyone needs a little help being human.\u003cbr />\u003cbr />\u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/podcasts/510312/codeswitch\">\u003cem>Code Switch\u003c/em> offical site and podcast\u003c/a>\u003cbr />\u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/lifekit\">\u003cem>Life Kit\u003c/em> offical site and podcast\u003c/a>\u003cbr />",
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"id": "commonwealth-club",
"title": "Commonwealth Club of California Podcast",
"info": "The Commonwealth Club of California is the nation's oldest and largest public affairs forum. As a non-partisan forum, The Club brings to the public airwaves diverse viewpoints on important topics. The Club's weekly radio broadcast - the oldest in the U.S., dating back to 1924 - is carried across the nation on public radio stations and is now podcasting. Our website archive features audio of our recent programs, as well as selected speeches from our long and distinguished history. This podcast feed is usually updated twice a week and is always un-edited.",
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"source": "Commonwealth Club of California"
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"google": "https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cDovL3d3dy5jb21tb253ZWFsdGhjbHViLm9yZy9hdWRpby9wb2RjYXN0L3dlZWtseS54bWw",
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"order": 9
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"meta": {
"site": "radio",
"source": "WNYC"
},
"link": "/radio/program/freakonomics-radio",
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"id": "fresh-air",
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"info": "A live production of NPR and WBUR Boston, in collaboration with stations across the country, Here & Now reflects the fluid world of news as it's happening in the middle of the day, with timely, in-depth news, interviews and conversation. Hosted by Robin Young, Jeremy Hobson and Tonya Mosley.",
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"hidden-brain": {
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"source": "NPR"
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"how-i-built-this": {
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"info": "Guy Raz dives into the stories behind some of the world's best known companies. How I Built This weaves a narrative journey about innovators, entrepreneurs and idealists—and the movements they built.",
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"airtime": "SUN 7:30pm-8pm",
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"hyphenacion": {
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"tagline": "Where conversation and cultura meet",
"info": "What kind of no sabo word is Hyphenación? For us, it’s about living within a hyphenation. Like being a third-gen Mexican-American from the Texas border now living that Bay Area Chicano life. Like Xorje! Each week we bring together a couple of hyphenated Latinos to talk all about personal life choices: family, careers, relationships, belonging … everything is on the table. ",
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"jerrybrown": {
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"title": "The Political Mind of Jerry Brown",
"tagline": "Lessons from a lifetime in politics",
"info": "The Political Mind of Jerry Brown brings listeners the wisdom of the former Governor, Mayor, and presidential candidate. Scott Shafer interviewed Brown for more than 40 hours, covering the former governor's life and half-century in the political game – and Brown has some lessons he'd like to share. ",
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"order": 18
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},
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"id": "latino-usa",
"title": "Latino USA",
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"info": "Latino USA, the radio journal of news and culture, is the only national, English-language radio program produced from a Latino perspective.",
"imageSrc": "https://ww2.kqed.org/radio/wp-content/uploads/sites/50/2018/04/latinoUsa.jpg",
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"link": "/radio/program/latino-usa",
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},
"marketplace": {
"id": "marketplace",
"title": "Marketplace",
"info": "Our flagship program, helmed by Kai Ryssdal, examines what the day in money delivered, through stories, conversations, newsworthy numbers and more. Updated Monday through Friday at about 3:30 p.m. PT.",
"airtime": "MON-FRI 4pm-4:30pm, MON-WED 6:30pm-7pm",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Marketplace-Podcast-Tile-360x360-1.jpg",
"officialWebsiteLink": "https://www.marketplace.org/",
"meta": {
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"source": "American Public Media"
},
"link": "/radio/program/marketplace",
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"masters-of-scale": {
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"title": "Masters of Scale",
"info": "Masters of Scale is an original podcast in which LinkedIn co-founder and Greylock Partner Reid Hoffman sets out to describe and prove theories that explain how great entrepreneurs take their companies from zero to a gazillion in ingenious fashion.",
"airtime": "Every other Wednesday June 12 through October 16 at 8pm (repeats Thursdays at 2am)",
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"source": "WaitWhat"
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"rss": "https://rss.art19.com/masters-of-scale"
}
},
"mindshift": {
"id": "mindshift",
"title": "MindShift",
"tagline": "A podcast about the future of learning and how we raise our kids",
"info": "The MindShift podcast explores the innovations in education that are shaping how kids learn. Hosts Ki Sung and Katrina Schwartz introduce listeners to educators, researchers, parents and students who are developing effective ways to improve how kids learn. We cover topics like how fed-up administrators are developing surprising tactics to deal with classroom disruptions; how listening to podcasts are helping kids develop reading skills; the consequences of overparenting; and why interdisciplinary learning can engage students on all ends of the traditional achievement spectrum. This podcast is part of the MindShift education site, a division of KQED News. KQED is an NPR/PBS member station based in San Francisco. You can also visit the MindShift website for episodes and supplemental blog posts or tweet us \u003ca href=\"https://twitter.com/MindShiftKQED\">@MindShiftKQED\u003c/a> or visit us at \u003ca href=\"/mindshift\">MindShift.KQED.org\u003c/a>",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Mindshift-Podcast-Tile-703x703-1.jpg",
"imageAlt": "KQED MindShift: How We Will Learn",
"officialWebsiteLink": "/mindshift/",
"meta": {
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"source": "kqed",
"order": 12
},
"link": "/podcasts/mindshift",
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"google": "https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly9mZWVkcy5tZWdhcGhvbmUuZm0vS1FJTkM1NzY0NjAwNDI5",
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}
},
"morning-edition": {
"id": "morning-edition",
"title": "Morning Edition",
"info": "\u003cem>Morning Edition\u003c/em> takes listeners around the country and the world with multi-faceted stories and commentaries every weekday. Hosts Steve Inskeep, David Greene and Rachel Martin bring you the latest breaking news and features to prepare you for the day.",
"airtime": "MON-FRI 3am-9am",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Morning-Edition-Podcast-Tile-360x360-1.jpg",
"officialWebsiteLink": "https://www.npr.org/programs/morning-edition/",
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"link": "/radio/program/morning-edition"
},
"onourwatch": {
"id": "onourwatch",
"title": "On Our Watch",
"tagline": "Deeply-reported investigative journalism",
"info": "For decades, the process for how police police themselves has been inconsistent – if not opaque. In some states, like California, these proceedings were completely hidden. After a new police transparency law unsealed scores of internal affairs files, our reporters set out to examine these cases and the shadow world of police discipline. On Our Watch brings listeners into the rooms where officers are questioned and witnesses are interrogated to find out who this system is really protecting. Is it the officers, or the public they've sworn to serve?",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/On-Our-Watch-Podcast-Tile-703x703-1.jpg",
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"officialWebsiteLink": "/podcasts/onourwatch",
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"source": "kqed",
"order": 11
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