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"content": "\u003cp>For the first time in more than three decades of fishing for salmon near Bodega Bay, Dick Ogg will motor his white and navy boat, Karen Jeanne, north this summer past his typical fisheries in hopes of finding the multicolored species along the Oregon coast.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>There aren’t enough salmon left off the California coast for Ogg to sell on Bodega Bay’s historic docks.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We, as fishermen, have nowhere to turn,” he said.[pullquote size=\"medium\" align=\"right\" citation=\"Dick Ogg, Bay Area fisher\"]‘We, as fishermen, have nowhere to turn.’[/pullquote]Fishery managers are signaling they may cancel California’s commercial salmon season for the second year in a row, which means the 71-year-old has two options: temporarily traveling to Oregon to catch salmon or barely making ends meet luring in rockfish and sablefish.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Ogg, often in a gray hoodie and wiry sunglasses, wishes there was a solution for boosting California’s salmon schools. He describes the species as “having one of the greatest spirits” an ocean-fairing creature can have.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“They can take a hook and bend it straight to get away,” he said, remembering countless salmon that escaped. “Maybe that’s what they were supposed to do, having the chance to go up the river to spawn.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Lawmakers think they have a solution for at least one part of the salmon mortality problem: purifying highway runoff of toxic dust from tires that enters streams and rivers during storms — made worse by human-caused climate change. When the chemical enters waterways, it quickly kills some species of salmon and trout.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Assemblymember Diane Papan (D-San Mateo) recently introduced legislation — \u003ca href=\"https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billTextClient.xhtml?bill_id=202320240AB1798\">AB 1798\u003c/a> — that would mandate the state’s leading transportation agency to devise a plan for naturally removing the toxic tire particles, known as 6PPD-quinone, before they slip into waterways and kill fish. While the state has already asked the tire industry to develop alternatives for the chemicals in every tire sold in California, Papan’s plan seeks to clean up the pollution from the cars already on the road.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1992175\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003ca href=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2024/03/240330-Salmon-JY-003_qut.jpg\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-1992175\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2024/03/240330-Salmon-JY-003_qut.jpg\" alt=\"A man wearing a grayish hoodie and sun glasses stands in the doorway on a boat with bright blue overalls to the left.\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1280\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2024/03/240330-Salmon-JY-003_qut.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2024/03/240330-Salmon-JY-003_qut-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2024/03/240330-Salmon-JY-003_qut-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2024/03/240330-Salmon-JY-003_qut-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2024/03/240330-Salmon-JY-003_qut-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2024/03/240330-Salmon-JY-003_qut-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Salmon fisherman Richard “Dick” Ogg stands for a portrait on his boat, the Karen Jeanne at Spud Point Marina in Bodega Bay, Calif., on Saturday, March 30, 2024. Ogg is planning on going to Oregon for salmon season this year, due to California’s shortage. \u003ccite>(Juliana Yamada/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>While purifying runoff from tiny, tainted rubber bits won’t entirely solve the salmon die-off, Ogg sees the effort as an “opportunity to do what we can to support the fish.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The perils to California’s salmon are growing.[pullquote size=\"medium\" align=\"right\" citation=\"Sarah Bates, Bay Area fisher\"]‘… these fish are in peril because their river ecosystems are in peril. If we don’t take some steps now, then we might be looking at the final days of the species and the fishing fleet.’[/pullquote]A changing ocean, dams blocking migration paths, worsening drought conditions drastically decreasing water flows, and climate-fueled storms further complicate river systems. People are feeling the effects on land, even if they don’t realize it — fishers lose jobs, restaurants turn to farm-grown fish, and tribes who view salmon as part of their cultural identity can’t rely on salmon as a food source.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Sarah Bates, who captains Bounty, a commercial fishing boat docked at Fisherman’s Wharf in San Francisco, said the industry is suffering after years of diminished salmon populations.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1992177\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003ca href=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2024/03/240330-Salmon-JY-020_qut.jpg\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-1992177\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2024/03/240330-Salmon-JY-020_qut.jpg\" alt=\"A man walks by boats on a dock.\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1280\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2024/03/240330-Salmon-JY-020_qut.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2024/03/240330-Salmon-JY-020_qut-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2024/03/240330-Salmon-JY-020_qut-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2024/03/240330-Salmon-JY-020_qut-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2024/03/240330-Salmon-JY-020_qut-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2024/03/240330-Salmon-JY-020_qut-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Salmon fisherman Richard “Dick” Ogg walks through Spud Point Marina in Bodega Bay, on Saturday, March 30, 2024. If fisheries cancel California’s salmon season for the second year in a row, Ogg plans to make a trip to Oregon to catch salmon there. \u003ccite>(Juliana Yamada/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“A lot of people are out of work and struggling financially and emotionally,” she said. “But the fact is that these fish are in peril because their river ecosystems are in peril. If we don’t take some steps now, then we might be looking at the final days of the species and the fishing fleet.”\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>What is 6PPD?\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>For over half a century, manufacturers have included the chemical \u003ca href=\"https://comptox.epa.gov/dashboard/chemical/details/DTXSID9025114\">6PPD\u003c/a> in the tire-making process to help them last longer. When ozone in the air comes into contact with the chemical, it turns into 6PPD-quinone. The byproduct ends up as toxic dust on roadways. During storms, the chemical gets washed into rivers and streams, where it comes in contact with fish.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Recent studies have linked the death of coho salmon to the chemical. In watersheds near the busiest roadways, researchers found \u003ca href=\"https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.abd6951\">up to 90% of returning salmon in the Pacific Northwest may die before spawning\u003c/a>. They also found the chemical in roadway runoff in Los Angeles and creeks in San Francisco and suggested the contaminated bits of rubber kill steelhead trout and chinook salmon.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1992167\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2560px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-1992167\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2024/03/GettyImages-1233162632-scaled.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2560\" height=\"1707\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2024/03/GettyImages-1233162632-scaled.jpg 2560w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2024/03/GettyImages-1233162632-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2024/03/GettyImages-1233162632-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2024/03/GettyImages-1233162632-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2024/03/GettyImages-1233162632-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2024/03/GettyImages-1233162632-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2024/03/GettyImages-1233162632-2048x1365.jpg 2048w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2024/03/GettyImages-1233162632-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2560px) 100vw, 2560px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Chinook salmon (pictured) as well as steelhead trout are being killed by toxic tire dust that produces the chemical byproduct called 6PPD-quinone when ozone in the air comes into contact with the chemical. Researchers found the byproduct in roadway runoff in Los Angeles and creeks in San Francisco. \u003ccite>(Patrick T. Fallon/AFL via Getty Images)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Some species, like coho, are susceptible, and the substance diluted in water can kill them in hours. In 2022, researchers found that “\u003ca href=\"https://pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/acs.estlett.2c00467\">significant mortality occurred in coho even when roadway runoff was diluted by 95% in clean water\u003c/a>.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The chemical’s effect on human health is still unknown, according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>On the Russian River in Sonoma and Mendocino counties, officials counted \u003ca href=\"https://www.sonomawater.org/chinook\">fewer than 2,000 chinook salmon in December\u003c/a>, down from nearly 7,000 in 2012 — a far cry from the more than 150,000 fish that swam the river more than a century ago, said Don McEnhill, executive director of the environmental nonprofit Russian Riverkeeper.[pullquote size=\"medium\" align=\"right\" citation=\"Joseph L. James, chairman, Yurok Tribe\"]‘We could not sit idle while 6PPD kills the fish that sustain us.’[/pullquote]“This is kind of a straw that breaks the camel’s back kind of situation,” he said. “We have created a host of impacts on aquatic ecosystems, and this new stressor, climate change, is putting a lot more pressure on them.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Last November, the U.S. EPA granted \u003ca href=\"https://earthjustice.org/press/2023/epa-grants-tribal-nations-petition-to-restrict-6ppd-in-tires\">a petition by tribes\u003c/a> for the agency to consider establishing regulations prohibiting the manufacturing, processing, use and distribution of 6PPD in tires.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We could not sit idle while 6PPD kills the fish that sustain us,” said Joseph L. James, chairman of the Yurok Tribe, in a statement.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>EPA officials said last fall that addressing the contaminant in the environment “is one way we can work to reverse this trend.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As a result, the state required the tire industry to give California a list of more than 40 alternatives to 6PPD by last Friday. The state’s Department of Toxic Substances Control has two months to evaluate the findings before providing feedback to the tire companies, but in a statement, it said, “the responsibility to comply falls first on manufacturers.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“This marks a crucial milestone in our efforts to compel manufacturers to look for safer alternatives to this toxic chemical while ensuring tire safety on California’s roads,” said Meredith Williams, the agency’s director.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>‘It’s in every vehicle tire’\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Removing 6PPD-quinone from storm runoff is a massive undertaking, but Assemblymember Papan is spearheading the challenge. In March, she introduced legislation \u003ca href=\"https://a21.asmdc.org/press-releases/20240319-legislation-safeguard-salmon-and-steelhead-trout-lethal-storm-water#:~:text=The%20S.A.L.M.O.N%20Act%20will%20direct,salmon%20and%20steelhead%20trout%20habitats.\">mandating Caltrans develop a regional strategy to eliminate the chemicals from stormwater discharge\u003c/a> into salmon and steelhead trout habitats.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>While tribes call for eliminating 6PPD in tires everywhere, Papan’s bill focuses on removing existing toxic dust from roadways because eliminating the chemicals from tires doesn’t address out-of-state travelers, imported tires or tires already on cars.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1982500\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003ca href=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/04/RS50202_IMG_6476-2-qut.jpg\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-1982500\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/04/RS50202_IMG_6476-2-qut.jpg\" alt=\"Cars and trucks on an interstate highway as seen from an overpass.\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1280\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/04/RS50202_IMG_6476-2-qut.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/04/RS50202_IMG_6476-2-qut-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/04/RS50202_IMG_6476-2-qut-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/04/RS50202_IMG_6476-2-qut-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/04/RS50202_IMG_6476-2-qut-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/04/RS50202_IMG_6476-2-qut-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Traffic on Interstate 880 toward Oakland flowing with cars and diesel trucks midafternoon on Monday, June 28, 2021. \u003ccite>(Joyce Tsai/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“It’s sort of the first step,” she said. “It’s in every vehicle tire, and we’ve got to find a replacement. In short of finding that replacement, this bill plays a key role in keeping our waterways clean.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The legislation directs Caltrans to create five pilot projects in San Mateo, Contra Costa, Sonoma, Humboldt and Nevada counties where highways cross salmon and steelhead-bearing waters. The bill also advises Caltrans to create green basins near roads where plants and soil naturally remove the chemicals from runoff before entering rivers and streams.[pullquote size=\"medium\" align=\"right\" citation=\"Assemblymember Diane Papan (D-San Mateo)\"]‘It’s in every vehicle tire, and we’ve got to find a replacement. In short of finding that replacement, this bill plays a key role in keeping our waterways clean.’[/pullquote]“We won’t be able to do it everywhere, but as we expand out, we will look at where we can do it in a targeted fashion,” she said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Caltrans declined to comment because the agency does not comment on pending legislation.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The U.S. Tire Manufacturers Association, representing a dozen companies that operate 57 tire-related facilities across the country, supports Papan’s bill. Sean Moore, who leads the group’s government relations team, said the organization is working with Papan because it could take years for the rules banning the preservative to come into effect, and “in the meantime, it’s important to look at other ways to mitigate concerns related to stormwater more broadly in the environment.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Environmental groups, like the California Coastkeeper Alliance, also back Papan’s effort, though it is unclear exactly how many salmon and trout in California die daily from exposure to the chemical.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We need to start taking action, or else these species might go extinct,” the group’s executive director, Sean Bothwell said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>He said filtering out the contaminants from stormwater using natural barriers is just the beginning; other roadway debris, like grease, oil and microplastics, could be treated using the same methods.[aside label='More on Climate Change' tag='climate-change']“It can address all that in one swoop,” he said. “We’re using 6PPD as the poster child of why we need to do this.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Papan’s solution for reducing salmon and trout dieoff may also have a secondary benefit: reducing flooding during storms, which are only becoming more intense as the world warms.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We can’t think about our infrastructure as one-trick ponies anymore,” said Hayley Currier, policy manager with the environmental nonprofit Save the Bay.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Because much of the state’s water infrastructure is not ready for future storms, Currier said she hopes the pilot projects prove that creating extra space for tainted runoff to pool into will help save fish species while also reducing flooding.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Everything has to do multiple things,” she said. “When building our infrastructure, we need to think about climate resilience, and flooding needs to be right up there with fire and heat.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n",
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"excerpt": "California salmon are in decline, but lawmakers believe they have a solution to the part of the problem: cleaning toxic tire dust from storm runoff that kills fish.",
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"title": "Toxic Dust Threatens California Salmon Population, Lawmaker Seeks Solution | KQED",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>For the first time in more than three decades of fishing for salmon near Bodega Bay, Dick Ogg will motor his white and navy boat, Karen Jeanne, north this summer past his typical fisheries in hopes of finding the multicolored species along the Oregon coast.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>There aren’t enough salmon left off the California coast for Ogg to sell on Bodega Bay’s historic docks.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We, as fishermen, have nowhere to turn,” he said.\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>Fishery managers are signaling they may cancel California’s commercial salmon season for the second year in a row, which means the 71-year-old has two options: temporarily traveling to Oregon to catch salmon or barely making ends meet luring in rockfish and sablefish.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Ogg, often in a gray hoodie and wiry sunglasses, wishes there was a solution for boosting California’s salmon schools. He describes the species as “having one of the greatest spirits” an ocean-fairing creature can have.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“They can take a hook and bend it straight to get away,” he said, remembering countless salmon that escaped. “Maybe that’s what they were supposed to do, having the chance to go up the river to spawn.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Lawmakers think they have a solution for at least one part of the salmon mortality problem: purifying highway runoff of toxic dust from tires that enters streams and rivers during storms — made worse by human-caused climate change. When the chemical enters waterways, it quickly kills some species of salmon and trout.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Assemblymember Diane Papan (D-San Mateo) recently introduced legislation — \u003ca href=\"https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billTextClient.xhtml?bill_id=202320240AB1798\">AB 1798\u003c/a> — that would mandate the state’s leading transportation agency to devise a plan for naturally removing the toxic tire particles, known as 6PPD-quinone, before they slip into waterways and kill fish. While the state has already asked the tire industry to develop alternatives for the chemicals in every tire sold in California, Papan’s plan seeks to clean up the pollution from the cars already on the road.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1992175\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003ca href=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2024/03/240330-Salmon-JY-003_qut.jpg\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-1992175\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2024/03/240330-Salmon-JY-003_qut.jpg\" alt=\"A man wearing a grayish hoodie and sun glasses stands in the doorway on a boat with bright blue overalls to the left.\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1280\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2024/03/240330-Salmon-JY-003_qut.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2024/03/240330-Salmon-JY-003_qut-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2024/03/240330-Salmon-JY-003_qut-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2024/03/240330-Salmon-JY-003_qut-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2024/03/240330-Salmon-JY-003_qut-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2024/03/240330-Salmon-JY-003_qut-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Salmon fisherman Richard “Dick” Ogg stands for a portrait on his boat, the Karen Jeanne at Spud Point Marina in Bodega Bay, Calif., on Saturday, March 30, 2024. Ogg is planning on going to Oregon for salmon season this year, due to California’s shortage. \u003ccite>(Juliana Yamada/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>While purifying runoff from tiny, tainted rubber bits won’t entirely solve the salmon die-off, Ogg sees the effort as an “opportunity to do what we can to support the fish.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The perils to California’s salmon are growing.\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "‘… these fish are in peril because their river ecosystems are in peril. If we don’t take some steps now, then we might be looking at the final days of the species and the fishing fleet.’",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>A changing ocean, dams blocking migration paths, worsening drought conditions drastically decreasing water flows, and climate-fueled storms further complicate river systems. People are feeling the effects on land, even if they don’t realize it — fishers lose jobs, restaurants turn to farm-grown fish, and tribes who view salmon as part of their cultural identity can’t rely on salmon as a food source.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Sarah Bates, who captains Bounty, a commercial fishing boat docked at Fisherman’s Wharf in San Francisco, said the industry is suffering after years of diminished salmon populations.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1992177\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003ca href=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2024/03/240330-Salmon-JY-020_qut.jpg\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-1992177\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2024/03/240330-Salmon-JY-020_qut.jpg\" alt=\"A man walks by boats on a dock.\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1280\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2024/03/240330-Salmon-JY-020_qut.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2024/03/240330-Salmon-JY-020_qut-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2024/03/240330-Salmon-JY-020_qut-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2024/03/240330-Salmon-JY-020_qut-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2024/03/240330-Salmon-JY-020_qut-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2024/03/240330-Salmon-JY-020_qut-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Salmon fisherman Richard “Dick” Ogg walks through Spud Point Marina in Bodega Bay, on Saturday, March 30, 2024. If fisheries cancel California’s salmon season for the second year in a row, Ogg plans to make a trip to Oregon to catch salmon there. \u003ccite>(Juliana Yamada/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“A lot of people are out of work and struggling financially and emotionally,” she said. “But the fact is that these fish are in peril because their river ecosystems are in peril. If we don’t take some steps now, then we might be looking at the final days of the species and the fishing fleet.”\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>What is 6PPD?\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>For over half a century, manufacturers have included the chemical \u003ca href=\"https://comptox.epa.gov/dashboard/chemical/details/DTXSID9025114\">6PPD\u003c/a> in the tire-making process to help them last longer. When ozone in the air comes into contact with the chemical, it turns into 6PPD-quinone. The byproduct ends up as toxic dust on roadways. During storms, the chemical gets washed into rivers and streams, where it comes in contact with fish.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Recent studies have linked the death of coho salmon to the chemical. In watersheds near the busiest roadways, researchers found \u003ca href=\"https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.abd6951\">up to 90% of returning salmon in the Pacific Northwest may die before spawning\u003c/a>. They also found the chemical in roadway runoff in Los Angeles and creeks in San Francisco and suggested the contaminated bits of rubber kill steelhead trout and chinook salmon.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1992167\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2560px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-1992167\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2024/03/GettyImages-1233162632-scaled.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2560\" height=\"1707\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2024/03/GettyImages-1233162632-scaled.jpg 2560w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2024/03/GettyImages-1233162632-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2024/03/GettyImages-1233162632-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2024/03/GettyImages-1233162632-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2024/03/GettyImages-1233162632-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2024/03/GettyImages-1233162632-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2024/03/GettyImages-1233162632-2048x1365.jpg 2048w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2024/03/GettyImages-1233162632-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2560px) 100vw, 2560px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Chinook salmon (pictured) as well as steelhead trout are being killed by toxic tire dust that produces the chemical byproduct called 6PPD-quinone when ozone in the air comes into contact with the chemical. Researchers found the byproduct in roadway runoff in Los Angeles and creeks in San Francisco. \u003ccite>(Patrick T. Fallon/AFL via Getty Images)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Some species, like coho, are susceptible, and the substance diluted in water can kill them in hours. In 2022, researchers found that “\u003ca href=\"https://pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/acs.estlett.2c00467\">significant mortality occurred in coho even when roadway runoff was diluted by 95% in clean water\u003c/a>.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The chemical’s effect on human health is still unknown, according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>On the Russian River in Sonoma and Mendocino counties, officials counted \u003ca href=\"https://www.sonomawater.org/chinook\">fewer than 2,000 chinook salmon in December\u003c/a>, down from nearly 7,000 in 2012 — a far cry from the more than 150,000 fish that swam the river more than a century ago, said Don McEnhill, executive director of the environmental nonprofit Russian Riverkeeper.\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "‘We could not sit idle while 6PPD kills the fish that sustain us.’",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>“This is kind of a straw that breaks the camel’s back kind of situation,” he said. “We have created a host of impacts on aquatic ecosystems, and this new stressor, climate change, is putting a lot more pressure on them.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Last November, the U.S. EPA granted \u003ca href=\"https://earthjustice.org/press/2023/epa-grants-tribal-nations-petition-to-restrict-6ppd-in-tires\">a petition by tribes\u003c/a> for the agency to consider establishing regulations prohibiting the manufacturing, processing, use and distribution of 6PPD in tires.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We could not sit idle while 6PPD kills the fish that sustain us,” said Joseph L. James, chairman of the Yurok Tribe, in a statement.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>EPA officials said last fall that addressing the contaminant in the environment “is one way we can work to reverse this trend.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As a result, the state required the tire industry to give California a list of more than 40 alternatives to 6PPD by last Friday. The state’s Department of Toxic Substances Control has two months to evaluate the findings before providing feedback to the tire companies, but in a statement, it said, “the responsibility to comply falls first on manufacturers.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“This marks a crucial milestone in our efforts to compel manufacturers to look for safer alternatives to this toxic chemical while ensuring tire safety on California’s roads,” said Meredith Williams, the agency’s director.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>‘It’s in every vehicle tire’\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Removing 6PPD-quinone from storm runoff is a massive undertaking, but Assemblymember Papan is spearheading the challenge. In March, she introduced legislation \u003ca href=\"https://a21.asmdc.org/press-releases/20240319-legislation-safeguard-salmon-and-steelhead-trout-lethal-storm-water#:~:text=The%20S.A.L.M.O.N%20Act%20will%20direct,salmon%20and%20steelhead%20trout%20habitats.\">mandating Caltrans develop a regional strategy to eliminate the chemicals from stormwater discharge\u003c/a> into salmon and steelhead trout habitats.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>While tribes call for eliminating 6PPD in tires everywhere, Papan’s bill focuses on removing existing toxic dust from roadways because eliminating the chemicals from tires doesn’t address out-of-state travelers, imported tires or tires already on cars.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1982500\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003ca href=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/04/RS50202_IMG_6476-2-qut.jpg\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-1982500\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/04/RS50202_IMG_6476-2-qut.jpg\" alt=\"Cars and trucks on an interstate highway as seen from an overpass.\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1280\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/04/RS50202_IMG_6476-2-qut.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/04/RS50202_IMG_6476-2-qut-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/04/RS50202_IMG_6476-2-qut-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/04/RS50202_IMG_6476-2-qut-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/04/RS50202_IMG_6476-2-qut-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/04/RS50202_IMG_6476-2-qut-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Traffic on Interstate 880 toward Oakland flowing with cars and diesel trucks midafternoon on Monday, June 28, 2021. \u003ccite>(Joyce Tsai/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“It’s sort of the first step,” she said. “It’s in every vehicle tire, and we’ve got to find a replacement. In short of finding that replacement, this bill plays a key role in keeping our waterways clean.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The legislation directs Caltrans to create five pilot projects in San Mateo, Contra Costa, Sonoma, Humboldt and Nevada counties where highways cross salmon and steelhead-bearing waters. The bill also advises Caltrans to create green basins near roads where plants and soil naturally remove the chemicals from runoff before entering rivers and streams.\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>“We won’t be able to do it everywhere, but as we expand out, we will look at where we can do it in a targeted fashion,” she said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Caltrans declined to comment because the agency does not comment on pending legislation.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The U.S. Tire Manufacturers Association, representing a dozen companies that operate 57 tire-related facilities across the country, supports Papan’s bill. Sean Moore, who leads the group’s government relations team, said the organization is working with Papan because it could take years for the rules banning the preservative to come into effect, and “in the meantime, it’s important to look at other ways to mitigate concerns related to stormwater more broadly in the environment.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Environmental groups, like the California Coastkeeper Alliance, also back Papan’s effort, though it is unclear exactly how many salmon and trout in California die daily from exposure to the chemical.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We need to start taking action, or else these species might go extinct,” the group’s executive director, Sean Bothwell said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>He said filtering out the contaminants from stormwater using natural barriers is just the beginning; other roadway debris, like grease, oil and microplastics, could be treated using the same methods.\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>“It can address all that in one swoop,” he said. “We’re using 6PPD as the poster child of why we need to do this.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Papan’s solution for reducing salmon and trout dieoff may also have a secondary benefit: reducing flooding during storms, which are only becoming more intense as the world warms.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We can’t think about our infrastructure as one-trick ponies anymore,” said Hayley Currier, policy manager with the environmental nonprofit Save the Bay.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Because much of the state’s water infrastructure is not ready for future storms, Currier said she hopes the pilot projects prove that creating extra space for tainted runoff to pool into will help save fish species while also reducing flooding.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Everything has to do multiple things,” she said. “When building our infrastructure, we need to think about climate resilience, and flooding needs to be right up there with fire and heat.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"title": "California's Sierra Nevada Residents Prepare for Up to 3 Feet of Snow",
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"content": "\u003cp>Jenelle Potvin loves running through a snowstorm to photograph its beauty.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Some of my footage made the NBC Nightly News,” she said of an early March storm that buried her home in multiple feet of snow, which her dogs loved. [pullquote size=\"medium\" align=\"right\" citation=\"Jenelle Potvin, Truckee resident\"]‘It’s been sunny and really enjoyable, but we’re looking forward to a little storm.’[/pullquote]She’s already preparing her home in Truckee for about 1 foot of snow meteorologists forecast for her neighborhood this weekend. The looming storm could drop up to 3 feet of snow over the crest of the Sierra Nevada.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>When a storm is on its way, Potvin does three things: She cancels her plans, checks in with any Airbnb guests who rent out an extra room in her house and cleans all the dog poop from her yard so it doesn’t freeze under the snow.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Potvin is positively antsy for the storm to begin Friday.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It’s been sunny and really enjoyable, but we’re looking forward to a little storm,” she said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>https://twitter.com/truckeerunner/status/1764409708675473861\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The first spring storm comes nearly three weeks after a cold weather pattern dropped more than 12 feet of snow across the Sierra. On Wednesday, the National Weather Service issued a winter storm watch for the Northern and Central Sierra.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Forecasters expect significant travel delays this weekend on major highways due to snow, icy roads and strong winds. But for outdoor adventurists, another storm is a chance to shred some powder.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We can cross-country ski or snowshoe right from our house if there’s enough snow,” Potvin said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Resorts like Palisades Tahoe, northwest of Lake Tahoe, are looking forward to more than 1 1/2 feet of snow this weekend, especially since the snow year started abysmal at best. In January, snow totals across the Sierra measured around 25% of the average, but now \u003ca href=\"https://cdec.water.ca.gov/snowapp/sweq.action\">are at 99% of the average for this time of year\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>https://twitter.com/NWSSacramento/status/1770838903001321553\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We had an 8-foot storm that really put us over the top,” said Patrick Lacey, PR manager for Palisades Tahoe, remembering the early March storm that temporarily shut ski resorts down across the mountain range\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But as a result, he said, “the skiing is absolutely phenomenal. It’s been firing out there.”[aside postID=science_1991866 hero='https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2024/03/CaliWeather318-1020x680.jpg']The extra feet of snow the storm could drop this weekend is good news for the snowpack, which cities and farms rely on as a frozen reservoir for water supplies as it melts into rivers, streams and reservoirs.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“This is a good average season for us,” Lacey said. “We can definitely expect a good amount of snow this weekend.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The storm anticipated to start Friday won’t be as intense as the snowfall that covered the Sierra in a thick blanket of white in early March. Still, National Weather Service meteorologist Sara Purdue encourages travelers to take extra precautions this weekend. [pullquote size=\"medium\" align=\"right\" citation=\"Sara Purdue, meteorologist, National Weather Service\"]‘It’s certainly not an unusual storm in terms of intensity, but make sure you have chains, snacks and warm clothes in case you have to pull over for a time.’[/pullquote]“It’s certainly not an unusual storm in terms of intensity, but make sure you have chains, snacks and warm clothes in case you have to pull over for a time,” she said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Purdue forecasts thunderstorms at lower elevations and in the Bay Area, where the windy storm could drop as much as an inch-and-a-half of rain.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In positive news for building the snowpack, Purdue said a few more storms could bring more snow by the end of the month.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“While they don’t look like intense storms, we could see more rain, snow and wind,” she said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>She’s already preparing her home in Truckee for about 1 foot of snow meteorologists forecast for her neighborhood this weekend. The looming storm could drop up to 3 feet of snow over the crest of the Sierra Nevada.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>When a storm is on its way, Potvin does three things: She cancels her plans, checks in with any Airbnb guests who rent out an extra room in her house and cleans all the dog poop from her yard so it doesn’t freeze under the snow.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Potvin is positively antsy for the storm to begin Friday.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It’s been sunny and really enjoyable, but we’re looking forward to a little storm,” she said.\u003c/p>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\n\u003cp>The first spring storm comes nearly three weeks after a cold weather pattern dropped more than 12 feet of snow across the Sierra. On Wednesday, the National Weather Service issued a winter storm watch for the Northern and Central Sierra.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Forecasters expect significant travel delays this weekend on major highways due to snow, icy roads and strong winds. But for outdoor adventurists, another storm is a chance to shred some powder.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We can cross-country ski or snowshoe right from our house if there’s enough snow,” Potvin said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Resorts like Palisades Tahoe, northwest of Lake Tahoe, are looking forward to more than 1 1/2 feet of snow this weekend, especially since the snow year started abysmal at best. In January, snow totals across the Sierra measured around 25% of the average, but now \u003ca href=\"https://cdec.water.ca.gov/snowapp/sweq.action\">are at 99% of the average for this time of year\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\n\u003cp>“We had an 8-foot storm that really put us over the top,” said Patrick Lacey, PR manager for Palisades Tahoe, remembering the early March storm that temporarily shut ski resorts down across the mountain range\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But as a result, he said, “the skiing is absolutely phenomenal. It’s been firing out there.”\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>The extra feet of snow the storm could drop this weekend is good news for the snowpack, which cities and farms rely on as a frozen reservoir for water supplies as it melts into rivers, streams and reservoirs.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“This is a good average season for us,” Lacey said. “We can definitely expect a good amount of snow this weekend.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The storm anticipated to start Friday won’t be as intense as the snowfall that covered the Sierra in a thick blanket of white in early March. Still, National Weather Service meteorologist Sara Purdue encourages travelers to take extra precautions this weekend. \u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>“It’s certainly not an unusual storm in terms of intensity, but make sure you have chains, snacks and warm clothes in case you have to pull over for a time,” she said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Purdue forecasts thunderstorms at lower elevations and in the Bay Area, where the windy storm could drop as much as an inch-and-a-half of rain.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In positive news for building the snowpack, Purdue said a few more storms could bring more snow by the end of the month.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“While they don’t look like intense storms, we could see more rain, snow and wind,” she said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"title": "California's 'Normal' Winter and High Snowpack Could Curb Wildfire Risk, Prevent Drought",
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"content": "\u003cp>The California snowpack is glistening white at more than 100% of the average for this time of year — and meteorologists forecast a storm this weekend could deepen it even more.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The snowpack could grow by as much as 2 feet at the highest elevations as a typical winter-like storm passes over the Sierra Nevada as soon as Friday and lasts through Sunday, said National Weather Service Sacramento meteorologist Dakari Anderson.[pullquote size=\"medium\" align=\"right\" citation=\"Andrew Schwartz, lead scientist, UC Berkeley Central Sierra Snow Lab\"]‘If these storms pan out, we could go from 100% of our April 1 average to potentially above that. We’re in a good spot.”[/pullquote]Water managers consider California’s snowpack as a frozen reservoir that plays a significant role in providing water to farms and cities as it slowly melts into reservoirs, rivers and streams.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The storm won’t be like anything we saw in the last few storms,” Anderson said \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11977803/storm-barrels-down-on-sierra-as-blizzard-conditions-close-tahoe-resorts\">of weather patterns that piled as much as 12 feet of snow in parts of the Sierra\u003c/a>. “Overall, we are looking at above-normal amounts of snow across the Sierra because of what happened in February.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Currently, California’s snowpack is \u003ca href=\"https://cdec.water.ca.gov/snowapp/sweq.action\">100% of the average for this time of year and 104% of the average of the April 1 snowpack\u003c/a>, which is the timeframe water managers look to as an indicator of potential water supply for the rest of the year.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“If these storms pan out, we could go from 100% of our April 1 average to potentially above that,” said Andrew Schwartz, lead scientist at the UC Berkeley Central Sierra Snow Lab. “We’re in a good spot.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>https://twitter.com/NWSSacramento/status/1769708214788981173\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Even without the coming storm, California is on track to have an average snow year, which is a big deal because residents are used to bouncing back and forth between extremes: droughts, when Californians conserve water, and extremely wet years when the flood risk is highest.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It’s infrequent that we actually get somewhat of a normal winter, and so far, it’s shaped up to be just that,” he said. “It’s that thing that we really want to aspire to.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Significant snow years can increase flood risk as it melts into rivers and streams, but Schwartz and state officials said it is hard to tell if flooding will happen this year because of the snowpack melting. What could cause flooding is if spring heatwaves melt snow rapidly.[pullquote size=\"medium\" align=\"right\" citation=\"David Rizzardo, manager, California Department of Water Resources hydrology section\"]‘The question now is how the snowpack translates into snowmelt and how much runoff reaches our reservoirs during the spring and summer.’[/pullquote]“The question now is how the snowpack translates into snowmelt and how much runoff reaches our reservoirs during the spring and summer,” said David Rizzardo, California Department of Water Resources hydrology section manager. “It is still possible that snowmelt runoff will be below average if we don’t see much added to the snowpack this month.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>On top of a heatwave, Alan Rhoades, a Lawrence Berkeley National Lab atmospheric scientist, is aware that the\u003ca href=\"https://www.reuters.com/business/environment/ocean-temperature-hit-record-high-february-2024-eu-scientists-say-2024-03-07/#:~:text=Ocean%20temperature%20hit%20record%20high%20in%20February%202024%2C%20EU%20scientists%20say,-By%20Gloria%20Dickie&text=LONDON%2C%20March%207%20(Reuters),(C3S)%20said%20on%20Thursday.\"> world’s oceans have experienced a year of unprecedented heat\u003c/a>. He said temperatures are way outside the normal range globally, which could impact the snowpack locally. The ocean temperature can significantly alter how much or how little rain or snow falls over the Sierra and how warm or cold the region is.[aside label='More on Climate Change' tag='climate-change']“With our snowpack, things like heat waves are something to keep in mind; they could lead to a potential ripening of the snow and an abrupt melt,” he said. “As we’re moving into a climate-changed world, we’re starting to see these heat waves start to occur more frequently in late spring and early summer.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The positive news is that now that the state has had two wet winters, \u003ca href=\"https://cdec.water.ca.gov/resapp/RescondMain\">its reservoir storage is above average\u003c/a>, meaning the threat of drought is virtually zero heading into the summer.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It’s a similar story for wildfire risk with two back-to-back wet years. UC Berkeley’s Schwartz doesn’t expect much fire danger at higher elevations because the forest is covered in thick snow, preventing brush and grasses from growing fast. The concern, he said, is primarily at lower elevations where rain has been more predominant in recent storms.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It’s always a concern during an above-average year down at the lower elevations, where grasses and shrubs experience a burst of growth as the temperatures warm up and then die off in the summer heat,” he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>The California snowpack is glistening white at more than 100% of the average for this time of year — and meteorologists forecast a storm this weekend could deepen it even more.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The snowpack could grow by as much as 2 feet at the highest elevations as a typical winter-like storm passes over the Sierra Nevada as soon as Friday and lasts through Sunday, said National Weather Service Sacramento meteorologist Dakari Anderson.\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>Water managers consider California’s snowpack as a frozen reservoir that plays a significant role in providing water to farms and cities as it slowly melts into reservoirs, rivers and streams.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The storm won’t be like anything we saw in the last few storms,” Anderson said \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11977803/storm-barrels-down-on-sierra-as-blizzard-conditions-close-tahoe-resorts\">of weather patterns that piled as much as 12 feet of snow in parts of the Sierra\u003c/a>. “Overall, we are looking at above-normal amounts of snow across the Sierra because of what happened in February.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Currently, California’s snowpack is \u003ca href=\"https://cdec.water.ca.gov/snowapp/sweq.action\">100% of the average for this time of year and 104% of the average of the April 1 snowpack\u003c/a>, which is the timeframe water managers look to as an indicator of potential water supply for the rest of the year.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“If these storms pan out, we could go from 100% of our April 1 average to potentially above that,” said Andrew Schwartz, lead scientist at the UC Berkeley Central Sierra Snow Lab. “We’re in a good spot.”\u003c/p>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\n\u003cp>Even without the coming storm, California is on track to have an average snow year, which is a big deal because residents are used to bouncing back and forth between extremes: droughts, when Californians conserve water, and extremely wet years when the flood risk is highest.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It’s infrequent that we actually get somewhat of a normal winter, and so far, it’s shaped up to be just that,” he said. “It’s that thing that we really want to aspire to.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Significant snow years can increase flood risk as it melts into rivers and streams, but Schwartz and state officials said it is hard to tell if flooding will happen this year because of the snowpack melting. What could cause flooding is if spring heatwaves melt snow rapidly.\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>“The question now is how the snowpack translates into snowmelt and how much runoff reaches our reservoirs during the spring and summer,” said David Rizzardo, California Department of Water Resources hydrology section manager. “It is still possible that snowmelt runoff will be below average if we don’t see much added to the snowpack this month.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>On top of a heatwave, Alan Rhoades, a Lawrence Berkeley National Lab atmospheric scientist, is aware that the\u003ca href=\"https://www.reuters.com/business/environment/ocean-temperature-hit-record-high-february-2024-eu-scientists-say-2024-03-07/#:~:text=Ocean%20temperature%20hit%20record%20high%20in%20February%202024%2C%20EU%20scientists%20say,-By%20Gloria%20Dickie&text=LONDON%2C%20March%207%20(Reuters),(C3S)%20said%20on%20Thursday.\"> world’s oceans have experienced a year of unprecedented heat\u003c/a>. He said temperatures are way outside the normal range globally, which could impact the snowpack locally. The ocean temperature can significantly alter how much or how little rain or snow falls over the Sierra and how warm or cold the region is.\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>“With our snowpack, things like heat waves are something to keep in mind; they could lead to a potential ripening of the snow and an abrupt melt,” he said. “As we’re moving into a climate-changed world, we’re starting to see these heat waves start to occur more frequently in late spring and early summer.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The positive news is that now that the state has had two wet winters, \u003ca href=\"https://cdec.water.ca.gov/resapp/RescondMain\">its reservoir storage is above average\u003c/a>, meaning the threat of drought is virtually zero heading into the summer.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It’s a similar story for wildfire risk with two back-to-back wet years. UC Berkeley’s Schwartz doesn’t expect much fire danger at higher elevations because the forest is covered in thick snow, preventing brush and grasses from growing fast. The concern, he said, is primarily at lower elevations where rain has been more predominant in recent storms.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It’s always a concern during an above-average year down at the lower elevations, where grasses and shrubs experience a burst of growth as the temperatures warm up and then die off in the summer heat,” he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"title": "Can California's Climate Bond Weather the Storm of State Deficits?",
"headTitle": "Can California’s Climate Bond Weather the Storm of State Deficits? | KQED",
"content": "\u003cp>California lawmakers are negotiating the details of two major bills that would put what they intended to be a more than $15 billion climate bond in front of voters in November.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>However, as the state’s deficit has ballooned, lawmakers say its bonding capacity is shrinking simultaneously. Voters have only tepidly approved a mental health bond in the form of Proposition 1.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Put all this together and it all but guarantees the efficacy of a climate bond will shrink as the Legislature negotiates the details over the coming months.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A group of 150 nature and environmental justice-oriented groups is pressing Gov. Gavin Newsom to consider a climate bond of at least $10 billion.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[pullquote align=\"right\" size=\"medium\" citation=\"Assemblymember Diane Papan (D-San Mateo)\"]‘With limited bonding capacity, we must now carefully prioritize the types of investments to include within any such bond to ensure that Californians can weather the storm of climate change.’[/pullquote]But key legislators like Assemblymember Diane Papan (D-San Mateo), a co-author of AB 1567, acknowledged in interviews with KQED that it might be much smaller.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“With limited bonding capacity, we must now carefully prioritize the types of investments to include within any such bond to ensure that Californians can weather the storm of climate change,” Papan said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The two climate-related bond bills would fund similar projects and solutions, from infusing cash into equity-oriented programs to adding funds to clean energy projects to addressing wildfire risk, drought, flooding, sea-level rise and extreme heat.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The Legislative Analyst’s office projects \u003ca href=\"https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/4850?utm_source=substack&utm_medium=email\">California’s deficit is in the ballpark of $73 billion, \u003c/a>and the state’s overall economy has limited its capacity to take out bonds. As a result, lawmakers told KQED California might have to limit its bonds in November to $16 billion.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>California’s cash flow problems and limited borrowing potential present a funding puzzle for lawmakers who want not just to put climate bonds on the ballot. Other lawmakers are vying for the same funds to pay for investing in offshore \u003ca href=\"https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billNavClient.xhtml?bill_id=202320240AB2208\">wind\u003c/a> infrastructure, \u003ca href=\"https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billNavClient.xhtml?bill_id=202320240AB1657\">housing\u003c/a> and \u003ca href=\"https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billTextClient.xhtml?bill_id=202320240SB28\">education\u003c/a> bonds.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Lawmakers are negotiating behind closed doors, alongside the governor’s office, and could potentially combine the two bills into one climate bond. They maintain that climate spending remains a key priority.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The data is clear: The impacts caused by climate change continue to worsen every year,” said state Sen. Ben Allen (D-Santa Monica) in an email. He is the lead author of \u003ca href=\"https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billNavClient.xhtml?bill_id=202320240SB867\">SB 867\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But, lawmakers have yet to agree on how big the bond act could be. They could wait for Newsom to outline his spending priorities in the May revision of the state’s budget. The Legislature has a deadline of June 27 to put a bond on the November ballot.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11979095/proposition-1-opponents-concede-mental-health-ballot-measure-is-likely-to-pass\">The likely narrow passage of Proposition 1\u003c/a> — which would issue $6.38 billion in bonds to build supportive housing and residential treatment facilities — is a two-sided indicator of how a climate bond could go this fall, Papan said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It could mean that Californians are willing to take on additional bonds, but it could also shrink the state’s funding capacity for new bonds even further.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Newsom asked lawmakers last year to develop a “climate resilience bond to increase and sustain investments in our climate initiatives.” However, the governor’s office said it would not comment on the current legislation that is pending.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>\u003cstrong>A considerably smaller climate bond\u003c/strong>\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Assemblymember Eduardo Garcia (D-Coachella), the lead author on AB 1567, said he is working with at least 25 lawmakers to back the idea of a climate bond over the next two months. He said the final bill would “look different” and that his team is working on two alternatives.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“A reduction in the bond would allow us to stay the course and make significant investments in some of these programs that we see are working with emission reductions and cleaning up pollution,” he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>State Sen. Josh Becker (D-Menlo Park), co-author of SB 867, said a final bond would be “considerably” smaller and should focus on urgent priorities. Sea-level rise is one of the most prominent issues in his district, which runs from Daly City to Mountain View. San Mateo County, through its Flood and Sea Level Rise Resiliency District, is actively preparing for this.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“They’ve identified \u003ca href=\"https://oneshoreline.org/projects/\">billions of dollars of projects\u003c/a> that need to happen,” he said of designs for a \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/science/1985919/san-mateo-county-proposes-off-shore-doors-to-combat-sea-level-rise\">Venice-like wall within the bay in Burlingame\u003c/a> to protect a business corridor from sea-level rise and \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/science/1973805/climate-solutions-in-east-palo-alto\">new levees in places like East Palo Alto\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Not all of them could be funded through this bond, but this bond could be a start,” he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[pullquote align=\"right\" size=\"medium\" citation=\"Josh Quigley, policy manager, Save the Bay\"]‘It’s key that there is funding in the climate bond for coastal resilience. Our infrastructure is likely to be overwhelmed in the coming years and is going to need upgrades.’[/pullquote]Josh Quigley, policy manager with the environmental nonprofit Save the Bay, said his group is working on sea-level rise and restoration projects up and down the Bay Area, like restoring 100,000 acres of tidal marsh across the region, that are waiting for funding to continue.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It’s key that there is funding in the climate bond for coastal resilience,” he said. “Our infrastructure is likely to be overwhelmed in the coming years and is going to need upgrades.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Even with competing bonds and the state deficits, Assemblymember Damon Connolly (D-San Rafael), co-author of AB 1567, said a $10 billion bond is possible. He said Californians will vote to support a climate bond because they “are living the consequences right now in our state.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“In my district, we face the threats of that wildfire and significant flooding; virtually no corner of the state is now immune from the impacts of climate change,” he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>\u003cstrong>A bond for environmental justice\u003c/strong>\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Environmental groups want the state to focus on programs and funding directly benefiting human health and the environment. They also want at least 40% of the total investments to go toward disadvantaged communities in urban and rural areas.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[aside label=\"Related Stories\" postID=\"news_11969301,news_11972196,news_11970742\"]Assemblymember Garcia said he is working to incorporate the coalition’s requests, but he does not think that the amount they’ve asked for is realistic.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I think where folks will be disappointed is that it won’t reflect $10 billion, but nonetheless, will see a significant investment to the policy and the programs that have been outlined [by] our friends in the environmental justice community,” he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Elle Chen, senior policy and campaign manager for the Asian Pacific Environmental Network, said the group is bracing for a lot less spending.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We know that number might have to come down, but I think it is a negotiating point,” Chen said. “If that becomes a reality, we will have to go back to the drawing board.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Sona Mohnot, director of climate resilience at the Greenlining Institute, said climate programs focused on supporting communities of color are often the first on the chopping block. For example, Newsom previously zeroed out funding for the Transformative Climate Communities program and did not allocate any funding to it in this year’s proposed budget.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[pullquote align=\"right\" size=\"medium\" citation=\"Abraham Mendoza, policy manager, Community Water Center\"]‘It’s really important to make sure the communities who are already feeling the brunt of climate change and the impacts of the changing environment are still being prioritized and getting the resources they need.’[/pullquote]That program is for community-led neighborhood projects to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and provide the community with health, environmental, and economic benefits. Mohnot said a dozen communities already have planning grants but need funding to make their “transformative climate visions a reality.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“If we’re trying to create a more resilient, more equitable California, then we have to invest in our communities that need those resources the most, especially in budget deficit years,” she said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Abraham Mendoza, policy manager with the Community Water Center, said he would like a climate bond to include funds for safe drinking water and flood protection.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It’s really important to make sure the communities who are already feeling the brunt of climate change and the impacts of the changing environment are still being prioritized and getting the resources they need,” he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>\u003cstrong>‘This is going to be a continuous challenge’\u003c/strong>\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>The Association of California Water Agencies has its own priorities, and has requested $8 billion from a climate bond to pay \u003ca href=\"https://www.acwa.com/resources/acwas-infrastructure-bond-priorities/\">for a slew of water projects, including storage, flood protection, water recycling, dam safety, sustainable groundwater and water conservation\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“This funding is needed because California is experiencing weather whiplash because of climate change,” said Cindy Tuck, the group’s deputy executive director.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[pullquote align=\"right\" size=\"medium\" citation=\"Katelyn Roedner Sutter, California director, Environmental Defense Fund\"]‘This is going to be a continuous challenge for us to act at the scale that scientists say is required to turn the tide on climate change. Lawmakers need to understand that climate change is not waiting for us to decide when it is convenient to take action.’[/pullquote]Organizations like Save the Redwoods League, run by Sam Hodder, would like to see the climate bond heavily focus on land conservation because “our most important ally in building climate resilience in California is going to grow from our nature-based solutions,” he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And even though a climate bond would help fill the gap in the budget deficit in the short term, it won’t fulfill the long-term investment needed to adapt to the changing climate, said Katelyn Roedner Sutter, California director of the Environmental Defense Fund.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“This is going to be a continuous challenge for us to act at the scale that scientists say is required to turn the tide on climate change,” she said. “Lawmakers need to understand that climate change is not waiting for us to decide when it is convenient to take action.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Mary Creasman, chief executive officer at California Environmental Voters, said many Californians would vote for a climate bond, especially if it’s the only option for continuing projects that would directly protect their lives and homes.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“These are issues that poll high across demographics and party lines,” she said. “Folks care about clean air and water. They care about clean energy, and they care about being protected against these disasters.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>California lawmakers are negotiating the details of two major bills that would put what they intended to be a more than $15 billion climate bond in front of voters in November.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>However, as the state’s deficit has ballooned, lawmakers say its bonding capacity is shrinking simultaneously. Voters have only tepidly approved a mental health bond in the form of Proposition 1.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Put all this together and it all but guarantees the efficacy of a climate bond will shrink as the Legislature negotiates the details over the coming months.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A group of 150 nature and environmental justice-oriented groups is pressing Gov. Gavin Newsom to consider a climate bond of at least $10 billion.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "‘With limited bonding capacity, we must now carefully prioritize the types of investments to include within any such bond to ensure that Californians can weather the storm of climate change.’",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>But key legislators like Assemblymember Diane Papan (D-San Mateo), a co-author of AB 1567, acknowledged in interviews with KQED that it might be much smaller.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“With limited bonding capacity, we must now carefully prioritize the types of investments to include within any such bond to ensure that Californians can weather the storm of climate change,” Papan said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The two climate-related bond bills would fund similar projects and solutions, from infusing cash into equity-oriented programs to adding funds to clean energy projects to addressing wildfire risk, drought, flooding, sea-level rise and extreme heat.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The Legislative Analyst’s office projects \u003ca href=\"https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/4850?utm_source=substack&utm_medium=email\">California’s deficit is in the ballpark of $73 billion, \u003c/a>and the state’s overall economy has limited its capacity to take out bonds. As a result, lawmakers told KQED California might have to limit its bonds in November to $16 billion.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>California’s cash flow problems and limited borrowing potential present a funding puzzle for lawmakers who want not just to put climate bonds on the ballot. Other lawmakers are vying for the same funds to pay for investing in offshore \u003ca href=\"https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billNavClient.xhtml?bill_id=202320240AB2208\">wind\u003c/a> infrastructure, \u003ca href=\"https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billNavClient.xhtml?bill_id=202320240AB1657\">housing\u003c/a> and \u003ca href=\"https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billTextClient.xhtml?bill_id=202320240SB28\">education\u003c/a> bonds.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Lawmakers are negotiating behind closed doors, alongside the governor’s office, and could potentially combine the two bills into one climate bond. They maintain that climate spending remains a key priority.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The data is clear: The impacts caused by climate change continue to worsen every year,” said state Sen. Ben Allen (D-Santa Monica) in an email. He is the lead author of \u003ca href=\"https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billNavClient.xhtml?bill_id=202320240SB867\">SB 867\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But, lawmakers have yet to agree on how big the bond act could be. They could wait for Newsom to outline his spending priorities in the May revision of the state’s budget. The Legislature has a deadline of June 27 to put a bond on the November ballot.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11979095/proposition-1-opponents-concede-mental-health-ballot-measure-is-likely-to-pass\">The likely narrow passage of Proposition 1\u003c/a> — which would issue $6.38 billion in bonds to build supportive housing and residential treatment facilities — is a two-sided indicator of how a climate bond could go this fall, Papan said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It could mean that Californians are willing to take on additional bonds, but it could also shrink the state’s funding capacity for new bonds even further.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Newsom asked lawmakers last year to develop a “climate resilience bond to increase and sustain investments in our climate initiatives.” However, the governor’s office said it would not comment on the current legislation that is pending.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>\u003cstrong>A considerably smaller climate bond\u003c/strong>\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Assemblymember Eduardo Garcia (D-Coachella), the lead author on AB 1567, said he is working with at least 25 lawmakers to back the idea of a climate bond over the next two months. He said the final bill would “look different” and that his team is working on two alternatives.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“A reduction in the bond would allow us to stay the course and make significant investments in some of these programs that we see are working with emission reductions and cleaning up pollution,” he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>State Sen. Josh Becker (D-Menlo Park), co-author of SB 867, said a final bond would be “considerably” smaller and should focus on urgent priorities. Sea-level rise is one of the most prominent issues in his district, which runs from Daly City to Mountain View. San Mateo County, through its Flood and Sea Level Rise Resiliency District, is actively preparing for this.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“They’ve identified \u003ca href=\"https://oneshoreline.org/projects/\">billions of dollars of projects\u003c/a> that need to happen,” he said of designs for a \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/science/1985919/san-mateo-county-proposes-off-shore-doors-to-combat-sea-level-rise\">Venice-like wall within the bay in Burlingame\u003c/a> to protect a business corridor from sea-level rise and \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/science/1973805/climate-solutions-in-east-palo-alto\">new levees in places like East Palo Alto\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Not all of them could be funded through this bond, but this bond could be a start,” he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "‘It’s key that there is funding in the climate bond for coastal resilience. Our infrastructure is likely to be overwhelmed in the coming years and is going to need upgrades.’",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>Josh Quigley, policy manager with the environmental nonprofit Save the Bay, said his group is working on sea-level rise and restoration projects up and down the Bay Area, like restoring 100,000 acres of tidal marsh across the region, that are waiting for funding to continue.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It’s key that there is funding in the climate bond for coastal resilience,” he said. “Our infrastructure is likely to be overwhelmed in the coming years and is going to need upgrades.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Even with competing bonds and the state deficits, Assemblymember Damon Connolly (D-San Rafael), co-author of AB 1567, said a $10 billion bond is possible. He said Californians will vote to support a climate bond because they “are living the consequences right now in our state.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“In my district, we face the threats of that wildfire and significant flooding; virtually no corner of the state is now immune from the impacts of climate change,” he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>\u003cstrong>A bond for environmental justice\u003c/strong>\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Environmental groups want the state to focus on programs and funding directly benefiting human health and the environment. They also want at least 40% of the total investments to go toward disadvantaged communities in urban and rural areas.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>Assemblymember Garcia said he is working to incorporate the coalition’s requests, but he does not think that the amount they’ve asked for is realistic.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I think where folks will be disappointed is that it won’t reflect $10 billion, but nonetheless, will see a significant investment to the policy and the programs that have been outlined [by] our friends in the environmental justice community,” he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Elle Chen, senior policy and campaign manager for the Asian Pacific Environmental Network, said the group is bracing for a lot less spending.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We know that number might have to come down, but I think it is a negotiating point,” Chen said. “If that becomes a reality, we will have to go back to the drawing board.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Sona Mohnot, director of climate resilience at the Greenlining Institute, said climate programs focused on supporting communities of color are often the first on the chopping block. For example, Newsom previously zeroed out funding for the Transformative Climate Communities program and did not allocate any funding to it in this year’s proposed budget.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "‘It’s really important to make sure the communities who are already feeling the brunt of climate change and the impacts of the changing environment are still being prioritized and getting the resources they need.’",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>That program is for community-led neighborhood projects to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and provide the community with health, environmental, and economic benefits. Mohnot said a dozen communities already have planning grants but need funding to make their “transformative climate visions a reality.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“If we’re trying to create a more resilient, more equitable California, then we have to invest in our communities that need those resources the most, especially in budget deficit years,” she said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Abraham Mendoza, policy manager with the Community Water Center, said he would like a climate bond to include funds for safe drinking water and flood protection.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It’s really important to make sure the communities who are already feeling the brunt of climate change and the impacts of the changing environment are still being prioritized and getting the resources they need,” he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>\u003cstrong>‘This is going to be a continuous challenge’\u003c/strong>\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>The Association of California Water Agencies has its own priorities, and has requested $8 billion from a climate bond to pay \u003ca href=\"https://www.acwa.com/resources/acwas-infrastructure-bond-priorities/\">for a slew of water projects, including storage, flood protection, water recycling, dam safety, sustainable groundwater and water conservation\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“This funding is needed because California is experiencing weather whiplash because of climate change,” said Cindy Tuck, the group’s deputy executive director.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "‘This is going to be a continuous challenge for us to act at the scale that scientists say is required to turn the tide on climate change. Lawmakers need to understand that climate change is not waiting for us to decide when it is convenient to take action.’",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>Organizations like Save the Redwoods League, run by Sam Hodder, would like to see the climate bond heavily focus on land conservation because “our most important ally in building climate resilience in California is going to grow from our nature-based solutions,” he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And even though a climate bond would help fill the gap in the budget deficit in the short term, it won’t fulfill the long-term investment needed to adapt to the changing climate, said Katelyn Roedner Sutter, California director of the Environmental Defense Fund.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“This is going to be a continuous challenge for us to act at the scale that scientists say is required to turn the tide on climate change,” she said. “Lawmakers need to understand that climate change is not waiting for us to decide when it is convenient to take action.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Mary Creasman, chief executive officer at California Environmental Voters, said many Californians would vote for a climate bond, especially if it’s the only option for continuing projects that would directly protect their lives and homes.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“These are issues that poll high across demographics and party lines,” she said. “Folks care about clean air and water. They care about clean energy, and they care about being protected against these disasters.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"title": "Californians Eager for Human Composting After They Die",
"headTitle": "Californians Eager for Human Composting After They Die | KQED",
"content": "\u003cp>When Dennis Cunningham was diagnosed with terminal cancer, he wanted his death to reflect the values he lived by.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A committed civil rights lawyer, he defended the Black Panthers, AIDS protestors, and later, environmental activists from Earth First. In his spare time, he built sculptures out of driftwood, bottle caps, and rusted car parts in his backyard studio in Bernal Heights.[pullquote size=\"medium\" align=\"right\" citation=\"Miranda Mellis, Dennis Cunningham’s daughter\"]‘It was totally in keeping with who he was to not make waste, but to use waste.’[/pullquote]He wanted his body to be part of that same cycle of decay and regeneration. He instructed his kids to have him composted after he died.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It was totally in keeping with who he was to not make waste, but to use waste,” said Cunningham’s daughter, Miranda Mellis.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>To Cunningham, being turned into soil and spread on the forest floor to fertilize new trees was much more appealing than being burned to ash or entombed in a concrete vault underground.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Likewise, a growing number of Americans are eager to see more environmentally friendly alternatives to conventional burial and cremation. Human composting is the latest option, though the number of facilities and states that offer it are scarce.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It’s literally illegal to compost a body in the state of California,” said Joe Mellis, Cunningham’s son. “We had to transport his body from California to Washington to do this.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Seven states have legalized human composting to date, including Washington, Colorado, Nevada and New York. It took California lawmakers three tries to pass a law to do the same, but it won’t take effect until 2027.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1991119\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-1991119\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2024/01/231211-RECOMPOSE-GETTY-MH-03-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"A person smiles and holds a pot in their hands in front of a brightly painted building.\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2024/01/231211-RECOMPOSE-GETTY-MH-03-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2024/01/231211-RECOMPOSE-GETTY-MH-03-KQED-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2024/01/231211-RECOMPOSE-GETTY-MH-03-KQED-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2024/01/231211-RECOMPOSE-GETTY-MH-03-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2024/01/231211-RECOMPOSE-GETTY-MH-03-KQED-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2024/01/231211-RECOMPOSE-GETTY-MH-03-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2024/01/231211-RECOMPOSE-GETTY-MH-03-KQED-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Katrina Spade, founder and CEO of Recompose, in front of the company’s Seattle facility holding a box of soil that was once a human at Recompose Seattle on Oct. 06, 2022, in Seattle, Washington. \u003ccite>(Mat Hayward/Getty Images for Recompose)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Cunningham ended up at Recompose, a human composting facility in Seattle. Founder and CEO Katrina Spade said about 15% of their clients are shipped from California and another 14% from other states.[aside label='More Stories on Health' tag='health']“We pick them up at Sea-Tac,” she said about the Seattle-Tacoma airport.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Walking into the lobby of Recompose is like walking into a spa. Meditation music whispers from hidden speakers. Living art tapestries decorate the walls; earthy green and yellow shades cover the windows.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“When the light comes through, we hope it reminds you of the forest light,” Spade said as she toured the gathering space where families can hold ceremonies.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>The science of human composting\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>The composting itself happens in a cavernous warehouse in the back that Spade calls the greenhouse. She describes the smell alternately as that of a grassy meadow after a rain and a barnyard. Inside are 34 white hexagonal cylinders, or individual vessels, stacked on top of each other in the shape of a beehive.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>When a new body comes in, the staff lay it in one of the vessels on a bed of wood chips, alfalfa, and straw, Spade said, then they cover it with more of the same.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1991118\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-1991118\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2024/01/231211-RECOMPOSE-GETTY-MH-02-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"A pile of hay sits on a bed inside an opening in a wall.\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2024/01/231211-RECOMPOSE-GETTY-MH-02-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2024/01/231211-RECOMPOSE-GETTY-MH-02-KQED-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2024/01/231211-RECOMPOSE-GETTY-MH-02-KQED-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2024/01/231211-RECOMPOSE-GETTY-MH-02-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2024/01/231211-RECOMPOSE-GETTY-MH-02-KQED-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2024/01/231211-RECOMPOSE-GETTY-MH-02-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2024/01/231211-RECOMPOSE-GETTY-MH-02-KQED-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A mannequin covered in wood chips and straw rests inside the Threshold Vessel at Recompose Seattle on Oct. 06, 2022, in Seattle, Washington. \u003ccite>(Mat Hayward/Getty Images for Recompose)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“The idea to me of being cocooned in that plant material, it’s very safe feeling,” Spade said. “If you were alive, it would probably be a little itchy.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Wrapped in that cocoon, the microbes and bacteria go to work on the body, naturally raising the temperature inside the vessel to 150 degrees Fahrenheit. Under\u003ca href=\"https://app.leg.wa.gov/WAC/default.aspx?cite=308-47-065\"> Washington state regulations\u003c/a>, natural heat has to be sustained for three straight days to kill off any pathogens.[pullquote size=\"medium\" align=\"right\" citation=\"Katrina Spade, founder and CEO, Recompose\"]‘The idea to me of being cocooned in that plant material, it’s very safe feeling.’[/pullquote]“Seven or eight years I’ve been doing this, and still, when I see that temperature spike, I think, ‘Holy mackerel!’” Spade said, channeling her inner 8th-grade science fair nerd. “It just feels like some sort of miracle, even though it is nature.”\u003cem> \u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The body stays in the vessel for about 30 to 40 days. Every week or so, the staff rotate it to let air through, and the body transforms and consolidates into a cubic yard of dark brown dirt, enough to fill the bed of a pickup truck. The staff removes any titanium hips or knees left over in the process, then grinds the bones down to sand and mixes them back in with the soil.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The process takes about two months altogether and costs about \u003ca href=\"https://recompose.life/death-care/#pricing\">$7,000\u003c/a> — about twice the cost of cremation but half that of conventional burial. Environmentally, Spade said composting is way better than both, citing internal company research that shows it saves more than a metric ton of carbon compared to the alternatives.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Inspiration and opposition to human composting\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>During the deadliest period of the COVID-19 pandemic, so many people were being cremated in California, and the emissions violated local air district rules.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>This is one of the factors that inspired Assemblymember Cristina Garcia, a Democrat from Bell Gardens, to carry a bill to legalize human composting in California,\u003ca href=\"https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billNavClient.xhtml?bill_id=202120220AB351\"> AB 351\u003c/a>. It passed the state legislature in 2022 but won’t take effect until 2027 to give regulatory agencies time to prepare.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1991116\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-1991116\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2024/01/231211-RECOMPOSE-GETTY-05-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"A room with a large stretcher-like device in it.\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2024/01/231211-RECOMPOSE-GETTY-05-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2024/01/231211-RECOMPOSE-GETTY-05-KQED-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2024/01/231211-RECOMPOSE-GETTY-05-KQED-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2024/01/231211-RECOMPOSE-GETTY-05-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2024/01/231211-RECOMPOSE-GETTY-05-KQED-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2024/01/231211-RECOMPOSE-GETTY-05-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2024/01/231211-RECOMPOSE-GETTY-05-KQED-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">The Recompose Gathering Space is where the laying-in (funeral) ceremony takes place. The body, shrouded in natural cloth, lies on a dark green bed called the cradle. \u003ccite>(Courtesy of Recompose)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“The pandemic exacerbated the situation and reminded us of the importance of the choices we make throughout our life cycle,” Garcia told KQED after the bill was signed into law. “It added a sense of urgency of why this needed to be a reality sooner than later here in California.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Garcia’s effort was the third time lawmakers tried to pass the bill. It was held up mainly due to administrative logjams, as the opposition to human composting was minimal and tepid.[pullquote size=\"medium\" align=\"right\" citation=\"Assemblymember Cristina Garcia\"]‘The pandemic exacerbated the situation and reminded us of the importance of the choices we make throughout our life cycle. It added a sense of urgency of why this needed to be a reality sooner than later here in California.’[/pullquote]“I find this bill disgusting and I completely oppose it,” said Serea Abdosh, a 19-year-old student and one of a handful of residents who lodged objections at state legislative hearings in the spring of 2022.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The California Catholic Conference also raised concerns about the safety of composted human remains, pointing out that supporters of the bill relied on just one small, non-peer-reviewed study from Recompose to contend that all toxic elements of the body, like dental implants or chemotherapy treatments, were properly eliminated.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The bishops also argued that composting a human body and scattering the remains was undignified. It “risks people treading over human remains without their knowledge,” the Catholic Conference wrote in a statement, “while repeated dispersions in the same area are tantamount to a mass grave.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Recompose’s Spade countered by saying her company has composted many Catholics.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We’ve had priests bless the body before,” she said. “We’ve had priests bless the soil after.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Rabbis have also considered how human composting can comply with Jewish death care rituals, and “some are even creating liturgy, or creating words to say around these kinds of processes,” according to Courtney Applewhite, who studied death and grief during her doctoral research at UC Santa Barbara.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Rituals after composting\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Composting certainly affected the grieving process for Joe and Miranda Mellis after their dad died. Most of his soil was spread on the floor of a forest in Southwest Washington. Another portion went under a beloved hemlock tree on his family’s land in Michigan.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Some of the kids kept some compost for themselves. Joe has a box in his home office in Los Angeles. Miranda buried some in the woods behind her house in Olympia. In \u003ca href=\"https://app.leg.wa.gov/wac/default.aspx?cite=308-47A-020\">Washington\u003c/a>, human compost can be spread anywhere as long as \u003ca href=\"https://app.leg.wa.gov/wac/default.aspx?cite=308-47A-020\">the landowner says it’s OK\u003c/a>. California plans to \u003ca href=\"https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billTextClient.xhtml?bill_id=202120220AB351\">follow suit\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1991115\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-1991115\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2024/01/231211-RECOMPOSE-GETTY-04-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"A vibrant forest scene.\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2024/01/231211-RECOMPOSE-GETTY-04-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2024/01/231211-RECOMPOSE-GETTY-04-KQED-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2024/01/231211-RECOMPOSE-GETTY-04-KQED-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2024/01/231211-RECOMPOSE-GETTY-04-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2024/01/231211-RECOMPOSE-GETTY-04-KQED-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2024/01/231211-RECOMPOSE-GETTY-04-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2024/01/231211-RECOMPOSE-GETTY-04-KQED-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Bells Mountain Forest is a permanently protected natural wilderness. The stewards of Bells Mountain use the soil donated by the Recompose community to revitalize wetlands, riparian habitats, local plants and vulnerable wildlife species. \u003ccite>(Courtesy of Recompose)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“This tree is a vine maple,” Miranda said as she dodged a spider web and ducked under the low, thin, mossy branches arching out in all directions, a spot she chose because it feels “parental.”[pullquote size=\"medium\" align=\"right\" citation=\"Miranda Mellis, Dennis Cunningham’s daughter\"]‘I meditate here, and sometimes I talk to him here. I think of this as like a telephone booth to the afterworld. I can just hear him as if he’s sitting right next to me.’[/pullquote]She kneeled next to a little altar she built over the roots, tending a small bowl of rocks and shells her father collected and a jagged crystal surrounded by a ring of pinecones.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I meditate here, and sometimes I talk to him here. I think of this as like a telephone booth to the afterworld,” she said. “I can just hear him as if he’s sitting right next to me.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Having her father here, the sense of his body giving back to the earth, it all somehow mitigated the pain of the loss, she said. It made her less afraid of her own mortality.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“After all of this, I thought, ‘I think I want to do it, too,’” she said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Both Miranda and Joe say they also want to be composted when they die.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n",
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"excerpt": "California legalized human composting in 2022, but the law won’t take effect until 2027. This San Francisco man didn’t want to wait.",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>When Dennis Cunningham was diagnosed with terminal cancer, he wanted his death to reflect the values he lived by.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A committed civil rights lawyer, he defended the Black Panthers, AIDS protestors, and later, environmental activists from Earth First. In his spare time, he built sculptures out of driftwood, bottle caps, and rusted car parts in his backyard studio in Bernal Heights.\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "‘It was totally in keeping with who he was to not make waste, but to use waste.’",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>He wanted his body to be part of that same cycle of decay and regeneration. He instructed his kids to have him composted after he died.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It was totally in keeping with who he was to not make waste, but to use waste,” said Cunningham’s daughter, Miranda Mellis.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>To Cunningham, being turned into soil and spread on the forest floor to fertilize new trees was much more appealing than being burned to ash or entombed in a concrete vault underground.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Likewise, a growing number of Americans are eager to see more environmentally friendly alternatives to conventional burial and cremation. Human composting is the latest option, though the number of facilities and states that offer it are scarce.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It’s literally illegal to compost a body in the state of California,” said Joe Mellis, Cunningham’s son. “We had to transport his body from California to Washington to do this.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Seven states have legalized human composting to date, including Washington, Colorado, Nevada and New York. It took California lawmakers three tries to pass a law to do the same, but it won’t take effect until 2027.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1991119\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-1991119\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2024/01/231211-RECOMPOSE-GETTY-MH-03-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"A person smiles and holds a pot in their hands in front of a brightly painted building.\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2024/01/231211-RECOMPOSE-GETTY-MH-03-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2024/01/231211-RECOMPOSE-GETTY-MH-03-KQED-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2024/01/231211-RECOMPOSE-GETTY-MH-03-KQED-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2024/01/231211-RECOMPOSE-GETTY-MH-03-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2024/01/231211-RECOMPOSE-GETTY-MH-03-KQED-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2024/01/231211-RECOMPOSE-GETTY-MH-03-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2024/01/231211-RECOMPOSE-GETTY-MH-03-KQED-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Katrina Spade, founder and CEO of Recompose, in front of the company’s Seattle facility holding a box of soil that was once a human at Recompose Seattle on Oct. 06, 2022, in Seattle, Washington. \u003ccite>(Mat Hayward/Getty Images for Recompose)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Cunningham ended up at Recompose, a human composting facility in Seattle. Founder and CEO Katrina Spade said about 15% of their clients are shipped from California and another 14% from other states.\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>“We pick them up at Sea-Tac,” she said about the Seattle-Tacoma airport.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Walking into the lobby of Recompose is like walking into a spa. Meditation music whispers from hidden speakers. Living art tapestries decorate the walls; earthy green and yellow shades cover the windows.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“When the light comes through, we hope it reminds you of the forest light,” Spade said as she toured the gathering space where families can hold ceremonies.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>The science of human composting\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>The composting itself happens in a cavernous warehouse in the back that Spade calls the greenhouse. She describes the smell alternately as that of a grassy meadow after a rain and a barnyard. Inside are 34 white hexagonal cylinders, or individual vessels, stacked on top of each other in the shape of a beehive.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>When a new body comes in, the staff lay it in one of the vessels on a bed of wood chips, alfalfa, and straw, Spade said, then they cover it with more of the same.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1991118\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-1991118\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2024/01/231211-RECOMPOSE-GETTY-MH-02-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"A pile of hay sits on a bed inside an opening in a wall.\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2024/01/231211-RECOMPOSE-GETTY-MH-02-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2024/01/231211-RECOMPOSE-GETTY-MH-02-KQED-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2024/01/231211-RECOMPOSE-GETTY-MH-02-KQED-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2024/01/231211-RECOMPOSE-GETTY-MH-02-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2024/01/231211-RECOMPOSE-GETTY-MH-02-KQED-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2024/01/231211-RECOMPOSE-GETTY-MH-02-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2024/01/231211-RECOMPOSE-GETTY-MH-02-KQED-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A mannequin covered in wood chips and straw rests inside the Threshold Vessel at Recompose Seattle on Oct. 06, 2022, in Seattle, Washington. \u003ccite>(Mat Hayward/Getty Images for Recompose)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“The idea to me of being cocooned in that plant material, it’s very safe feeling,” Spade said. “If you were alive, it would probably be a little itchy.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Wrapped in that cocoon, the microbes and bacteria go to work on the body, naturally raising the temperature inside the vessel to 150 degrees Fahrenheit. Under\u003ca href=\"https://app.leg.wa.gov/WAC/default.aspx?cite=308-47-065\"> Washington state regulations\u003c/a>, natural heat has to be sustained for three straight days to kill off any pathogens.\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "‘The idea to me of being cocooned in that plant material, it’s very safe feeling.’",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>“Seven or eight years I’ve been doing this, and still, when I see that temperature spike, I think, ‘Holy mackerel!’” Spade said, channeling her inner 8th-grade science fair nerd. “It just feels like some sort of miracle, even though it is nature.”\u003cem> \u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The body stays in the vessel for about 30 to 40 days. Every week or so, the staff rotate it to let air through, and the body transforms and consolidates into a cubic yard of dark brown dirt, enough to fill the bed of a pickup truck. The staff removes any titanium hips or knees left over in the process, then grinds the bones down to sand and mixes them back in with the soil.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The process takes about two months altogether and costs about \u003ca href=\"https://recompose.life/death-care/#pricing\">$7,000\u003c/a> — about twice the cost of cremation but half that of conventional burial. Environmentally, Spade said composting is way better than both, citing internal company research that shows it saves more than a metric ton of carbon compared to the alternatives.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Inspiration and opposition to human composting\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>During the deadliest period of the COVID-19 pandemic, so many people were being cremated in California, and the emissions violated local air district rules.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>This is one of the factors that inspired Assemblymember Cristina Garcia, a Democrat from Bell Gardens, to carry a bill to legalize human composting in California,\u003ca href=\"https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billNavClient.xhtml?bill_id=202120220AB351\"> AB 351\u003c/a>. It passed the state legislature in 2022 but won’t take effect until 2027 to give regulatory agencies time to prepare.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1991116\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-1991116\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2024/01/231211-RECOMPOSE-GETTY-05-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"A room with a large stretcher-like device in it.\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2024/01/231211-RECOMPOSE-GETTY-05-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2024/01/231211-RECOMPOSE-GETTY-05-KQED-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2024/01/231211-RECOMPOSE-GETTY-05-KQED-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2024/01/231211-RECOMPOSE-GETTY-05-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2024/01/231211-RECOMPOSE-GETTY-05-KQED-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2024/01/231211-RECOMPOSE-GETTY-05-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2024/01/231211-RECOMPOSE-GETTY-05-KQED-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">The Recompose Gathering Space is where the laying-in (funeral) ceremony takes place. The body, shrouded in natural cloth, lies on a dark green bed called the cradle. \u003ccite>(Courtesy of Recompose)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“The pandemic exacerbated the situation and reminded us of the importance of the choices we make throughout our life cycle,” Garcia told KQED after the bill was signed into law. “It added a sense of urgency of why this needed to be a reality sooner than later here in California.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Garcia’s effort was the third time lawmakers tried to pass the bill. It was held up mainly due to administrative logjams, as the opposition to human composting was minimal and tepid.\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>“I find this bill disgusting and I completely oppose it,” said Serea Abdosh, a 19-year-old student and one of a handful of residents who lodged objections at state legislative hearings in the spring of 2022.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The California Catholic Conference also raised concerns about the safety of composted human remains, pointing out that supporters of the bill relied on just one small, non-peer-reviewed study from Recompose to contend that all toxic elements of the body, like dental implants or chemotherapy treatments, were properly eliminated.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The bishops also argued that composting a human body and scattering the remains was undignified. It “risks people treading over human remains without their knowledge,” the Catholic Conference wrote in a statement, “while repeated dispersions in the same area are tantamount to a mass grave.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Recompose’s Spade countered by saying her company has composted many Catholics.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We’ve had priests bless the body before,” she said. “We’ve had priests bless the soil after.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Rabbis have also considered how human composting can comply with Jewish death care rituals, and “some are even creating liturgy, or creating words to say around these kinds of processes,” according to Courtney Applewhite, who studied death and grief during her doctoral research at UC Santa Barbara.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Rituals after composting\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Composting certainly affected the grieving process for Joe and Miranda Mellis after their dad died. Most of his soil was spread on the floor of a forest in Southwest Washington. Another portion went under a beloved hemlock tree on his family’s land in Michigan.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Some of the kids kept some compost for themselves. Joe has a box in his home office in Los Angeles. Miranda buried some in the woods behind her house in Olympia. In \u003ca href=\"https://app.leg.wa.gov/wac/default.aspx?cite=308-47A-020\">Washington\u003c/a>, human compost can be spread anywhere as long as \u003ca href=\"https://app.leg.wa.gov/wac/default.aspx?cite=308-47A-020\">the landowner says it’s OK\u003c/a>. California plans to \u003ca href=\"https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billTextClient.xhtml?bill_id=202120220AB351\">follow suit\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1991115\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-1991115\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2024/01/231211-RECOMPOSE-GETTY-04-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"A vibrant forest scene.\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2024/01/231211-RECOMPOSE-GETTY-04-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2024/01/231211-RECOMPOSE-GETTY-04-KQED-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2024/01/231211-RECOMPOSE-GETTY-04-KQED-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2024/01/231211-RECOMPOSE-GETTY-04-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2024/01/231211-RECOMPOSE-GETTY-04-KQED-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2024/01/231211-RECOMPOSE-GETTY-04-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2024/01/231211-RECOMPOSE-GETTY-04-KQED-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Bells Mountain Forest is a permanently protected natural wilderness. The stewards of Bells Mountain use the soil donated by the Recompose community to revitalize wetlands, riparian habitats, local plants and vulnerable wildlife species. \u003ccite>(Courtesy of Recompose)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“This tree is a vine maple,” Miranda said as she dodged a spider web and ducked under the low, thin, mossy branches arching out in all directions, a spot she chose because it feels “parental.”\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "‘I meditate here, and sometimes I talk to him here. I think of this as like a telephone booth to the afterworld. I can just hear him as if he’s sitting right next to me.’",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>She kneeled next to a little altar she built over the roots, tending a small bowl of rocks and shells her father collected and a jagged crystal surrounded by a ring of pinecones.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I meditate here, and sometimes I talk to him here. I think of this as like a telephone booth to the afterworld,” she said. “I can just hear him as if he’s sitting right next to me.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Having her father here, the sense of his body giving back to the earth, it all somehow mitigated the pain of the loss, she said. It made her less afraid of her own mortality.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“After all of this, I thought, ‘I think I want to do it, too,’” she said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Both Miranda and Joe say they also want to be composted when they die.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"slug": "draft-living-in-californias-sierra-foothills-residents-confront-climate-change",
"title": "Facing the Fire: California's Sierra Foothills Residents Race to Adapt",
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"headTitle": "Facing the Fire: California’s Sierra Foothills Residents Race to Adapt | KQED",
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"content": "\u003cp>\u003cem>This story is part of the third season of KQED’s podcast Sold Out: Rethinking Housing in America. You can \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/podcasts/soldout\" data-stringify-link=\"https://www.kqed.org/podcasts/soldout\" data-sk=\"tooltip_parent\">find that series here\u003c/a> and read about why \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/science/1984697/why-kqed-focused-a-season-of-its-housing-podcast-on-climate-change#:~:text=Sold%20Out%20Is%20Back%20With%20Season%203&text=Host%20Erin%20Baldassari%20leads%20a,an%20affordable%20place%20to%20live.\" data-stringify-link=\"https://www.kqed.org/science/1984697/why-kqed-focused-a-season-of-its-housing-podcast-on-climate-change#:~:text=Sold%20Out%20Is%20Back%20With%20Season%203&text=Host%20Erin%20Baldassari%20leads%20a,an%20affordable%20place%20to%20live.\" data-sk=\"tooltip_parent\">KQED chose to focus a season of its housing podcast on climate change\u003c/a>.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[dropcap]S[/dropcap]hari Wilson woke up and stared at the sun, dull and orange against a ruddy sky. She checked the Air Quality Index app on her phone and put on a mask.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I felt just kind of down,” she said. “You know, there’s that orange sky, gray day.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Like millions of people across the Midwest and Northeast this past June, she saw smoke from Canadian wildfires. Though the fires were thousands of miles away, she couldn’t shake an uneasy feeling.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I felt trapped in the smoke,” she said. “And it made me think a lot about my friends in California.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Shari Wilson and her husband had moved back to their home state of Michigan less than a year prior. Before that, they had spent nearly four decades in California, more than half of it in Nevada City, a small town on the western slope of the Sierra Nevada mountains, about an hour’s drive from Lake Tahoe.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1985405\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-1985405 size-full\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/35/2023/11/230815-BlueForestInitiative-61-BL-qut.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1280\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/11/230815-BlueForestInitiative-61-BL-qut.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/11/230815-BlueForestInitiative-61-BL-qut-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/11/230815-BlueForestInitiative-61-BL-qut-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/11/230815-BlueForestInitiative-61-BL-qut-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/11/230815-BlueForestInitiative-61-BL-qut-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/11/230815-BlueForestInitiative-61-BL-qut-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Dark clouds roll into Nevada City, Nevada County, on Aug. 15, 2023.\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>The quintessential Gold Rush-era town, complete with a vibrant arts scene and quaint, historic downtown, is surrounded by pine forests. Shari Wilson’s husband, Mark Wilson, said when they first moved there, those trees were a big part of the draw.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We had a great evergreen tree that grew two feet away from our deck,” he said. “We thought, ‘This is so great, we can watch the birds.’”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>For more than two decades, the idea that a wildfire could level their house seemed distant. The \u003ca href=\"https://www.pressdemocrat.com/article/news/a-walk-in-the-ashes-of-the-tubbs-fire-five-years-later-in-sonoma-county/\">2017 Tubbs Fire\u003c/a> in California’s wine country brought it home.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The fire tore through a suburban neighborhood, killing 22 people. A year later, \u003ca href=\"https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2023-08-20/five-years-after-the-camp-fire-paradise-survivors-see-hard-future-for-maui\">the Camp Fire\u003c/a> decimated the town of Paradise and killed 85 people.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“That made it real,” Mark Wilson said. “And it became a real feeling that this could easily happen to us tomorrow.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1985421\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-1985421\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/35/2023/11/230809-SoldOutParadise-59-BL-qut.jpg\" alt=\"A sign in the form of a cross sits next to the side of a road in dusk light.\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1280\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/11/230809-SoldOutParadise-59-BL-qut.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/11/230809-SoldOutParadise-59-BL-qut-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/11/230809-SoldOutParadise-59-BL-qut-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/11/230809-SoldOutParadise-59-BL-qut-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/11/230809-SoldOutParadise-59-BL-qut-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/11/230809-SoldOutParadise-59-BL-qut-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A memorial reads, ‘Faith, Hope, Paradise,’ in Paradise on Aug. 9, 2023. The Camp Fire, a deadly fire that destroyed much of the towns of Paradise and Concow, swept through the area in 2018. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>The couple started thinking about where else to live. Shari Wilson was quick to say it wasn’t just due to the fires. “We aren’t climate refugees,” she said. They both grew up in Michigan and wanted to live close to family.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But when this summer’s smoke began to blot out the sun, Mark Wilson said it was a grim reminder.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It made me sad because it was a reminder that it’s not just California. It’s not just in one place. It’s everywhere,” he said. “And no matter where you go, climate change is going to catch up with you.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1985407\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-1985407 size-full\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/35/2023/11/230627-HousingNevadaCoWildfire-19-BL-qut.jpg\" alt=\"A red sign with white lettering is nailed to a tree.\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1280\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/11/230627-HousingNevadaCoWildfire-19-BL-qut.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/11/230627-HousingNevadaCoWildfire-19-BL-qut-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/11/230627-HousingNevadaCoWildfire-19-BL-qut-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/11/230627-HousingNevadaCoWildfire-19-BL-qut-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/11/230627-HousingNevadaCoWildfire-19-BL-qut-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/11/230627-HousingNevadaCoWildfire-19-BL-qut-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A sign advertising defensible space clearance for wildfire preparation hangs on a tree along the San Juan Ridge near Nevada City on June 27, 2023. The area is heavily forested and borders the Yuba River near historic towns that date back to the 1849 California Gold Rush. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>As rising global temperatures bake the surrounding pine trees, oaks and madrones of the Sierra Nevada mountains, residents living in its scattered communities have a choice: to remain in the fire’s path or hedge their bets elsewhere.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It is a question my family found ourselves facing, but in reverse, after my partner inherited a house in Nevada County. It is a place where we both spent our childhoods and where we hoped to one day raise our daughter.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Fire has always been part of the bargain of living there. But as climate change fuels wildfires of unprecedented proportions, it’s rewriting the terms of that old agreement. As it does, that’s forced us, like many in the forested foothills, to renegotiate what we’re willing to do — and how much we’re willing to risk — to live there.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c!-- iframe plugin v.4.3 wordpress.org/plugins/iframe/ -->\u003cbr>\n\u003ciframe loading=\"lazy\" frameborder=\"0\" height=\"200\" scrolling=\"no\" src=\"https://playlist.megaphone.fm/?e=KQINC1360589321&light=true\" width=\"100%\" class=\"iframe-class\">\u003c/iframe>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In Nevada County, measures to mitigate the threat of wildfires are underway, but their effectiveness has been stunted by decades of land management policies that sought to suppress all fires and led to an overabundance of brush and trees. Now, residents are racing to make up for lost time.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>For communities across the globe similarly poised on the knife’s edge of catastrophe — whether the threat is rising seas, stronger hurricanes or longer periods of extreme heat — the question is how to preserve and protect these places, or as retired fire scientist and Nevada County resident Jo Ann Fites-Kaufman put it, “What does it mean to live in different environments? What does it mean to grow up in an area? What does it mean to be human?”\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Barbara’s house\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>My partner’s mom, Barbara, was 79 when she passed away.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>She left behind a two-bedroom Mediterranean-style home with an orange exterior, its hue varied and weathered, one wall splashed robin’s egg blue. Situated on a 13-acre property in the northwestern corner of Nevada County, the house is not only a mausoleum of her artifacts but a physical manifestation of her memory.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Barbara had suffered a stroke, and we spent 10 days in the hospital hoping for an improvement in her condition that never came. During that time, and in the weeks after she passed away, the house was a vessel for our grief. It held us because it held so much of her.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1985313\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-1985313 size-full\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/35/2023/11/230627-SoldOutBarbaraHouse-Barbaras-House_North-San-Juan_1-EB.jpg\" alt=\"A one level house with a tile roof is surrounded by trees.\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1273\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/11/230627-SoldOutBarbaraHouse-Barbaras-House_North-San-Juan_1-EB.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/11/230627-SoldOutBarbaraHouse-Barbaras-House_North-San-Juan_1-EB-800x530.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/11/230627-SoldOutBarbaraHouse-Barbaras-House_North-San-Juan_1-EB-1020x676.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/11/230627-SoldOutBarbaraHouse-Barbaras-House_North-San-Juan_1-EB-160x106.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/11/230627-SoldOutBarbaraHouse-Barbaras-House_North-San-Juan_1-EB-768x509.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/11/230627-SoldOutBarbaraHouse-Barbaras-House_North-San-Juan_1-EB-1536x1018.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Barbara built her home with wildfires in mind. The walls are made from a concrete-like material a foot thick that’s rated to withstand 12 hours of burning. S-shaped tiles line the roof, and a gravel driveway encircles the home. Photographed in August 2023. \u003ccite>(Erin Baldassari/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>When we finally turned off the lights and locked the doors to return home to the Bay Area, we did so reluctantly, wondering how and when we might move our lives there. Beneath our decision was an emerging hope for our not-yet-one-year-old daughter — that, although she would never know her grandmother, she might know the house her grandmother built.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That summer, smoke from two dozen wildfires loomed over Nevada County and drifted across the state. On one particularly bad day in the Bay Area, it grew so thick \u003ca href=\"https://www.newyorker.com/culture/video-dept/the-day-the-san-francisco-sky-turned-orange\">daylight turned to dusk\u003c/a>. It was then when I first began to wonder what kind of future our daughter might inherit if we chose to move to Nevada County, and what it would be like to live in a place where my own memories were constantly clashing with new realities.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Nothing left to burn\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>They call her the voice of doom.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>From her home office overlooking the Yuba River in Nevada County, Pascale Fusshoeller translates the precise, militaristic jargon of wildland firefighting departments into English, conveying need-to-know information on a fire’s origins, its speed and direction to readers across the region.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1985197\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-1985197\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/35/2023/11/RS66840_230626-HousingNevadaCoWildfire-70-BL-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"The charred remains of burnt trees stand out from newly grown plants in a field.\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/11/RS66840_230626-HousingNevadaCoWildfire-70-BL-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/11/RS66840_230626-HousingNevadaCoWildfire-70-BL-KQED-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/11/RS66840_230626-HousingNevadaCoWildfire-70-BL-KQED-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/11/RS66840_230626-HousingNevadaCoWildfire-70-BL-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/11/RS66840_230626-HousingNevadaCoWildfire-70-BL-KQED-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/11/RS66840_230626-HousingNevadaCoWildfire-70-BL-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/11/RS66840_230626-HousingNevadaCoWildfire-70-BL-KQED-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Jim Mathias, Wildfire Prevention and Safety Manager of the Fire Safe Council of Nevada County, drives through an area of the county burned by wildfire on June 26, 2023. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Fusshoeller co-founded and edits YubaNet.com, which began in 1999 as the Internet burgeoned from niche to mainstream. She and her wife, Susan Levitz, both career journalists, intended to run a community events page.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That changed, Fusshoeller said, the day the site went live, and she spotted a towering plume of smoke rising from the ridge facing their home.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“That’s how we got into fire information,” she said. She hasn’t looked back. “It helps people.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1985203\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-1985203\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/35/2023/11/231110-BEAR-TRAP-PRESCRIBED-BURN_NEVADA-COUNTY_05-EB-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"People wearing hard hats work digging in a forest.\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/11/231110-BEAR-TRAP-PRESCRIBED-BURN_NEVADA-COUNTY_05-EB-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/11/231110-BEAR-TRAP-PRESCRIBED-BURN_NEVADA-COUNTY_05-EB-KQED-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/11/231110-BEAR-TRAP-PRESCRIBED-BURN_NEVADA-COUNTY_05-EB-KQED-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/11/231110-BEAR-TRAP-PRESCRIBED-BURN_NEVADA-COUNTY_05-EB-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/11/231110-BEAR-TRAP-PRESCRIBED-BURN_NEVADA-COUNTY_05-EB-KQED-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/11/231110-BEAR-TRAP-PRESCRIBED-BURN_NEVADA-COUNTY_05-EB-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/11/231110-BEAR-TRAP-PRESCRIBED-BURN_NEVADA-COUNTY_05-EB-KQED-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Crew members from the Fire Safe Council of Nevada County walk to the site where they performed a ‘mop up’ following a prescribed burn in Nevada County on June 21, 2023. Using hand tools, the crew members will ensure that all of the fire has been extinguished. \u003ccite>(Erin Baldassari/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>For Fusshoeller, this means that whenever a fire occurs in the Sierra Nevada mountains, her days start early and end late.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/there-s-no-more-typical-wildfire-season-california-it-may-n934521\">It used to be\u003c/a> that fire season began in August and wrapped up by the end of September. Now, she says if there is a “fire season” at all, it begins in May and ends in November.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“And of course, some years, there’s large fires in December,” she added.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As global temperatures rise, so, too, does the number of wildfires. According to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, across the western United States, human-caused climate change has doubled the cumulative area burned by wildfires over natural levels since 1984.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1985422\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 2006px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-1985422\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/35/2023/11/IPCC_AR6_WGII_Figure_2_FAQ_2.3.1.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"2006\" height=\"728\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/11/IPCC_AR6_WGII_Figure_2_FAQ_2.3.1.png 2006w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/11/IPCC_AR6_WGII_Figure_2_FAQ_2.3.1-800x290.png 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/11/IPCC_AR6_WGII_Figure_2_FAQ_2.3.1-1020x370.png 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/11/IPCC_AR6_WGII_Figure_2_FAQ_2.3.1-160x58.png 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/11/IPCC_AR6_WGII_Figure_2_FAQ_2.3.1-768x279.png 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/11/IPCC_AR6_WGII_Figure_2_FAQ_2.3.1-1536x557.png 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/11/IPCC_AR6_WGII_Figure_2_FAQ_2.3.1-1920x697.png 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2006px) 100vw, 2006px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Figure FAQ2.3.1 | (a) Springs Fire, May 2, 2013, Thousand Oaks, California, USA (photo by Michael Robinson Chávez, Los Angeles Times). (b) Cumulative area burned by wildfire in the western USA, with (orange) and without (yellow) the increased heat and aridity of climate change. \u003ccite>(IPCC Sixth Assessment Report)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Patrick Gonzalez, a forest ecologist and climate change scientist at UC Berkeley, said the problem is particularly acute in California, where \u003ca href=\"https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/western-megadrought-is-the-worst-in-1-200-years/#:~:text=An%20exceptionally%20dry%20year%20in%202021%20helped%20break%20the%20record,least%20a%20couple%20of%20decades.\">a prolonged drought in recent years\u003c/a> has dried out plants and soils.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“In Northern and Central California, almost all of the increase in burned area [over natural levels] has come from human-caused climate change since 1996,” he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In California, \u003ca href=\"https://34c031f8-c9fd-4018-8c5a-4159cdff6b0d-cdn-endpoint.azureedge.net/-/media/calfire-website/our-impact/fire-statistics/featured-items/top20_destruction.pdf?rev=ee6ea855632a4b56a46adea1d3c8022f&hash=5B8B3A1A35CBB52CB0ED7A010F0B52E0\">18 of the state’s 20 most destructive wildfires (PDF)\u003c/a> have occurred since 2003. Nevada County had been spared. Looking at a map, Fusshoeller noted that all the surrounding counties had experienced large and destructive wildfires during that time.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“That’s not to say that one day we will not have a large catastrophic fire here,” she said. Nevada County shares the same mix of vegetation, topography and climate conditions. “There is nothing else left to burn in the foothills.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>The forerunner\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>There is something very Californian about believing it’s possible to survive anywhere.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Joan Didion knew this. In her 1968 collection of essays, \u003cem>Slouching Toward Bethlehem\u003c/em>, Didion wrote of the desert metropolis’ clime, “Los Angeles weather is the weather of catastrophe, of apocalypse, and, just as the reliably long and bitter winters of New England determine the way life is lived there, so the violence and the unpredictability of the Santa Ana affect the entire quality of life in Los Angeles, accentuate its impermanence, its unreliability.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The same could be said of the entire state. Where early white settlers found a floodplain, they built their capital city, Sacramento. And even amid the rubble of the city’s most destructive earthquake, San Franciscans nonetheless rebuilt.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1985404\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-1985404\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/35/2023/11/SoldOut-Diptych-02.jpg\" alt=\"Left: Dark smoke billows above a structure. Right: Light gray and reddish smoke rises above a home surrounded by trees.\" width=\"1920\" height=\"923\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/11/SoldOut-Diptych-02.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/11/SoldOut-Diptych-02-800x385.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/11/SoldOut-Diptych-02-1020x490.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/11/SoldOut-Diptych-02-160x77.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/11/SoldOut-Diptych-02-768x369.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/11/SoldOut-Diptych-02-1536x738.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Left: A column of smoke rises behind a house in Lake Wildwood, California, as Mark and Kathy Baldassari prepare to evacuate from the 49er Fire on Sept. 11, 1988. Right: Smoke from the 49er Fire rises behind homes in Lake Wildwood, a small community in Nevada County, on Sept. 11, 1988. The fire burned through nearly 36,000 acres and destroyed almost 150 homes, making it California’s third most destructive wildfire at the time. Now, it’s not even in the top 20. \u003ccite>(Courtesy of Mark and Kathy Baldassari)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>My own earliest memory, if an infant can be said to have one, is of a thick column of gray and black smoke rising behind my family’s house the day we evacuated from a wildfire.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.theunion.com/opinion/49er-fire-memories-where-were-you-30-years-ago-today/article_960384f0-6667-5f66-a6f9-fb0508006a76.html\">It was Sept. 11, 1988\u003c/a>. I was just over a year old. My dad would later describe the fire’s path: not a continuous wall, but jagged, like fingers on a hand, touching some homes, refusing others — sparing ours.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“And you kind of wonder why,” he mused, “why did it spare that house and burn that one?”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It was called the 49er Fire because it broke out near Highway 49 in Nevada County. It tore through nearly 36,000 acres of forest and grasslands and destroyed almost 150 homes. At the time, it was the state’s \u003ca href=\"https://www.cbsnews.com/sacramento/news/49er-fire-destruction/\">third-largest wildfire\u003c/a> and is still the county’s most destructive.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1985219\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-1985219\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/35/2023/11/231110-SO-S3-E6-SCAN-1-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"Several houses beside fire-scorched terrain.\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1543\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/11/231110-SO-S3-E6-SCAN-1-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/11/231110-SO-S3-E6-SCAN-1-KQED-800x617.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/11/231110-SO-S3-E6-SCAN-1-KQED-1020x787.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/11/231110-SO-S3-E6-SCAN-1-KQED-160x123.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/11/231110-SO-S3-E6-SCAN-1-KQED-768x593.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/11/231110-SO-S3-E6-SCAN-1-KQED-1536x1185.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/11/231110-SO-S3-E6-SCAN-1-KQED-1920x1481.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">The 1988 49er Fire burned through nearly 36,000 acres in Nevada County and destroyed almost 150 homes. \u003ccite>(Courtesy of Mark and Kathy Baldassari)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>In a prediction that feels prescient today, Jerry Partain, then-director of California’s Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, now called Cal Fire, \u003ca href=\"https://www.newspapers.com/image/624226617/?clipping_id=115881062&fcfToken=eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJmcmVlLXZpZXctaWQiOjYyNDIyNjYxNywiaWF0IjoxNjk4OTU1MDA4LCJleHAiOjE2OTkwNDE0MDh9.s5IFZHnqPAFNjR2pbvWX3mHL3voE5oItjgwOsPg0Srk\">told \u003cem>The Sacramento Bee\u003c/em>\u003c/a>, “This [fire] is the classic. This is what we’ve been preaching about for the past several years. This is just the forerunner.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>What Partain had been preaching about — fireproofing homes and managing the surrounding vegetation — is now a familiar sermon to anyone living in Northern California today, but one that was met with obstinance by the willful inhabitants of that era, a generally unyielding lot with a profound distrust of government matronism and a deep reverence for stick-to-itiveness, the miner’s luck and the sanctity of private property.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Speaking with \u003cem>The Sacramento Bee\u003c/em>, Partain stood in front of a map detailing the fire’s course, acknowledging there was no way to save every home. “It will continue to happen in the future,” he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1985217\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-1985217 size-full\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/35/2023/11/231110-SIERRA-STORYTELLING-FESTIVAL_NORTH-SAN-JUAN01-EB-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"People sit on blankets and fold out chairs in a grassy space.\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/11/231110-SIERRA-STORYTELLING-FESTIVAL_NORTH-SAN-JUAN01-EB-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/11/231110-SIERRA-STORYTELLING-FESTIVAL_NORTH-SAN-JUAN01-EB-KQED-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/11/231110-SIERRA-STORYTELLING-FESTIVAL_NORTH-SAN-JUAN01-EB-KQED-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/11/231110-SIERRA-STORYTELLING-FESTIVAL_NORTH-SAN-JUAN01-EB-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/11/231110-SIERRA-STORYTELLING-FESTIVAL_NORTH-SAN-JUAN01-EB-KQED-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/11/231110-SIERRA-STORYTELLING-FESTIVAL_NORTH-SAN-JUAN01-EB-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/11/231110-SIERRA-STORYTELLING-FESTIVAL_NORTH-SAN-JUAN01-EB-KQED-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Attendees lounge on the grass during the dinner hour at the Sierra Storytelling Festival at the North Columbia Schoolhouse Cultural Center in North San Juan on July 8, 2023. (Photo by Erin Baldassari/KQED) \u003ccite>(Erin Baldassari/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>With the future came more residents, living with more risk. Between 1990 and 2010, the county’s population \u003ca href=\"https://www.nevadacountyca.gov/378/Demographics-Statistics\">grew 26%\u003c/a>, mirroring a trend seen across the \u003ca href=\"https://www.usfa.fema.gov/downloads/pdf/publications/wui-issues-resolutions-report.pdf\">country (PDF)\u003c/a> as more people than ever flooded into wildland areas.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In California, nearly \u003ca href=\"https://silvis.forest.wisc.edu/data/wui-change/\">half of all homes built during that time period\u003c/a> were constructed in areas designated at “high or extreme risk of wildfire,” according to the Center for Insurance Policy and Research. Nevada County was no exception, where more than \u003ca href=\"https://www.nevadacountyca.gov/CivicAlerts.aspx?AID=5247\">nine out of every 10\u003c/a> residents live in “high or very high” fire hazard zones.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That wildfires have become more destructive over the past 40 years is simple math, UC Berkeley’s Gonzalez said. “The losses of homes and people, who sadly die in a wildfire, is a function of the number of people who live in fire-prone areas,” he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1985215\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-1985215 size-full\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/35/2023/11/231110-PRESCRIBED-BURN_PENN-VALLEY_NEVADA-COUNTY14-EB-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"The smoldering remains of a fire near a house.\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/11/231110-PRESCRIBED-BURN_PENN-VALLEY_NEVADA-COUNTY14-EB-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/11/231110-PRESCRIBED-BURN_PENN-VALLEY_NEVADA-COUNTY14-EB-KQED-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/11/231110-PRESCRIBED-BURN_PENN-VALLEY_NEVADA-COUNTY14-EB-KQED-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/11/231110-PRESCRIBED-BURN_PENN-VALLEY_NEVADA-COUNTY14-EB-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/11/231110-PRESCRIBED-BURN_PENN-VALLEY_NEVADA-COUNTY14-EB-KQED-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/11/231110-PRESCRIBED-BURN_PENN-VALLEY_NEVADA-COUNTY14-EB-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/11/231110-PRESCRIBED-BURN_PENN-VALLEY_NEVADA-COUNTY14-EB-KQED-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A controlled fire burns near a home on a private property in Penn Valley, a small, rural community in Nevada County, California, on June 22, 2023. \u003ccite>(Erin Baldassari/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>He continued: “Climate change is exacerbating the risk. So, that makes it even more important [to limit] the number of people who move into or build new houses in fire-prone areas.”\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Brute reckoning\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>The 49er Fire left its mark on my psyche, attuning me to dry, summer winds, focusing my attention on anything that could produce an errant spark, and heightening my awareness, early on, of my own precarity.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But for many in Nevada County, myself included, it was still only a glimpse into a distant future. Brute reckoning came much later, in 2018, with the Camp Fire in Paradise, California, which is one county away from Nevada County.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1985409\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-1985409 size-full\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/35/2023/11/230626-HousingNevadaCoWildfire-19-BL-qut.jpg\" alt=\"Trucks with piles of logs in the truck beds form a line in a lot near a wooded area.\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1280\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/11/230626-HousingNevadaCoWildfire-19-BL-qut.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/11/230626-HousingNevadaCoWildfire-19-BL-qut-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/11/230626-HousingNevadaCoWildfire-19-BL-qut-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/11/230626-HousingNevadaCoWildfire-19-BL-qut-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/11/230626-HousingNevadaCoWildfire-19-BL-qut-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/11/230626-HousingNevadaCoWildfire-19-BL-qut-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Vehicles filled with green waste wait in line during a free residential disposal hosted by the Fire Safe Council of Nevada County in Grass Valley on June 26, 2023. Residents can bring all tree and plant trimmings, weeds, leaves, branches, and pine needles, except for some plants like scotch broom and poison oak, in an effort to create defensible space on their properties. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>YubaNet’s Fusshoeller held a town hall event a week after the fire began. Minutes after the doors opened, the seats had filled to capacity, followed by the building’s overflow rooms.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“And then there were still people outside,” Fusshoeller recalled. “It was the whole community. They were scared.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The fire became a wake-up call — and a rallying cry.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We regularly hear that this is the next Camp Fire,” said Jamie Jones, the executive director of the Fire Safe Council of Nevada County, a nonprofit formed in the wake of the 49er Fire.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1985202\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-1985202\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/35/2023/11/231110-BEAR-TRAP-PRESCRIBED-BURN_NEVADA-COUNTY_01-EB-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"A group of people wearing hard hats walk along a roadway beside a stretch of burnt forest.\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/11/231110-BEAR-TRAP-PRESCRIBED-BURN_NEVADA-COUNTY_01-EB-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/11/231110-BEAR-TRAP-PRESCRIBED-BURN_NEVADA-COUNTY_01-EB-KQED-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/11/231110-BEAR-TRAP-PRESCRIBED-BURN_NEVADA-COUNTY_01-EB-KQED-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/11/231110-BEAR-TRAP-PRESCRIBED-BURN_NEVADA-COUNTY_01-EB-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/11/231110-BEAR-TRAP-PRESCRIBED-BURN_NEVADA-COUNTY_01-EB-KQED-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/11/231110-BEAR-TRAP-PRESCRIBED-BURN_NEVADA-COUNTY_01-EB-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/11/231110-BEAR-TRAP-PRESCRIBED-BURN_NEVADA-COUNTY_01-EB-KQED-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Crew members from the Fire Safe Council of Nevada County walk to the site where they were performing a ‘mop up’ following a prescribed burn in Nevada County on June 21, 2023. \u003ccite>(Erin Baldassari/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“We have watersheds that if a fire starts on the wrong day and the wrong conditions — or you could call it the right conditions — we could have a potential catastrophic loss like Paradise did,” she said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Spurred by that rallying cry, Jones’ organization ballooned from three employees to more than 50, with its own land management crew, \u003ca href=\"https://www.areyoufiresafe.com/programs/defensible-space-advisory-visit-dsav\">free advisory visits\u003c/a> for homeowners, a \u003ca href=\"https://www.areyoufiresafe.com/programs/chipping-program\">roving wood-chipper\u003c/a>, and a robust grant-writing department, among \u003ca href=\"https://www.areyoufiresafe.com/programs\">other initiatives\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It became a huge priority to fund [wildfire] mitigation work,” Jones said. “We just kind of grabbed the bull by the horns and said, ‘We’ll do it. We’ll be that large nonprofit to work in this space.’”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1985191\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-1985191 size-full\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/35/2023/11/RS66792_230626-HousingNevadaCoWildfire-08-BL-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"Two people use a rake-like device to remove all of the dried green waste from the bed of a truck.\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/11/RS66792_230626-HousingNevadaCoWildfire-08-BL-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/11/RS66792_230626-HousingNevadaCoWildfire-08-BL-KQED-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/11/RS66792_230626-HousingNevadaCoWildfire-08-BL-KQED-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/11/RS66792_230626-HousingNevadaCoWildfire-08-BL-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/11/RS66792_230626-HousingNevadaCoWildfire-08-BL-KQED-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/11/RS66792_230626-HousingNevadaCoWildfire-08-BL-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/11/RS66792_230626-HousingNevadaCoWildfire-08-BL-KQED-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Employees help people unload green waste during a free residential disposal hosted by the Fire Safe Council of Nevada County in Grass Valley on June 26, 2023. Residents can bring all tree and plant trimmings, weeds, leaves, branches, and pine needles, except for some plants like scotch broom and poison oak, in an effort to create defensible space on their properties. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>But the Camp Fire also incited residents to act. Today, Nevada County, with a population of just over \u003ca href=\"https://www.census.gov/quickfacts/fact/table/nevadacountycalifornia/PST045222\">100,000 people\u003c/a>, boasts the highest number of \u003ca href=\"https://www.nfpa.org/education-and-research/wildfire/firewise-usa\">Firewise Communities\u003c/a> in the country — a program run by the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) that encourages neighborhoods to organize and collectively complete fire safety projects, such as thinning trees along evacuation routes and clearing excess brush on individual properties.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Before the Camp Fire, Jones said there were 22 Firewise Communities in the county. As of October, there were 94, according to the NFPA.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I think it speaks volumes to how committed our community is to protecting their families, their loved ones, their neighbors, and the community that we live in,” Jones said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Still, she said \u003ca href=\"https://www.capradio.org/articles/2021/06/23/newsom-misled-the-public-about-wildfire-prevention-efforts-ahead-of-worst-fire-season-on-record/\">progress remains stilted in other ways\u003c/a>. For instance, Gov. Gavin Newsom in 2019 \u003ca href=\"https://www.gov.ca.gov/2020/01/29/governor-newsom-announces-completion-of-emergency-projects-to-protect-wildfire-vulnerable-communities/\">fast-tracked 35 wildfire defense projects\u003c/a> across the state, including one in Nevada County, the \u003ca href=\"https://www.nevadacountyca.gov/3748/Ponderosa-West-Grass-Valley-Defense-Zone#:~:text=The%20shaded%20fuel%20break%20lies,Newtown%20Road%20to%20the%20north.\">Ponderosa West Grass Valley Defense Zone shaded fuel break\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The \u003ca href=\"https://www.ponderosawestproject.org/\">project\u003c/a> provided free brush clearing on residents’ properties to allow firefighters to more easily defend the town of Grass Valley. But four years after the first phase began, many of the property owners have failed to maintain their land.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1985410\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-1985410\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/35/2023/11/230626-HousingNevadaCoWildfire-75-BL-qut-1.jpg\" alt=\"One hand holds up a paper map while the other hand points to an area on the map.\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1280\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/11/230626-HousingNevadaCoWildfire-75-BL-qut-1.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/11/230626-HousingNevadaCoWildfire-75-BL-qut-1-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/11/230626-HousingNevadaCoWildfire-75-BL-qut-1-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/11/230626-HousingNevadaCoWildfire-75-BL-qut-1-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/11/230626-HousingNevadaCoWildfire-75-BL-qut-1-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/11/230626-HousingNevadaCoWildfire-75-BL-qut-1-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Jim Mathias, the wildfire prevention and safety manager of the Fire Safe Council of Nevada County, holds a map of a plan for a shaded fuel break in southern Nevada County on June 26, 2023. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>On a recent tour, Jones pointed to a property where the homeowner had positioned himself as a poster child of compliance. Crispy brush and small trees, perfect kindling for a big wildfire, now crowded beneath towering oak and manzanita trees.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“He sold two years into the project,” she lamented. The new property owner never picked up the work. Continued compliance requires constant care — and a long memory.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Our place on the planet\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>As the spokesperson for the Nevada City Rancheria Nisenan Tribe, Shelly Covert carries with her a cultural memory that spans centuries. What it takes to live in wildland areas today, she said, is in some ways not so different from when her relatives lived freely off the land — and that is constant tending.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>For her relatives, that meant cutting trees, harvesting smaller branches, and collecting reeds — work now done with chainsaws and machines.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1985420\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 2560px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-1985420 size-full\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/35/2023/11/GettyImages-1241501048-scaled.jpg\" alt=\"A woman's face is reflected in a mirror with brown writing.\" width=\"2560\" height=\"1707\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/11/GettyImages-1241501048-scaled.jpg 2560w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/11/GettyImages-1241501048-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/11/GettyImages-1241501048-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/11/GettyImages-1241501048-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/11/GettyImages-1241501048-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/11/GettyImages-1241501048-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/11/GettyImages-1241501048-2048x1365.jpg 2048w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/11/GettyImages-1241501048-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2560px) 100vw, 2560px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Shelly Covert, spokesperson for the Nevada City Rancheria Nisenan Tribe, in Nevada City, on June 6, 2022. \u003ccite>(Robert Gauthier/Los Angeles Times via Getty Images)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>The difference, she said, is that the Nisenan used these materials in their homes, acorn granaries, tools and baskets. That these same actions also made the forests more resilient to — and protected the Nisenan from — catastrophic wildfires was secondary. Today, the accumulation of these same plant materials is a burden.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Nobody wants it,” she said. “So, how are forests ever going to be tended in that way again when we don’t need the freaking stuff that’s all over the ground?”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Nevada County’s Fire Safe Council is trying to help relieve that burden with a free \u003ca href=\"https://www.areyoufiresafe.com/programs/residential-green-waste-disposal-2023\">green waste disposal site\u003c/a> in Grass Valley. This past June, on the last day it was open for the season, crews heaped logs into towering piles, mounded branches atop each other, and stacked firewood for the taking.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1985193\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-1985193 size-full\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/35/2023/11/RS66813_230626-HousingNevadaCoWildfire-38-BL-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"A person wearing a large wicker hat and sunglasses stands in front of piles of wood and speaks to the driver of a vehicle.\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/11/RS66813_230626-HousingNevadaCoWildfire-38-BL-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/11/RS66813_230626-HousingNevadaCoWildfire-38-BL-KQED-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/11/RS66813_230626-HousingNevadaCoWildfire-38-BL-KQED-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/11/RS66813_230626-HousingNevadaCoWildfire-38-BL-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/11/RS66813_230626-HousingNevadaCoWildfire-38-BL-KQED-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/11/RS66813_230626-HousingNevadaCoWildfire-38-BL-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/11/RS66813_230626-HousingNevadaCoWildfire-38-BL-KQED-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Jonny Sjobeck (left) talks with Roland Harrison during a free green waste residential disposal hosted by the Fire Safe Council of Nevada County in Grass Valley on June 26, 2023. Residents can bring all tree and plant trimmings, weeds, leaves, branches, and pine needles, except for some plants like scotch broom and poison oak, in an effort to create defensible space on their properties. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Suzi and Doug Clipperton waited in line for their turn to unload the towering pile of branches in the back of their truck. They had moved to the county from Palm Springs two years ago, and though their property is relatively small, at one acre, it still produces an abundance of vegetation.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Without the green waste disposal site, Suzi Clipperton said she would be forced to pay to get rid of the materials at the dump.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It’s so expensive, even the green waste,” she said. “Over $25 a truckload, over and over several times a month.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Getting to a truly sustainable lifestyle in the forested foothills is still a long way off, Covert said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It’s just the way we’ve built our built lives,” she said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But that’s not what people, myself included, want to talk to her about these days. All we want to talk to her about is how to use fire to fight fire.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1985211\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-1985211\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/35/2023/11/231110-PRESCRIBED-BURN_PENN-VALLEY_NEVADA-COUNTY06-EB-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"A person holds a device to dried grass to start a fire.\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/11/231110-PRESCRIBED-BURN_PENN-VALLEY_NEVADA-COUNTY06-EB-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/11/231110-PRESCRIBED-BURN_PENN-VALLEY_NEVADA-COUNTY06-EB-KQED-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/11/231110-PRESCRIBED-BURN_PENN-VALLEY_NEVADA-COUNTY06-EB-KQED-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/11/231110-PRESCRIBED-BURN_PENN-VALLEY_NEVADA-COUNTY06-EB-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/11/231110-PRESCRIBED-BURN_PENN-VALLEY_NEVADA-COUNTY06-EB-KQED-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/11/231110-PRESCRIBED-BURN_PENN-VALLEY_NEVADA-COUNTY06-EB-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/11/231110-PRESCRIBED-BURN_PENN-VALLEY_NEVADA-COUNTY06-EB-KQED-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Dylan Drummond wields a drip torch, which he uses to ignite grasses during a prescribed burn on a private property in Penn Valley, a small, rural community in Nevada County on June 22, 2023. The burn aims to reduce the brush and grasses that fuel megafires while also helping to restore native plants to the region. \u003ccite>(Erin Baldassari/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>The practice, called controlled or prescribed burns, has gained momentum in recent years as a way to clear the brush and grasses that fuel megafires. But Covert’s relatives also burned the land to remove bug infestations from trees, clear land for hunting and travel and promote certain kinds of plants. Public officials have been increasingly turning to her to tap into the tribe’s cultural knowledge.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>On one hand, Covert said she appreciates having a seat at the table, an opportunity her grandparents were never afforded. On the other, she said it’s hard for her not to roll her eyes during those same meetings.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Don’t tell me those old people didn’t sit there and say, ‘You can’t not burn the land.’ It was unfathomable to them,” she said. “We have to burn the land, and we have to burn our dead.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1985413\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-1985413\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/35/2023/11/Prescribed-Burn_Penn-Valley_Nevada-County15-qut.jpg\" alt=\"Green plants sprout from a burned land.\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1280\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/11/Prescribed-Burn_Penn-Valley_Nevada-County15-qut.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/11/Prescribed-Burn_Penn-Valley_Nevada-County15-qut-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/11/Prescribed-Burn_Penn-Valley_Nevada-County15-qut-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/11/Prescribed-Burn_Penn-Valley_Nevada-County15-qut-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/11/Prescribed-Burn_Penn-Valley_Nevada-County15-qut-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/11/Prescribed-Burn_Penn-Valley_Nevada-County15-qut-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">This yampa root survives a prescribed burn on a private property in Penn Valley, a small, rural community in Nevada County, California, on June 22, 2023. \u003ccite>(Erin Baldassari/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>When white settlers arrived during the Gold Rush, they not only outlawed the practice of burning the land but also the Nisenan practice of cremating their dead. And, while government officials now recognize fire as essential to maintaining forest health, Nisenan cremations are still outlawed.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>During those ceremonies, the nearest female relatives of the deceased would mix pine pitch with ash to blacken their heads and shoulders, washing their faces only after the mixture had worn off, thus defining the period of mourning. Other relatives and friends gathered around to sing and cry. Every year, an annual mourning ceremony, or “Second Burning,” was held for everyone who died that year.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“My grandma said that the old ladies used to wipe each other’s tears and hold each other up because they were so fraught with sadness,” Covert said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>To Covert, burning the land and burning the dead are not two practices with distinct purposes and outcomes. They are the same practice for the same purpose of binding humanity to all other life and to the land.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1985210\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-1985210\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/35/2023/11/231110-PRESCRIBED-BURN_PENN-VALLEY_NEVADA-COUNTY04-EB-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"A fire burns dried grasses around the truck of a tree.\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/11/231110-PRESCRIBED-BURN_PENN-VALLEY_NEVADA-COUNTY04-EB-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/11/231110-PRESCRIBED-BURN_PENN-VALLEY_NEVADA-COUNTY04-EB-KQED-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/11/231110-PRESCRIBED-BURN_PENN-VALLEY_NEVADA-COUNTY04-EB-KQED-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/11/231110-PRESCRIBED-BURN_PENN-VALLEY_NEVADA-COUNTY04-EB-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/11/231110-PRESCRIBED-BURN_PENN-VALLEY_NEVADA-COUNTY04-EB-KQED-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/11/231110-PRESCRIBED-BURN_PENN-VALLEY_NEVADA-COUNTY04-EB-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/11/231110-PRESCRIBED-BURN_PENN-VALLEY_NEVADA-COUNTY04-EB-KQED-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Workers perform a prescribed burn on a private property in Penn Valley, a small, rural community in Nevada County on June 22, 2023. \u003ccite>(Erin Baldassari/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>She said the cremation ceremony is at the core: “It is the kickstarter of all these other protocols that come into play that are respect for the land, respect for the animals, respect for the spirit, respect for one another. And that’s it.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It is the foundation that allows them to see themselves as both indebted to a place and responsible for it.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We have thumbs. We can light fire. We can pull and tend the rubbish in the forests,” Covert said. “That is our place on this planet.”\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Good fire\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>In a small community on the western flank of Nevada County, atop a ridge overlooking Lake Wildwood, where the 49er Fire raged 35 years ago, three young men holding drip torches set fire to the land.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It was an abnormally cool June day. The crew of roughly a dozen, dressed in flannel shirts, blue jeans and boots, worked methodically downhill. Some held water bladders to douse fires burning into tree roots. Others were posted at control lines to ensure the fire stayed within its boundaries. One roamed the perimeter on a motorcycle to watch for spotfires.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1985414\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-1985414\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/35/2023/11/Prescribed-Burn_Penn-Valley_Nevada-County11-qut.jpg\" alt=\"A man holds a water hose near a smoked filled forest area.\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1280\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/11/Prescribed-Burn_Penn-Valley_Nevada-County11-qut.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/11/Prescribed-Burn_Penn-Valley_Nevada-County11-qut-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/11/Prescribed-Burn_Penn-Valley_Nevada-County11-qut-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/11/Prescribed-Burn_Penn-Valley_Nevada-County11-qut-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/11/Prescribed-Burn_Penn-Valley_Nevada-County11-qut-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/11/Prescribed-Burn_Penn-Valley_Nevada-County11-qut-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Kevin Bratton uses a hose to douse the roots of a pine tree during a prescribed burn on a private property in Penn Valley, a small, rural community in Nevada County on June 22, 2023. \u003ccite>(Erin Baldassari/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>They were lighting a controlled burn on the roughly 80-acre property, with the twin goals of reducing the wildfire risk and promoting native plants, which often need the low-intensity fires to drop seeds or sprout from dormancy.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“When you see the effects of fire, it all makes sense,” said Tim Van Wagner, an organic farmer in Nevada County and broadcast burn practitioner, who led the burn that day. “All of a sudden, you actually realize the insanity of how we have been able to suppress fire and the damage it’s done.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The more fuel there is to burn, the hotter the fire becomes, and the more likely they are to \u003ca href=\"https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2022-07-20/california-forests-are-vanishing-as-wildfires-worsen\">permanently incinerate\u003c/a> even the most fire-adapted forests.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1985214\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-1985214\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/35/2023/11/231110-PRESCRIBED-BURN_PENN-VALLEY_NEVADA-COUNTY13-EB-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"A person in a baseball cap walks through a smokey open space.\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/11/231110-PRESCRIBED-BURN_PENN-VALLEY_NEVADA-COUNTY13-EB-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/11/231110-PRESCRIBED-BURN_PENN-VALLEY_NEVADA-COUNTY13-EB-KQED-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/11/231110-PRESCRIBED-BURN_PENN-VALLEY_NEVADA-COUNTY13-EB-KQED-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/11/231110-PRESCRIBED-BURN_PENN-VALLEY_NEVADA-COUNTY13-EB-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/11/231110-PRESCRIBED-BURN_PENN-VALLEY_NEVADA-COUNTY13-EB-KQED-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/11/231110-PRESCRIBED-BURN_PENN-VALLEY_NEVADA-COUNTY13-EB-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/11/231110-PRESCRIBED-BURN_PENN-VALLEY_NEVADA-COUNTY13-EB-KQED-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Tim Van Wagner, a broadcast burn practitioner, oversees a prescribed burn on a private property in Penn Valley, a small, rural community in Nevada County on June 22, 2023. \u003ccite>(Erin Baldassari/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>But bringing “good fire” back hasn’t been easy, said fire historian and author Stephen Pyne.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We spent 50 years trying to take all fire out of the landscape,” he said, “and we’ve spent 50 years trying to put good fire back in.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Federal regulators restricted broadcast burns beginning in 1910, following a particularly fearsome spate of fires known as the “Big Blowup,” when some 3 million acres of forestland in Idaho and Montana \u003ca href=\"https://www.fs.usda.gov/Internet/FSE_DOCUMENTS/stelprdb5444731.pdf\">burned over the course of two short days (PDF)\u003c/a>, killing 86 people — the most in US history, until \u003ca href=\"https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/maui-hawaii-fires-death-toll-rcna105387\">this year’s fires in Maui\u003c/a>. By the time the National Parks Service \u003ca href=\"https://www.motherjones.com/environment/2019/11/californias-wildfire-controlled-prescribed-burns-native-americans/#:~:text=In%201968%2C%20the%20National%20Park,introduced%20fire%20to%20their%20landscapes.\">changed its policy\u003c/a> in 1968, areas that had been accustomed to periodic fires were overloaded with fuels.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Combine that excess vegetation with rising temperatures, and Pyne said existing models of fire behavior no longer hold.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“They are being overwhelmed,” he said. “We’re seeing it in Canada now and parts of the Mediterranean, as well as parts of the U.S., and we’re creating a new world out of this.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Humans once controlled fire. Now, Pyne said fire is controlling us.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We’ve taken what had always been our best friend, and we’re making it our worst enemy,” he said. “Even if we tame the climate, we remove the fossil fuel part of it, we still have a relentless obligation to work with fire in the lands that remain.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1985415\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-1985415\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/35/2023/11/Prescribed-Burn_Penn-Valley_Nevada-County02-qut.jpg\" alt=\"A man looks up and away from the camera while holding his arm out while brush burns nearby.\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1280\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/11/Prescribed-Burn_Penn-Valley_Nevada-County02-qut.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/11/Prescribed-Burn_Penn-Valley_Nevada-County02-qut-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/11/Prescribed-Burn_Penn-Valley_Nevada-County02-qut-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/11/Prescribed-Burn_Penn-Valley_Nevada-County02-qut-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/11/Prescribed-Burn_Penn-Valley_Nevada-County02-qut-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/11/Prescribed-Burn_Penn-Valley_Nevada-County02-qut-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Tim Van Wagner, a broadcast burn practitioner, oversees a prescribed burn on private property in Penn Valley, a small, rural community in Nevada County, on June 22, 2023. \u003ccite>(Erin Baldassari/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>In California, policy leaders from Gov. Newsom down to local leaders are encouraging controlled burns. But the process has been hampered, \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/science/1979560/cal-fire-fumbles-key-responsibilities-to-prevent-catastrophic-wildfires-despite-historic-budget\">in part\u003c/a>, by the slow rollout of its certification program for burn bosses. The designation is crucial for people like Van Wagner because it would allow them to tap into a \u003ca href=\"https://wildfiretaskforce.org/prescribed-fire-liability-claims-fund-pilot/#:~:text=Administered%20by%20CAL%20FIRE%2C%20the,burn%20boss%20or%20cultural%20practitioner.\">$20 million pool of insurance to cover damages from fires set under prescribed conditions\u003c/a>. But, as of August, there were \u003ca href=\"https://osfm.fire.ca.gov/divisions/state-fire-training/cfstes-professional-certification/state-certified-prescribed-fire-burn-boss/\">only two dozen state-certified burn bosses\u003c/a> in the state.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It hasn’t been a smooth process,” said Van Wagner, who is in the process of obtaining the certification. Without access to insurance, “it can be a basic game-over,” he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1985401\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-1985401 size-full\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/35/2023/11/SoldOut-Diptych-01.jpg\" alt=\"Left: A man walks through dry yellow grasses while using a torch to light the grass on fire.\" width=\"1920\" height=\"881\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/11/SoldOut-Diptych-01.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/11/SoldOut-Diptych-01-800x367.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/11/SoldOut-Diptych-01-1020x468.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/11/SoldOut-Diptych-01-160x73.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/11/SoldOut-Diptych-01-768x352.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/11/SoldOut-Diptych-01-1536x705.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Dylan Drummond wields a drip torch, which he uses to ignite grasses during a prescribed burn on private property in Penn Valley, a small, rural community in Nevada County, on June 22, 2023. The burn aims to reduce the brush and grasses that fuel mega-fires while also helping to restore native plants to the region. \u003ccite>(Erin Baldassari/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>According to the U.S. Forest Service, \u003ca href=\"https://www.fs.usda.gov/news/releases/statement-forest-service-chief-randy-moore-announcing-pause-prescribed-fire\">fewer than 1%\u003c/a> of controlled burns get out of control, but they still make neighbors nervous.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It’s foreign to most people,” Van Wagner said. “So, there’s more of a fear response than understanding.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>For Fancy Fechser, who owns the Nevada County property where Van Wagner was burning, learning to live with fire is part of what it means to live in the foothills. She and her husband moved there with their family from Los Angeles in 2021.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It’s the luck of the draw here, and that’s something you have to live with,” she said. “But the control you can have — I mean, I feel so much better now that we did this.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1985417\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-1985417\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/35/2023/11/Fancy-Fechser_Penn-Valley_01-qut.jpg\" alt=\"Two people stand on the side of a hill with a forest behind them.\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1280\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/11/Fancy-Fechser_Penn-Valley_01-qut.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/11/Fancy-Fechser_Penn-Valley_01-qut-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/11/Fancy-Fechser_Penn-Valley_01-qut-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/11/Fancy-Fechser_Penn-Valley_01-qut-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/11/Fancy-Fechser_Penn-Valley_01-qut-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/11/Fancy-Fechser_Penn-Valley_01-qut-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Fancy Fechser (right) talks with prescribed burn practitioner Tim Van Wagner following a prescribed burn on her property in Penn Valley on June 16, 2023. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Fechser hopes that in the long run, the work done here will make both her property and the surrounding community safer from megafires and that it’ll be more resilient for the climate changes to come.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I don’t love looking at a charred backyard, but I know the point,” she said. “We have to look in the future here.”\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Grieving the future\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>For Oakland-based journalist Erica Hellerstein, part of looking into California’s future means grieving — not a lost past, but a future that may never come to be.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Reflecting on this idea in a \u003ca href=\"https://www.codastory.com/rewriting-history/grieving-california/\">2022 Coda Story essay\u003c/a>, she wrote, “A building that burns can be rebuilt. But if fire incinerates a state of mind, can that be put back together?”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1985209\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-1985209\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/35/2023/11/231110-ERICA-HELLERSTEIN_OAKLAND_03-EB-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"A person with long hairs sits in front of a bookshelf indoors.\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/11/231110-ERICA-HELLERSTEIN_OAKLAND_03-EB-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/11/231110-ERICA-HELLERSTEIN_OAKLAND_03-EB-KQED-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/11/231110-ERICA-HELLERSTEIN_OAKLAND_03-EB-KQED-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/11/231110-ERICA-HELLERSTEIN_OAKLAND_03-EB-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/11/231110-ERICA-HELLERSTEIN_OAKLAND_03-EB-KQED-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/11/231110-ERICA-HELLERSTEIN_OAKLAND_03-EB-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/11/231110-ERICA-HELLERSTEIN_OAKLAND_03-EB-KQED-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Oakland-based journalist Erica Hellerstein poses for a portrait in her apartment overlooking Lake Merritt on June 30, 2023. In her Coda Story essay, Grieving California, she explored feelings of climate anxiety associated with grief — specifically, ‘grieving a future that may never come to pass’ as a result of warming global temperatures. \u003ccite>(Erin Baldassari/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Hellerstein remembers the rupture when her memories of the past severed from her expectations of the future. It was September 2020, and smoke from fires burning across the state had smothered the sky. She watched, with jarring dissonance, as partygoers in hazmat masks waited outside a nightclub in San Francisco.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“They were just pretending everything was normal,” she said. “That was another turning point for me, just cognitively of being like, ‘OK, yeah, things are really not what I remember from my childhood growing up here.’”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>For me, it was visiting Paradise this summer five years after the Camp Fire ravaged the area, and seeing its pine trees replaced with shrubby manzanita and sprouting oaks. As fires and drought kill the mixed conifer trees that give the Sierra foothills their signature beauty, other plants more accustomed to Southern California’s clime are slowly replacing them.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1985418\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-1985418\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/35/2023/11/230809-SoldOutParadise-46-BL-qut.jpg\" alt=\"A house sits on a hillside dotted with green shrubs and dry grasses in the foreground.\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1280\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/11/230809-SoldOutParadise-46-BL-qut.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/11/230809-SoldOutParadise-46-BL-qut-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/11/230809-SoldOutParadise-46-BL-qut-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/11/230809-SoldOutParadise-46-BL-qut-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/11/230809-SoldOutParadise-46-BL-qut-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/11/230809-SoldOutParadise-46-BL-qut-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Empty lots dot the side of a residential area of Paradise on Aug. 9, 2023. The Camp Fire, a deadly fire that destroyed much of the towns of Paradise and Concow, swept through the area in 2018. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>These pine trees — whose smell, earthy and fresh after the first fall rain, is permanently imprinted in my olfactory memory — are some of the most threatened. Of all the impacts climate change may bring, their prospective loss is one I haven’t quite reconciled.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“There’s so much grief there because we’ve had it so good in our life,” said Sam Hinrichs, a resident of Nevada County for 35 years. “We’ve had it so good, and we didn’t pay attention to that.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Hinrichs was once a volunteer firefighter and used to do wildfire mitigation work. Now, she sits on the board of the North San Juan Fire Protection District in Nevada County. She’s keenly aware of her own risk of living three miles down a gravel road, surrounded by forest.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I do look at those climate maps, and I see where the danger zones are,” she said. “I think about fire every day, all the time.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1985419\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-1985419\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/35/2023/11/Inimim-Forest_San-Juan-Ridge_05-qut.jpg\" alt=\"A dead tree is surrounded by green trees.\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1280\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/11/Inimim-Forest_San-Juan-Ridge_05-qut.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/11/Inimim-Forest_San-Juan-Ridge_05-qut-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/11/Inimim-Forest_San-Juan-Ridge_05-qut-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/11/Inimim-Forest_San-Juan-Ridge_05-qut-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/11/Inimim-Forest_San-Juan-Ridge_05-qut-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/11/Inimim-Forest_San-Juan-Ridge_05-qut-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A dead tree stands in the Inimim Forest on Aug. 9, 2023. A prolonged drought in California that began in 2000 and has been the most extreme since the 1500s has resulted in significant tree mortality. The mixed conifer trees of the mid-elevation Sierra Nevada Foothills are particularly threatened. \u003ccite>(Erin Baldassari/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>She’s watched the pine trees around her house turn brown from bark beetles that thrive in hotter weather and overproduce, killing the trees they feed on. It’s something she wants her son, Stanley, to see, so he can learn what to do about it.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Though he’s only 6 years old, she’s already gotten him involved in tending their land, identifying which pine and cedar trees to fell, their seedlings replanted upslope, where it’s cooler, and which Black Oaks that can tolerate warmer weather, to leave in place.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I’m not feeling precious about [the pines] anymore,” she said. “I just want to give him skills for resilience and noticing what needs to happen.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1985423\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-1985423\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/35/2023/11/Inimim-Forest_San-Juan-Ridge_03-qut.jpg\" alt=\"A clearing in a wooded area.\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1280\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/11/Inimim-Forest_San-Juan-Ridge_03-qut.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/11/Inimim-Forest_San-Juan-Ridge_03-qut-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/11/Inimim-Forest_San-Juan-Ridge_03-qut-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/11/Inimim-Forest_San-Juan-Ridge_03-qut-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/11/Inimim-Forest_San-Juan-Ridge_03-qut-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/11/Inimim-Forest_San-Juan-Ridge_03-qut-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A significantly thinned area of the Inimim Forest on the San Juan Ridge in Nevada County on Aug. 9, 2023, co-managed by the federal Bureau of Land Management and the Yuba Watershed Institute, a local nonprofit that got its start in the back-to-the-land movement of the 1970s. The management plan has thinned the forest, allowing light to filter through the trees and keeping brush close to the ground, making the area more likely to survive a wildfire. \u003ccite>(Erin Baldassari/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Noticing, and knowing, what needs to happen is not an innate skill. It’s one Hinrichs developed from growing up in the area and from hand-clearing most of her 17-acre property. Using chainsaws and pole saws, she’s worked acre-by-acre, determining which plants hold birds’ nests or provide cover for nursing deers and which can be removed. It’s a labor-intensive process, but it also gives her unique insight into the forest’s health.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The quail have come back since we’ve done this clearing,” she said. “I had only 12 quail, and now we’re up to like, 40, which is really cool.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Hinrichs cannot know whether these efforts will be enough to save her home from a wildfire. Like many in this more remote part of the county, she lives without an insurer willing to cover her losses, relying instead on her own prevention efforts of hand-clearing the land and using prescribed fire to reduce her risk.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I married this land. I’ve made this my project,” she said. “If my house burns down, I’ll build another one. Probably. I’m trying to make it so my house doesn’t burn down, but fire is also just part of this place.”\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Taking care\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>In her book, \u003cem>Fire Monks: Zen Mind Meets Wildfire\u003c/em>, Berkeley author Colleen Morton Busch describes how a group of Buddhist monks at the Tassajara Zen Center in California’s Carmel Valley prepared for a wildfire bearing down on them.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It was 2008, during the \u003ca href=\"https://www.sfgate.com/news/article/Tassajara-monks-practice-Zen-of-firefighting-3277372.php\">Basin Complex Fire\u003c/a>, and there was a debate among the monks and their students about the Zen Buddhist idea of non-attachment. Some argued to let the monastery burn.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1985206\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-1985206\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/35/2023/11/231110-COLLEEN-MORTON-BUSCH_BERKELEY_02-EB-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"A person with glasses sits at a table in an indoor setting.\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/11/231110-COLLEEN-MORTON-BUSCH_BERKELEY_02-EB-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/11/231110-COLLEEN-MORTON-BUSCH_BERKELEY_02-EB-KQED-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/11/231110-COLLEEN-MORTON-BUSCH_BERKELEY_02-EB-KQED-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/11/231110-COLLEEN-MORTON-BUSCH_BERKELEY_02-EB-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/11/231110-COLLEEN-MORTON-BUSCH_BERKELEY_02-EB-KQED-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/11/231110-COLLEEN-MORTON-BUSCH_BERKELEY_02-EB-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/11/231110-COLLEEN-MORTON-BUSCH_BERKELEY_02-EB-KQED-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Berkeley author Colleen Morton Busch poses for a portrait at her home on Sept. 19, 2023. Morton Busch is the author of ‘Fire Monks: Zen Mind Meets Wildfire,’ which describes the ways a group of monks at the Tassajara Zen Center in California’s Carmel Valley prepared and then defended against a wildfire bearing down on them. \u003ccite>(Erin Baldassari/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>In the end, a group of five decided to stay and defend it. Morton-Busch wrote:\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A clever Zen teacher might say that standing back and letting the monastery burn belies a kind of attachment to the idea of non-attachment. That trying to save it when it could all burn anyway is true non-attachment. In trying to save Tassajara from the fire, or your own life from disaster, you can’t be sure you will. In fact, you can lose everything you love in a moment. And that’s not a reason to give up. If anything, it’s a reason to turn toward the fire, recognizing it as a force of both creation and destruction and to take care of what’s right in front of you because that’s all you actually have.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In some ways, the fire bearing down on Tassajara is a lot like climate change — a planetary fire bearing down on all of us.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In other ways, it is very different. The monks had one fire to contend with, but across the globe, we all face a different climate. It may be a hurricane in one area, record-breaking temperatures in another, deadly wildfires one year, heavy rains the next.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Then, there are the ways these changes quietly manifest, and are mourned or endured, in each heart and mind.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>When Barbara was alive, and in the years since she passed away, most of our monthly trips up there were, and still are, spent tending the land.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1985469\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-1985469\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/35/2023/11/Barbaras-House_North-San-Juan_3-qut.jpg\" alt=\"A river and bank with trees.\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1273\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/11/Barbaras-House_North-San-Juan_3-qut.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/11/Barbaras-House_North-San-Juan_3-qut-800x530.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/11/Barbaras-House_North-San-Juan_3-qut-1020x676.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/11/Barbaras-House_North-San-Juan_3-qut-160x106.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/11/Barbaras-House_North-San-Juan_3-qut-768x509.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/11/Barbaras-House_North-San-Juan_3-qut-1536x1018.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">The Yuba River winds through the Sierra Nevada foothills north of Hoyt’s Crossing in August 2023. The river is one of many world-class amenities that lure people to the area. \u003ccite>(Erin Baldassari/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>In a continuous cycle of labor defined by the seasons, we begin after the first fall rain, limbing trees and pulling the flammable and invasive scotch broom. In the spring, we mow down annual grasses to preemptively rob the summer’s fires of their fuel. This year, I’ll bring my now four-year-old along with me. Together, we’ll gather branches from the ground to stack for kindling. And hopefully one day, we’ll both learn how to put good fire on the ground.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>There is something liberating about this labor, which is itself a daily act of defiance.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It is here, in Nevada County and places like it, where no veneer of denialism can cover the stark realities already underway and where there is little time to brood over what is to come because there is too much work to be done now.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In these places, precariously poised on the knife’s edge of a shifting climate, the choice is clear: leave or turn toward the fire.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n",
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"excerpt": "In the Sierra Nevada foothills, residents confront what it means to live in fire country in an era of increasingly destructive wildfires.",
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"title": "Facing the Fire: California's Sierra Foothills Residents Race to Adapt | KQED",
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"headline": "Facing the Fire: California's Sierra Foothills Residents Race to Adapt",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>\u003cem>This story is part of the third season of KQED’s podcast Sold Out: Rethinking Housing in America. You can \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/podcasts/soldout\" data-stringify-link=\"https://www.kqed.org/podcasts/soldout\" data-sk=\"tooltip_parent\">find that series here\u003c/a> and read about why \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/science/1984697/why-kqed-focused-a-season-of-its-housing-podcast-on-climate-change#:~:text=Sold%20Out%20Is%20Back%20With%20Season%203&text=Host%20Erin%20Baldassari%20leads%20a,an%20affordable%20place%20to%20live.\" data-stringify-link=\"https://www.kqed.org/science/1984697/why-kqed-focused-a-season-of-its-housing-podcast-on-climate-change#:~:text=Sold%20Out%20Is%20Back%20With%20Season%203&text=Host%20Erin%20Baldassari%20leads%20a,an%20affordable%20place%20to%20live.\" data-sk=\"tooltip_parent\">KQED chose to focus a season of its housing podcast on climate change\u003c/a>.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003cspan class=\"utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__dropcapShortcode__dropcap\">S\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\u003cp>hari Wilson woke up and stared at the sun, dull and orange against a ruddy sky. She checked the Air Quality Index app on her phone and put on a mask.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I felt just kind of down,” she said. “You know, there’s that orange sky, gray day.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Like millions of people across the Midwest and Northeast this past June, she saw smoke from Canadian wildfires. Though the fires were thousands of miles away, she couldn’t shake an uneasy feeling.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I felt trapped in the smoke,” she said. “And it made me think a lot about my friends in California.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Shari Wilson and her husband had moved back to their home state of Michigan less than a year prior. Before that, they had spent nearly four decades in California, more than half of it in Nevada City, a small town on the western slope of the Sierra Nevada mountains, about an hour’s drive from Lake Tahoe.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1985405\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-1985405 size-full\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/35/2023/11/230815-BlueForestInitiative-61-BL-qut.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1280\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/11/230815-BlueForestInitiative-61-BL-qut.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/11/230815-BlueForestInitiative-61-BL-qut-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/11/230815-BlueForestInitiative-61-BL-qut-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/11/230815-BlueForestInitiative-61-BL-qut-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/11/230815-BlueForestInitiative-61-BL-qut-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/11/230815-BlueForestInitiative-61-BL-qut-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Dark clouds roll into Nevada City, Nevada County, on Aug. 15, 2023.\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>The quintessential Gold Rush-era town, complete with a vibrant arts scene and quaint, historic downtown, is surrounded by pine forests. Shari Wilson’s husband, Mark Wilson, said when they first moved there, those trees were a big part of the draw.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We had a great evergreen tree that grew two feet away from our deck,” he said. “We thought, ‘This is so great, we can watch the birds.’”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>For more than two decades, the idea that a wildfire could level their house seemed distant. The \u003ca href=\"https://www.pressdemocrat.com/article/news/a-walk-in-the-ashes-of-the-tubbs-fire-five-years-later-in-sonoma-county/\">2017 Tubbs Fire\u003c/a> in California’s wine country brought it home.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The fire tore through a suburban neighborhood, killing 22 people. A year later, \u003ca href=\"https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2023-08-20/five-years-after-the-camp-fire-paradise-survivors-see-hard-future-for-maui\">the Camp Fire\u003c/a> decimated the town of Paradise and killed 85 people.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“That made it real,” Mark Wilson said. “And it became a real feeling that this could easily happen to us tomorrow.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1985421\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-1985421\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/35/2023/11/230809-SoldOutParadise-59-BL-qut.jpg\" alt=\"A sign in the form of a cross sits next to the side of a road in dusk light.\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1280\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/11/230809-SoldOutParadise-59-BL-qut.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/11/230809-SoldOutParadise-59-BL-qut-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/11/230809-SoldOutParadise-59-BL-qut-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/11/230809-SoldOutParadise-59-BL-qut-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/11/230809-SoldOutParadise-59-BL-qut-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/11/230809-SoldOutParadise-59-BL-qut-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A memorial reads, ‘Faith, Hope, Paradise,’ in Paradise on Aug. 9, 2023. The Camp Fire, a deadly fire that destroyed much of the towns of Paradise and Concow, swept through the area in 2018. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>The couple started thinking about where else to live. Shari Wilson was quick to say it wasn’t just due to the fires. “We aren’t climate refugees,” she said. They both grew up in Michigan and wanted to live close to family.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But when this summer’s smoke began to blot out the sun, Mark Wilson said it was a grim reminder.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It made me sad because it was a reminder that it’s not just California. It’s not just in one place. It’s everywhere,” he said. “And no matter where you go, climate change is going to catch up with you.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1985407\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-1985407 size-full\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/35/2023/11/230627-HousingNevadaCoWildfire-19-BL-qut.jpg\" alt=\"A red sign with white lettering is nailed to a tree.\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1280\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/11/230627-HousingNevadaCoWildfire-19-BL-qut.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/11/230627-HousingNevadaCoWildfire-19-BL-qut-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/11/230627-HousingNevadaCoWildfire-19-BL-qut-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/11/230627-HousingNevadaCoWildfire-19-BL-qut-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/11/230627-HousingNevadaCoWildfire-19-BL-qut-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/11/230627-HousingNevadaCoWildfire-19-BL-qut-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A sign advertising defensible space clearance for wildfire preparation hangs on a tree along the San Juan Ridge near Nevada City on June 27, 2023. The area is heavily forested and borders the Yuba River near historic towns that date back to the 1849 California Gold Rush. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>As rising global temperatures bake the surrounding pine trees, oaks and madrones of the Sierra Nevada mountains, residents living in its scattered communities have a choice: to remain in the fire’s path or hedge their bets elsewhere.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It is a question my family found ourselves facing, but in reverse, after my partner inherited a house in Nevada County. It is a place where we both spent our childhoods and where we hoped to one day raise our daughter.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Fire has always been part of the bargain of living there. But as climate change fuels wildfires of unprecedented proportions, it’s rewriting the terms of that old agreement. As it does, that’s forced us, like many in the forested foothills, to renegotiate what we’re willing to do — and how much we’re willing to risk — to live there.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c!-- iframe plugin v.4.3 wordpress.org/plugins/iframe/ -->\u003cbr>\n\u003ciframe loading=\"lazy\" frameborder=\"0\" height=\"200\" scrolling=\"no\" src=\"https://playlist.megaphone.fm/?e=KQINC1360589321&light=true\" width=\"100%\" class=\"iframe-class\">\u003c/iframe>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In Nevada County, measures to mitigate the threat of wildfires are underway, but their effectiveness has been stunted by decades of land management policies that sought to suppress all fires and led to an overabundance of brush and trees. Now, residents are racing to make up for lost time.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>For communities across the globe similarly poised on the knife’s edge of catastrophe — whether the threat is rising seas, stronger hurricanes or longer periods of extreme heat — the question is how to preserve and protect these places, or as retired fire scientist and Nevada County resident Jo Ann Fites-Kaufman put it, “What does it mean to live in different environments? What does it mean to grow up in an area? What does it mean to be human?”\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Barbara’s house\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>My partner’s mom, Barbara, was 79 when she passed away.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>She left behind a two-bedroom Mediterranean-style home with an orange exterior, its hue varied and weathered, one wall splashed robin’s egg blue. Situated on a 13-acre property in the northwestern corner of Nevada County, the house is not only a mausoleum of her artifacts but a physical manifestation of her memory.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Barbara had suffered a stroke, and we spent 10 days in the hospital hoping for an improvement in her condition that never came. During that time, and in the weeks after she passed away, the house was a vessel for our grief. It held us because it held so much of her.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1985313\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-1985313 size-full\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/35/2023/11/230627-SoldOutBarbaraHouse-Barbaras-House_North-San-Juan_1-EB.jpg\" alt=\"A one level house with a tile roof is surrounded by trees.\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1273\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/11/230627-SoldOutBarbaraHouse-Barbaras-House_North-San-Juan_1-EB.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/11/230627-SoldOutBarbaraHouse-Barbaras-House_North-San-Juan_1-EB-800x530.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/11/230627-SoldOutBarbaraHouse-Barbaras-House_North-San-Juan_1-EB-1020x676.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/11/230627-SoldOutBarbaraHouse-Barbaras-House_North-San-Juan_1-EB-160x106.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/11/230627-SoldOutBarbaraHouse-Barbaras-House_North-San-Juan_1-EB-768x509.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/11/230627-SoldOutBarbaraHouse-Barbaras-House_North-San-Juan_1-EB-1536x1018.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Barbara built her home with wildfires in mind. The walls are made from a concrete-like material a foot thick that’s rated to withstand 12 hours of burning. S-shaped tiles line the roof, and a gravel driveway encircles the home. Photographed in August 2023. \u003ccite>(Erin Baldassari/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>When we finally turned off the lights and locked the doors to return home to the Bay Area, we did so reluctantly, wondering how and when we might move our lives there. Beneath our decision was an emerging hope for our not-yet-one-year-old daughter — that, although she would never know her grandmother, she might know the house her grandmother built.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That summer, smoke from two dozen wildfires loomed over Nevada County and drifted across the state. On one particularly bad day in the Bay Area, it grew so thick \u003ca href=\"https://www.newyorker.com/culture/video-dept/the-day-the-san-francisco-sky-turned-orange\">daylight turned to dusk\u003c/a>. It was then when I first began to wonder what kind of future our daughter might inherit if we chose to move to Nevada County, and what it would be like to live in a place where my own memories were constantly clashing with new realities.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Nothing left to burn\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>They call her the voice of doom.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>From her home office overlooking the Yuba River in Nevada County, Pascale Fusshoeller translates the precise, militaristic jargon of wildland firefighting departments into English, conveying need-to-know information on a fire’s origins, its speed and direction to readers across the region.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1985197\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-1985197\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/35/2023/11/RS66840_230626-HousingNevadaCoWildfire-70-BL-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"The charred remains of burnt trees stand out from newly grown plants in a field.\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/11/RS66840_230626-HousingNevadaCoWildfire-70-BL-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/11/RS66840_230626-HousingNevadaCoWildfire-70-BL-KQED-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/11/RS66840_230626-HousingNevadaCoWildfire-70-BL-KQED-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/11/RS66840_230626-HousingNevadaCoWildfire-70-BL-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/11/RS66840_230626-HousingNevadaCoWildfire-70-BL-KQED-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/11/RS66840_230626-HousingNevadaCoWildfire-70-BL-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/11/RS66840_230626-HousingNevadaCoWildfire-70-BL-KQED-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Jim Mathias, Wildfire Prevention and Safety Manager of the Fire Safe Council of Nevada County, drives through an area of the county burned by wildfire on June 26, 2023. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Fusshoeller co-founded and edits YubaNet.com, which began in 1999 as the Internet burgeoned from niche to mainstream. She and her wife, Susan Levitz, both career journalists, intended to run a community events page.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That changed, Fusshoeller said, the day the site went live, and she spotted a towering plume of smoke rising from the ridge facing their home.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“That’s how we got into fire information,” she said. She hasn’t looked back. “It helps people.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1985203\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-1985203\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/35/2023/11/231110-BEAR-TRAP-PRESCRIBED-BURN_NEVADA-COUNTY_05-EB-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"People wearing hard hats work digging in a forest.\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/11/231110-BEAR-TRAP-PRESCRIBED-BURN_NEVADA-COUNTY_05-EB-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/11/231110-BEAR-TRAP-PRESCRIBED-BURN_NEVADA-COUNTY_05-EB-KQED-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/11/231110-BEAR-TRAP-PRESCRIBED-BURN_NEVADA-COUNTY_05-EB-KQED-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/11/231110-BEAR-TRAP-PRESCRIBED-BURN_NEVADA-COUNTY_05-EB-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/11/231110-BEAR-TRAP-PRESCRIBED-BURN_NEVADA-COUNTY_05-EB-KQED-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/11/231110-BEAR-TRAP-PRESCRIBED-BURN_NEVADA-COUNTY_05-EB-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/11/231110-BEAR-TRAP-PRESCRIBED-BURN_NEVADA-COUNTY_05-EB-KQED-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Crew members from the Fire Safe Council of Nevada County walk to the site where they performed a ‘mop up’ following a prescribed burn in Nevada County on June 21, 2023. Using hand tools, the crew members will ensure that all of the fire has been extinguished. \u003ccite>(Erin Baldassari/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>For Fusshoeller, this means that whenever a fire occurs in the Sierra Nevada mountains, her days start early and end late.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/there-s-no-more-typical-wildfire-season-california-it-may-n934521\">It used to be\u003c/a> that fire season began in August and wrapped up by the end of September. Now, she says if there is a “fire season” at all, it begins in May and ends in November.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“And of course, some years, there’s large fires in December,” she added.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As global temperatures rise, so, too, does the number of wildfires. According to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, across the western United States, human-caused climate change has doubled the cumulative area burned by wildfires over natural levels since 1984.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1985422\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 2006px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-1985422\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/35/2023/11/IPCC_AR6_WGII_Figure_2_FAQ_2.3.1.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"2006\" height=\"728\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/11/IPCC_AR6_WGII_Figure_2_FAQ_2.3.1.png 2006w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/11/IPCC_AR6_WGII_Figure_2_FAQ_2.3.1-800x290.png 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/11/IPCC_AR6_WGII_Figure_2_FAQ_2.3.1-1020x370.png 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/11/IPCC_AR6_WGII_Figure_2_FAQ_2.3.1-160x58.png 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/11/IPCC_AR6_WGII_Figure_2_FAQ_2.3.1-768x279.png 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/11/IPCC_AR6_WGII_Figure_2_FAQ_2.3.1-1536x557.png 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/11/IPCC_AR6_WGII_Figure_2_FAQ_2.3.1-1920x697.png 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2006px) 100vw, 2006px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Figure FAQ2.3.1 | (a) Springs Fire, May 2, 2013, Thousand Oaks, California, USA (photo by Michael Robinson Chávez, Los Angeles Times). (b) Cumulative area burned by wildfire in the western USA, with (orange) and without (yellow) the increased heat and aridity of climate change. \u003ccite>(IPCC Sixth Assessment Report)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Patrick Gonzalez, a forest ecologist and climate change scientist at UC Berkeley, said the problem is particularly acute in California, where \u003ca href=\"https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/western-megadrought-is-the-worst-in-1-200-years/#:~:text=An%20exceptionally%20dry%20year%20in%202021%20helped%20break%20the%20record,least%20a%20couple%20of%20decades.\">a prolonged drought in recent years\u003c/a> has dried out plants and soils.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“In Northern and Central California, almost all of the increase in burned area [over natural levels] has come from human-caused climate change since 1996,” he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In California, \u003ca href=\"https://34c031f8-c9fd-4018-8c5a-4159cdff6b0d-cdn-endpoint.azureedge.net/-/media/calfire-website/our-impact/fire-statistics/featured-items/top20_destruction.pdf?rev=ee6ea855632a4b56a46adea1d3c8022f&hash=5B8B3A1A35CBB52CB0ED7A010F0B52E0\">18 of the state’s 20 most destructive wildfires (PDF)\u003c/a> have occurred since 2003. Nevada County had been spared. Looking at a map, Fusshoeller noted that all the surrounding counties had experienced large and destructive wildfires during that time.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“That’s not to say that one day we will not have a large catastrophic fire here,” she said. Nevada County shares the same mix of vegetation, topography and climate conditions. “There is nothing else left to burn in the foothills.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>The forerunner\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>There is something very Californian about believing it’s possible to survive anywhere.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Joan Didion knew this. In her 1968 collection of essays, \u003cem>Slouching Toward Bethlehem\u003c/em>, Didion wrote of the desert metropolis’ clime, “Los Angeles weather is the weather of catastrophe, of apocalypse, and, just as the reliably long and bitter winters of New England determine the way life is lived there, so the violence and the unpredictability of the Santa Ana affect the entire quality of life in Los Angeles, accentuate its impermanence, its unreliability.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The same could be said of the entire state. Where early white settlers found a floodplain, they built their capital city, Sacramento. And even amid the rubble of the city’s most destructive earthquake, San Franciscans nonetheless rebuilt.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1985404\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-1985404\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/35/2023/11/SoldOut-Diptych-02.jpg\" alt=\"Left: Dark smoke billows above a structure. Right: Light gray and reddish smoke rises above a home surrounded by trees.\" width=\"1920\" height=\"923\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/11/SoldOut-Diptych-02.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/11/SoldOut-Diptych-02-800x385.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/11/SoldOut-Diptych-02-1020x490.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/11/SoldOut-Diptych-02-160x77.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/11/SoldOut-Diptych-02-768x369.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/11/SoldOut-Diptych-02-1536x738.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Left: A column of smoke rises behind a house in Lake Wildwood, California, as Mark and Kathy Baldassari prepare to evacuate from the 49er Fire on Sept. 11, 1988. Right: Smoke from the 49er Fire rises behind homes in Lake Wildwood, a small community in Nevada County, on Sept. 11, 1988. The fire burned through nearly 36,000 acres and destroyed almost 150 homes, making it California’s third most destructive wildfire at the time. Now, it’s not even in the top 20. \u003ccite>(Courtesy of Mark and Kathy Baldassari)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>My own earliest memory, if an infant can be said to have one, is of a thick column of gray and black smoke rising behind my family’s house the day we evacuated from a wildfire.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.theunion.com/opinion/49er-fire-memories-where-were-you-30-years-ago-today/article_960384f0-6667-5f66-a6f9-fb0508006a76.html\">It was Sept. 11, 1988\u003c/a>. I was just over a year old. My dad would later describe the fire’s path: not a continuous wall, but jagged, like fingers on a hand, touching some homes, refusing others — sparing ours.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“And you kind of wonder why,” he mused, “why did it spare that house and burn that one?”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It was called the 49er Fire because it broke out near Highway 49 in Nevada County. It tore through nearly 36,000 acres of forest and grasslands and destroyed almost 150 homes. At the time, it was the state’s \u003ca href=\"https://www.cbsnews.com/sacramento/news/49er-fire-destruction/\">third-largest wildfire\u003c/a> and is still the county’s most destructive.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1985219\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-1985219\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/35/2023/11/231110-SO-S3-E6-SCAN-1-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"Several houses beside fire-scorched terrain.\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1543\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/11/231110-SO-S3-E6-SCAN-1-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/11/231110-SO-S3-E6-SCAN-1-KQED-800x617.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/11/231110-SO-S3-E6-SCAN-1-KQED-1020x787.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/11/231110-SO-S3-E6-SCAN-1-KQED-160x123.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/11/231110-SO-S3-E6-SCAN-1-KQED-768x593.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/11/231110-SO-S3-E6-SCAN-1-KQED-1536x1185.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/11/231110-SO-S3-E6-SCAN-1-KQED-1920x1481.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">The 1988 49er Fire burned through nearly 36,000 acres in Nevada County and destroyed almost 150 homes. \u003ccite>(Courtesy of Mark and Kathy Baldassari)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>In a prediction that feels prescient today, Jerry Partain, then-director of California’s Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, now called Cal Fire, \u003ca href=\"https://www.newspapers.com/image/624226617/?clipping_id=115881062&fcfToken=eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJmcmVlLXZpZXctaWQiOjYyNDIyNjYxNywiaWF0IjoxNjk4OTU1MDA4LCJleHAiOjE2OTkwNDE0MDh9.s5IFZHnqPAFNjR2pbvWX3mHL3voE5oItjgwOsPg0Srk\">told \u003cem>The Sacramento Bee\u003c/em>\u003c/a>, “This [fire] is the classic. This is what we’ve been preaching about for the past several years. This is just the forerunner.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>What Partain had been preaching about — fireproofing homes and managing the surrounding vegetation — is now a familiar sermon to anyone living in Northern California today, but one that was met with obstinance by the willful inhabitants of that era, a generally unyielding lot with a profound distrust of government matronism and a deep reverence for stick-to-itiveness, the miner’s luck and the sanctity of private property.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Speaking with \u003cem>The Sacramento Bee\u003c/em>, Partain stood in front of a map detailing the fire’s course, acknowledging there was no way to save every home. “It will continue to happen in the future,” he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1985217\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-1985217 size-full\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/35/2023/11/231110-SIERRA-STORYTELLING-FESTIVAL_NORTH-SAN-JUAN01-EB-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"People sit on blankets and fold out chairs in a grassy space.\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/11/231110-SIERRA-STORYTELLING-FESTIVAL_NORTH-SAN-JUAN01-EB-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/11/231110-SIERRA-STORYTELLING-FESTIVAL_NORTH-SAN-JUAN01-EB-KQED-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/11/231110-SIERRA-STORYTELLING-FESTIVAL_NORTH-SAN-JUAN01-EB-KQED-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/11/231110-SIERRA-STORYTELLING-FESTIVAL_NORTH-SAN-JUAN01-EB-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/11/231110-SIERRA-STORYTELLING-FESTIVAL_NORTH-SAN-JUAN01-EB-KQED-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/11/231110-SIERRA-STORYTELLING-FESTIVAL_NORTH-SAN-JUAN01-EB-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/11/231110-SIERRA-STORYTELLING-FESTIVAL_NORTH-SAN-JUAN01-EB-KQED-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Attendees lounge on the grass during the dinner hour at the Sierra Storytelling Festival at the North Columbia Schoolhouse Cultural Center in North San Juan on July 8, 2023. (Photo by Erin Baldassari/KQED) \u003ccite>(Erin Baldassari/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>With the future came more residents, living with more risk. Between 1990 and 2010, the county’s population \u003ca href=\"https://www.nevadacountyca.gov/378/Demographics-Statistics\">grew 26%\u003c/a>, mirroring a trend seen across the \u003ca href=\"https://www.usfa.fema.gov/downloads/pdf/publications/wui-issues-resolutions-report.pdf\">country (PDF)\u003c/a> as more people than ever flooded into wildland areas.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In California, nearly \u003ca href=\"https://silvis.forest.wisc.edu/data/wui-change/\">half of all homes built during that time period\u003c/a> were constructed in areas designated at “high or extreme risk of wildfire,” according to the Center for Insurance Policy and Research. Nevada County was no exception, where more than \u003ca href=\"https://www.nevadacountyca.gov/CivicAlerts.aspx?AID=5247\">nine out of every 10\u003c/a> residents live in “high or very high” fire hazard zones.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That wildfires have become more destructive over the past 40 years is simple math, UC Berkeley’s Gonzalez said. “The losses of homes and people, who sadly die in a wildfire, is a function of the number of people who live in fire-prone areas,” he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1985215\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-1985215 size-full\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/35/2023/11/231110-PRESCRIBED-BURN_PENN-VALLEY_NEVADA-COUNTY14-EB-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"The smoldering remains of a fire near a house.\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/11/231110-PRESCRIBED-BURN_PENN-VALLEY_NEVADA-COUNTY14-EB-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/11/231110-PRESCRIBED-BURN_PENN-VALLEY_NEVADA-COUNTY14-EB-KQED-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/11/231110-PRESCRIBED-BURN_PENN-VALLEY_NEVADA-COUNTY14-EB-KQED-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/11/231110-PRESCRIBED-BURN_PENN-VALLEY_NEVADA-COUNTY14-EB-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/11/231110-PRESCRIBED-BURN_PENN-VALLEY_NEVADA-COUNTY14-EB-KQED-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/11/231110-PRESCRIBED-BURN_PENN-VALLEY_NEVADA-COUNTY14-EB-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/11/231110-PRESCRIBED-BURN_PENN-VALLEY_NEVADA-COUNTY14-EB-KQED-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A controlled fire burns near a home on a private property in Penn Valley, a small, rural community in Nevada County, California, on June 22, 2023. \u003ccite>(Erin Baldassari/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>He continued: “Climate change is exacerbating the risk. So, that makes it even more important [to limit] the number of people who move into or build new houses in fire-prone areas.”\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Brute reckoning\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>The 49er Fire left its mark on my psyche, attuning me to dry, summer winds, focusing my attention on anything that could produce an errant spark, and heightening my awareness, early on, of my own precarity.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But for many in Nevada County, myself included, it was still only a glimpse into a distant future. Brute reckoning came much later, in 2018, with the Camp Fire in Paradise, California, which is one county away from Nevada County.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1985409\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-1985409 size-full\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/35/2023/11/230626-HousingNevadaCoWildfire-19-BL-qut.jpg\" alt=\"Trucks with piles of logs in the truck beds form a line in a lot near a wooded area.\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1280\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/11/230626-HousingNevadaCoWildfire-19-BL-qut.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/11/230626-HousingNevadaCoWildfire-19-BL-qut-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/11/230626-HousingNevadaCoWildfire-19-BL-qut-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/11/230626-HousingNevadaCoWildfire-19-BL-qut-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/11/230626-HousingNevadaCoWildfire-19-BL-qut-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/11/230626-HousingNevadaCoWildfire-19-BL-qut-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Vehicles filled with green waste wait in line during a free residential disposal hosted by the Fire Safe Council of Nevada County in Grass Valley on June 26, 2023. Residents can bring all tree and plant trimmings, weeds, leaves, branches, and pine needles, except for some plants like scotch broom and poison oak, in an effort to create defensible space on their properties. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>YubaNet’s Fusshoeller held a town hall event a week after the fire began. Minutes after the doors opened, the seats had filled to capacity, followed by the building’s overflow rooms.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“And then there were still people outside,” Fusshoeller recalled. “It was the whole community. They were scared.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The fire became a wake-up call — and a rallying cry.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We regularly hear that this is the next Camp Fire,” said Jamie Jones, the executive director of the Fire Safe Council of Nevada County, a nonprofit formed in the wake of the 49er Fire.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1985202\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-1985202\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/35/2023/11/231110-BEAR-TRAP-PRESCRIBED-BURN_NEVADA-COUNTY_01-EB-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"A group of people wearing hard hats walk along a roadway beside a stretch of burnt forest.\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/11/231110-BEAR-TRAP-PRESCRIBED-BURN_NEVADA-COUNTY_01-EB-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/11/231110-BEAR-TRAP-PRESCRIBED-BURN_NEVADA-COUNTY_01-EB-KQED-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/11/231110-BEAR-TRAP-PRESCRIBED-BURN_NEVADA-COUNTY_01-EB-KQED-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/11/231110-BEAR-TRAP-PRESCRIBED-BURN_NEVADA-COUNTY_01-EB-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/11/231110-BEAR-TRAP-PRESCRIBED-BURN_NEVADA-COUNTY_01-EB-KQED-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/11/231110-BEAR-TRAP-PRESCRIBED-BURN_NEVADA-COUNTY_01-EB-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/11/231110-BEAR-TRAP-PRESCRIBED-BURN_NEVADA-COUNTY_01-EB-KQED-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Crew members from the Fire Safe Council of Nevada County walk to the site where they were performing a ‘mop up’ following a prescribed burn in Nevada County on June 21, 2023. \u003ccite>(Erin Baldassari/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“We have watersheds that if a fire starts on the wrong day and the wrong conditions — or you could call it the right conditions — we could have a potential catastrophic loss like Paradise did,” she said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Spurred by that rallying cry, Jones’ organization ballooned from three employees to more than 50, with its own land management crew, \u003ca href=\"https://www.areyoufiresafe.com/programs/defensible-space-advisory-visit-dsav\">free advisory visits\u003c/a> for homeowners, a \u003ca href=\"https://www.areyoufiresafe.com/programs/chipping-program\">roving wood-chipper\u003c/a>, and a robust grant-writing department, among \u003ca href=\"https://www.areyoufiresafe.com/programs\">other initiatives\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It became a huge priority to fund [wildfire] mitigation work,” Jones said. “We just kind of grabbed the bull by the horns and said, ‘We’ll do it. We’ll be that large nonprofit to work in this space.’”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1985191\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-1985191 size-full\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/35/2023/11/RS66792_230626-HousingNevadaCoWildfire-08-BL-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"Two people use a rake-like device to remove all of the dried green waste from the bed of a truck.\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/11/RS66792_230626-HousingNevadaCoWildfire-08-BL-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/11/RS66792_230626-HousingNevadaCoWildfire-08-BL-KQED-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/11/RS66792_230626-HousingNevadaCoWildfire-08-BL-KQED-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/11/RS66792_230626-HousingNevadaCoWildfire-08-BL-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/11/RS66792_230626-HousingNevadaCoWildfire-08-BL-KQED-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/11/RS66792_230626-HousingNevadaCoWildfire-08-BL-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/11/RS66792_230626-HousingNevadaCoWildfire-08-BL-KQED-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Employees help people unload green waste during a free residential disposal hosted by the Fire Safe Council of Nevada County in Grass Valley on June 26, 2023. Residents can bring all tree and plant trimmings, weeds, leaves, branches, and pine needles, except for some plants like scotch broom and poison oak, in an effort to create defensible space on their properties. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>But the Camp Fire also incited residents to act. Today, Nevada County, with a population of just over \u003ca href=\"https://www.census.gov/quickfacts/fact/table/nevadacountycalifornia/PST045222\">100,000 people\u003c/a>, boasts the highest number of \u003ca href=\"https://www.nfpa.org/education-and-research/wildfire/firewise-usa\">Firewise Communities\u003c/a> in the country — a program run by the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) that encourages neighborhoods to organize and collectively complete fire safety projects, such as thinning trees along evacuation routes and clearing excess brush on individual properties.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Before the Camp Fire, Jones said there were 22 Firewise Communities in the county. As of October, there were 94, according to the NFPA.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I think it speaks volumes to how committed our community is to protecting their families, their loved ones, their neighbors, and the community that we live in,” Jones said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Still, she said \u003ca href=\"https://www.capradio.org/articles/2021/06/23/newsom-misled-the-public-about-wildfire-prevention-efforts-ahead-of-worst-fire-season-on-record/\">progress remains stilted in other ways\u003c/a>. For instance, Gov. Gavin Newsom in 2019 \u003ca href=\"https://www.gov.ca.gov/2020/01/29/governor-newsom-announces-completion-of-emergency-projects-to-protect-wildfire-vulnerable-communities/\">fast-tracked 35 wildfire defense projects\u003c/a> across the state, including one in Nevada County, the \u003ca href=\"https://www.nevadacountyca.gov/3748/Ponderosa-West-Grass-Valley-Defense-Zone#:~:text=The%20shaded%20fuel%20break%20lies,Newtown%20Road%20to%20the%20north.\">Ponderosa West Grass Valley Defense Zone shaded fuel break\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The \u003ca href=\"https://www.ponderosawestproject.org/\">project\u003c/a> provided free brush clearing on residents’ properties to allow firefighters to more easily defend the town of Grass Valley. But four years after the first phase began, many of the property owners have failed to maintain their land.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1985410\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-1985410\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/35/2023/11/230626-HousingNevadaCoWildfire-75-BL-qut-1.jpg\" alt=\"One hand holds up a paper map while the other hand points to an area on the map.\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1280\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/11/230626-HousingNevadaCoWildfire-75-BL-qut-1.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/11/230626-HousingNevadaCoWildfire-75-BL-qut-1-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/11/230626-HousingNevadaCoWildfire-75-BL-qut-1-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/11/230626-HousingNevadaCoWildfire-75-BL-qut-1-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/11/230626-HousingNevadaCoWildfire-75-BL-qut-1-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/11/230626-HousingNevadaCoWildfire-75-BL-qut-1-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Jim Mathias, the wildfire prevention and safety manager of the Fire Safe Council of Nevada County, holds a map of a plan for a shaded fuel break in southern Nevada County on June 26, 2023. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>On a recent tour, Jones pointed to a property where the homeowner had positioned himself as a poster child of compliance. Crispy brush and small trees, perfect kindling for a big wildfire, now crowded beneath towering oak and manzanita trees.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“He sold two years into the project,” she lamented. The new property owner never picked up the work. Continued compliance requires constant care — and a long memory.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Our place on the planet\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>As the spokesperson for the Nevada City Rancheria Nisenan Tribe, Shelly Covert carries with her a cultural memory that spans centuries. What it takes to live in wildland areas today, she said, is in some ways not so different from when her relatives lived freely off the land — and that is constant tending.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>For her relatives, that meant cutting trees, harvesting smaller branches, and collecting reeds — work now done with chainsaws and machines.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1985420\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 2560px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-1985420 size-full\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/35/2023/11/GettyImages-1241501048-scaled.jpg\" alt=\"A woman's face is reflected in a mirror with brown writing.\" width=\"2560\" height=\"1707\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/11/GettyImages-1241501048-scaled.jpg 2560w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/11/GettyImages-1241501048-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/11/GettyImages-1241501048-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/11/GettyImages-1241501048-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/11/GettyImages-1241501048-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/11/GettyImages-1241501048-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/11/GettyImages-1241501048-2048x1365.jpg 2048w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/11/GettyImages-1241501048-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2560px) 100vw, 2560px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Shelly Covert, spokesperson for the Nevada City Rancheria Nisenan Tribe, in Nevada City, on June 6, 2022. \u003ccite>(Robert Gauthier/Los Angeles Times via Getty Images)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>The difference, she said, is that the Nisenan used these materials in their homes, acorn granaries, tools and baskets. That these same actions also made the forests more resilient to — and protected the Nisenan from — catastrophic wildfires was secondary. Today, the accumulation of these same plant materials is a burden.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Nobody wants it,” she said. “So, how are forests ever going to be tended in that way again when we don’t need the freaking stuff that’s all over the ground?”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Nevada County’s Fire Safe Council is trying to help relieve that burden with a free \u003ca href=\"https://www.areyoufiresafe.com/programs/residential-green-waste-disposal-2023\">green waste disposal site\u003c/a> in Grass Valley. This past June, on the last day it was open for the season, crews heaped logs into towering piles, mounded branches atop each other, and stacked firewood for the taking.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1985193\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-1985193 size-full\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/35/2023/11/RS66813_230626-HousingNevadaCoWildfire-38-BL-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"A person wearing a large wicker hat and sunglasses stands in front of piles of wood and speaks to the driver of a vehicle.\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/11/RS66813_230626-HousingNevadaCoWildfire-38-BL-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/11/RS66813_230626-HousingNevadaCoWildfire-38-BL-KQED-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/11/RS66813_230626-HousingNevadaCoWildfire-38-BL-KQED-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/11/RS66813_230626-HousingNevadaCoWildfire-38-BL-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/11/RS66813_230626-HousingNevadaCoWildfire-38-BL-KQED-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/11/RS66813_230626-HousingNevadaCoWildfire-38-BL-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/11/RS66813_230626-HousingNevadaCoWildfire-38-BL-KQED-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Jonny Sjobeck (left) talks with Roland Harrison during a free green waste residential disposal hosted by the Fire Safe Council of Nevada County in Grass Valley on June 26, 2023. Residents can bring all tree and plant trimmings, weeds, leaves, branches, and pine needles, except for some plants like scotch broom and poison oak, in an effort to create defensible space on their properties. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Suzi and Doug Clipperton waited in line for their turn to unload the towering pile of branches in the back of their truck. They had moved to the county from Palm Springs two years ago, and though their property is relatively small, at one acre, it still produces an abundance of vegetation.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Without the green waste disposal site, Suzi Clipperton said she would be forced to pay to get rid of the materials at the dump.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It’s so expensive, even the green waste,” she said. “Over $25 a truckload, over and over several times a month.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Getting to a truly sustainable lifestyle in the forested foothills is still a long way off, Covert said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It’s just the way we’ve built our built lives,” she said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But that’s not what people, myself included, want to talk to her about these days. All we want to talk to her about is how to use fire to fight fire.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1985211\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-1985211\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/35/2023/11/231110-PRESCRIBED-BURN_PENN-VALLEY_NEVADA-COUNTY06-EB-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"A person holds a device to dried grass to start a fire.\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/11/231110-PRESCRIBED-BURN_PENN-VALLEY_NEVADA-COUNTY06-EB-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/11/231110-PRESCRIBED-BURN_PENN-VALLEY_NEVADA-COUNTY06-EB-KQED-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/11/231110-PRESCRIBED-BURN_PENN-VALLEY_NEVADA-COUNTY06-EB-KQED-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/11/231110-PRESCRIBED-BURN_PENN-VALLEY_NEVADA-COUNTY06-EB-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/11/231110-PRESCRIBED-BURN_PENN-VALLEY_NEVADA-COUNTY06-EB-KQED-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/11/231110-PRESCRIBED-BURN_PENN-VALLEY_NEVADA-COUNTY06-EB-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/11/231110-PRESCRIBED-BURN_PENN-VALLEY_NEVADA-COUNTY06-EB-KQED-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Dylan Drummond wields a drip torch, which he uses to ignite grasses during a prescribed burn on a private property in Penn Valley, a small, rural community in Nevada County on June 22, 2023. The burn aims to reduce the brush and grasses that fuel megafires while also helping to restore native plants to the region. \u003ccite>(Erin Baldassari/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>The practice, called controlled or prescribed burns, has gained momentum in recent years as a way to clear the brush and grasses that fuel megafires. But Covert’s relatives also burned the land to remove bug infestations from trees, clear land for hunting and travel and promote certain kinds of plants. Public officials have been increasingly turning to her to tap into the tribe’s cultural knowledge.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>On one hand, Covert said she appreciates having a seat at the table, an opportunity her grandparents were never afforded. On the other, she said it’s hard for her not to roll her eyes during those same meetings.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Don’t tell me those old people didn’t sit there and say, ‘You can’t not burn the land.’ It was unfathomable to them,” she said. “We have to burn the land, and we have to burn our dead.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1985413\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-1985413\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/35/2023/11/Prescribed-Burn_Penn-Valley_Nevada-County15-qut.jpg\" alt=\"Green plants sprout from a burned land.\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1280\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/11/Prescribed-Burn_Penn-Valley_Nevada-County15-qut.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/11/Prescribed-Burn_Penn-Valley_Nevada-County15-qut-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/11/Prescribed-Burn_Penn-Valley_Nevada-County15-qut-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/11/Prescribed-Burn_Penn-Valley_Nevada-County15-qut-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/11/Prescribed-Burn_Penn-Valley_Nevada-County15-qut-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/11/Prescribed-Burn_Penn-Valley_Nevada-County15-qut-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">This yampa root survives a prescribed burn on a private property in Penn Valley, a small, rural community in Nevada County, California, on June 22, 2023. \u003ccite>(Erin Baldassari/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>When white settlers arrived during the Gold Rush, they not only outlawed the practice of burning the land but also the Nisenan practice of cremating their dead. And, while government officials now recognize fire as essential to maintaining forest health, Nisenan cremations are still outlawed.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>During those ceremonies, the nearest female relatives of the deceased would mix pine pitch with ash to blacken their heads and shoulders, washing their faces only after the mixture had worn off, thus defining the period of mourning. Other relatives and friends gathered around to sing and cry. Every year, an annual mourning ceremony, or “Second Burning,” was held for everyone who died that year.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“My grandma said that the old ladies used to wipe each other’s tears and hold each other up because they were so fraught with sadness,” Covert said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>To Covert, burning the land and burning the dead are not two practices with distinct purposes and outcomes. They are the same practice for the same purpose of binding humanity to all other life and to the land.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1985210\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-1985210\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/35/2023/11/231110-PRESCRIBED-BURN_PENN-VALLEY_NEVADA-COUNTY04-EB-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"A fire burns dried grasses around the truck of a tree.\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/11/231110-PRESCRIBED-BURN_PENN-VALLEY_NEVADA-COUNTY04-EB-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/11/231110-PRESCRIBED-BURN_PENN-VALLEY_NEVADA-COUNTY04-EB-KQED-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/11/231110-PRESCRIBED-BURN_PENN-VALLEY_NEVADA-COUNTY04-EB-KQED-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/11/231110-PRESCRIBED-BURN_PENN-VALLEY_NEVADA-COUNTY04-EB-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/11/231110-PRESCRIBED-BURN_PENN-VALLEY_NEVADA-COUNTY04-EB-KQED-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/11/231110-PRESCRIBED-BURN_PENN-VALLEY_NEVADA-COUNTY04-EB-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/11/231110-PRESCRIBED-BURN_PENN-VALLEY_NEVADA-COUNTY04-EB-KQED-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Workers perform a prescribed burn on a private property in Penn Valley, a small, rural community in Nevada County on June 22, 2023. \u003ccite>(Erin Baldassari/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>She said the cremation ceremony is at the core: “It is the kickstarter of all these other protocols that come into play that are respect for the land, respect for the animals, respect for the spirit, respect for one another. And that’s it.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It is the foundation that allows them to see themselves as both indebted to a place and responsible for it.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We have thumbs. We can light fire. We can pull and tend the rubbish in the forests,” Covert said. “That is our place on this planet.”\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Good fire\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>In a small community on the western flank of Nevada County, atop a ridge overlooking Lake Wildwood, where the 49er Fire raged 35 years ago, three young men holding drip torches set fire to the land.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It was an abnormally cool June day. The crew of roughly a dozen, dressed in flannel shirts, blue jeans and boots, worked methodically downhill. Some held water bladders to douse fires burning into tree roots. Others were posted at control lines to ensure the fire stayed within its boundaries. One roamed the perimeter on a motorcycle to watch for spotfires.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1985414\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-1985414\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/35/2023/11/Prescribed-Burn_Penn-Valley_Nevada-County11-qut.jpg\" alt=\"A man holds a water hose near a smoked filled forest area.\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1280\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/11/Prescribed-Burn_Penn-Valley_Nevada-County11-qut.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/11/Prescribed-Burn_Penn-Valley_Nevada-County11-qut-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/11/Prescribed-Burn_Penn-Valley_Nevada-County11-qut-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/11/Prescribed-Burn_Penn-Valley_Nevada-County11-qut-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/11/Prescribed-Burn_Penn-Valley_Nevada-County11-qut-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/11/Prescribed-Burn_Penn-Valley_Nevada-County11-qut-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Kevin Bratton uses a hose to douse the roots of a pine tree during a prescribed burn on a private property in Penn Valley, a small, rural community in Nevada County on June 22, 2023. \u003ccite>(Erin Baldassari/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>They were lighting a controlled burn on the roughly 80-acre property, with the twin goals of reducing the wildfire risk and promoting native plants, which often need the low-intensity fires to drop seeds or sprout from dormancy.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“When you see the effects of fire, it all makes sense,” said Tim Van Wagner, an organic farmer in Nevada County and broadcast burn practitioner, who led the burn that day. “All of a sudden, you actually realize the insanity of how we have been able to suppress fire and the damage it’s done.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The more fuel there is to burn, the hotter the fire becomes, and the more likely they are to \u003ca href=\"https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2022-07-20/california-forests-are-vanishing-as-wildfires-worsen\">permanently incinerate\u003c/a> even the most fire-adapted forests.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1985214\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-1985214\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/35/2023/11/231110-PRESCRIBED-BURN_PENN-VALLEY_NEVADA-COUNTY13-EB-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"A person in a baseball cap walks through a smokey open space.\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/11/231110-PRESCRIBED-BURN_PENN-VALLEY_NEVADA-COUNTY13-EB-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/11/231110-PRESCRIBED-BURN_PENN-VALLEY_NEVADA-COUNTY13-EB-KQED-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/11/231110-PRESCRIBED-BURN_PENN-VALLEY_NEVADA-COUNTY13-EB-KQED-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/11/231110-PRESCRIBED-BURN_PENN-VALLEY_NEVADA-COUNTY13-EB-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/11/231110-PRESCRIBED-BURN_PENN-VALLEY_NEVADA-COUNTY13-EB-KQED-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/11/231110-PRESCRIBED-BURN_PENN-VALLEY_NEVADA-COUNTY13-EB-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/11/231110-PRESCRIBED-BURN_PENN-VALLEY_NEVADA-COUNTY13-EB-KQED-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Tim Van Wagner, a broadcast burn practitioner, oversees a prescribed burn on a private property in Penn Valley, a small, rural community in Nevada County on June 22, 2023. \u003ccite>(Erin Baldassari/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>But bringing “good fire” back hasn’t been easy, said fire historian and author Stephen Pyne.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We spent 50 years trying to take all fire out of the landscape,” he said, “and we’ve spent 50 years trying to put good fire back in.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Federal regulators restricted broadcast burns beginning in 1910, following a particularly fearsome spate of fires known as the “Big Blowup,” when some 3 million acres of forestland in Idaho and Montana \u003ca href=\"https://www.fs.usda.gov/Internet/FSE_DOCUMENTS/stelprdb5444731.pdf\">burned over the course of two short days (PDF)\u003c/a>, killing 86 people — the most in US history, until \u003ca href=\"https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/maui-hawaii-fires-death-toll-rcna105387\">this year’s fires in Maui\u003c/a>. By the time the National Parks Service \u003ca href=\"https://www.motherjones.com/environment/2019/11/californias-wildfire-controlled-prescribed-burns-native-americans/#:~:text=In%201968%2C%20the%20National%20Park,introduced%20fire%20to%20their%20landscapes.\">changed its policy\u003c/a> in 1968, areas that had been accustomed to periodic fires were overloaded with fuels.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Combine that excess vegetation with rising temperatures, and Pyne said existing models of fire behavior no longer hold.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“They are being overwhelmed,” he said. “We’re seeing it in Canada now and parts of the Mediterranean, as well as parts of the U.S., and we’re creating a new world out of this.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Humans once controlled fire. Now, Pyne said fire is controlling us.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We’ve taken what had always been our best friend, and we’re making it our worst enemy,” he said. “Even if we tame the climate, we remove the fossil fuel part of it, we still have a relentless obligation to work with fire in the lands that remain.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1985415\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-1985415\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/35/2023/11/Prescribed-Burn_Penn-Valley_Nevada-County02-qut.jpg\" alt=\"A man looks up and away from the camera while holding his arm out while brush burns nearby.\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1280\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/11/Prescribed-Burn_Penn-Valley_Nevada-County02-qut.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/11/Prescribed-Burn_Penn-Valley_Nevada-County02-qut-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/11/Prescribed-Burn_Penn-Valley_Nevada-County02-qut-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/11/Prescribed-Burn_Penn-Valley_Nevada-County02-qut-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/11/Prescribed-Burn_Penn-Valley_Nevada-County02-qut-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/11/Prescribed-Burn_Penn-Valley_Nevada-County02-qut-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Tim Van Wagner, a broadcast burn practitioner, oversees a prescribed burn on private property in Penn Valley, a small, rural community in Nevada County, on June 22, 2023. \u003ccite>(Erin Baldassari/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>In California, policy leaders from Gov. Newsom down to local leaders are encouraging controlled burns. But the process has been hampered, \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/science/1979560/cal-fire-fumbles-key-responsibilities-to-prevent-catastrophic-wildfires-despite-historic-budget\">in part\u003c/a>, by the slow rollout of its certification program for burn bosses. The designation is crucial for people like Van Wagner because it would allow them to tap into a \u003ca href=\"https://wildfiretaskforce.org/prescribed-fire-liability-claims-fund-pilot/#:~:text=Administered%20by%20CAL%20FIRE%2C%20the,burn%20boss%20or%20cultural%20practitioner.\">$20 million pool of insurance to cover damages from fires set under prescribed conditions\u003c/a>. But, as of August, there were \u003ca href=\"https://osfm.fire.ca.gov/divisions/state-fire-training/cfstes-professional-certification/state-certified-prescribed-fire-burn-boss/\">only two dozen state-certified burn bosses\u003c/a> in the state.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It hasn’t been a smooth process,” said Van Wagner, who is in the process of obtaining the certification. Without access to insurance, “it can be a basic game-over,” he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1985401\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-1985401 size-full\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/35/2023/11/SoldOut-Diptych-01.jpg\" alt=\"Left: A man walks through dry yellow grasses while using a torch to light the grass on fire.\" width=\"1920\" height=\"881\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/11/SoldOut-Diptych-01.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/11/SoldOut-Diptych-01-800x367.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/11/SoldOut-Diptych-01-1020x468.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/11/SoldOut-Diptych-01-160x73.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/11/SoldOut-Diptych-01-768x352.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/11/SoldOut-Diptych-01-1536x705.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Dylan Drummond wields a drip torch, which he uses to ignite grasses during a prescribed burn on private property in Penn Valley, a small, rural community in Nevada County, on June 22, 2023. The burn aims to reduce the brush and grasses that fuel mega-fires while also helping to restore native plants to the region. \u003ccite>(Erin Baldassari/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>According to the U.S. Forest Service, \u003ca href=\"https://www.fs.usda.gov/news/releases/statement-forest-service-chief-randy-moore-announcing-pause-prescribed-fire\">fewer than 1%\u003c/a> of controlled burns get out of control, but they still make neighbors nervous.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It’s foreign to most people,” Van Wagner said. “So, there’s more of a fear response than understanding.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>For Fancy Fechser, who owns the Nevada County property where Van Wagner was burning, learning to live with fire is part of what it means to live in the foothills. She and her husband moved there with their family from Los Angeles in 2021.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It’s the luck of the draw here, and that’s something you have to live with,” she said. “But the control you can have — I mean, I feel so much better now that we did this.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1985417\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-1985417\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/35/2023/11/Fancy-Fechser_Penn-Valley_01-qut.jpg\" alt=\"Two people stand on the side of a hill with a forest behind them.\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1280\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/11/Fancy-Fechser_Penn-Valley_01-qut.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/11/Fancy-Fechser_Penn-Valley_01-qut-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/11/Fancy-Fechser_Penn-Valley_01-qut-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/11/Fancy-Fechser_Penn-Valley_01-qut-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/11/Fancy-Fechser_Penn-Valley_01-qut-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/11/Fancy-Fechser_Penn-Valley_01-qut-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Fancy Fechser (right) talks with prescribed burn practitioner Tim Van Wagner following a prescribed burn on her property in Penn Valley on June 16, 2023. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Fechser hopes that in the long run, the work done here will make both her property and the surrounding community safer from megafires and that it’ll be more resilient for the climate changes to come.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I don’t love looking at a charred backyard, but I know the point,” she said. “We have to look in the future here.”\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Grieving the future\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>For Oakland-based journalist Erica Hellerstein, part of looking into California’s future means grieving — not a lost past, but a future that may never come to be.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Reflecting on this idea in a \u003ca href=\"https://www.codastory.com/rewriting-history/grieving-california/\">2022 Coda Story essay\u003c/a>, she wrote, “A building that burns can be rebuilt. But if fire incinerates a state of mind, can that be put back together?”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1985209\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-1985209\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/35/2023/11/231110-ERICA-HELLERSTEIN_OAKLAND_03-EB-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"A person with long hairs sits in front of a bookshelf indoors.\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/11/231110-ERICA-HELLERSTEIN_OAKLAND_03-EB-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/11/231110-ERICA-HELLERSTEIN_OAKLAND_03-EB-KQED-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/11/231110-ERICA-HELLERSTEIN_OAKLAND_03-EB-KQED-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/11/231110-ERICA-HELLERSTEIN_OAKLAND_03-EB-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/11/231110-ERICA-HELLERSTEIN_OAKLAND_03-EB-KQED-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/11/231110-ERICA-HELLERSTEIN_OAKLAND_03-EB-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/11/231110-ERICA-HELLERSTEIN_OAKLAND_03-EB-KQED-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Oakland-based journalist Erica Hellerstein poses for a portrait in her apartment overlooking Lake Merritt on June 30, 2023. In her Coda Story essay, Grieving California, she explored feelings of climate anxiety associated with grief — specifically, ‘grieving a future that may never come to pass’ as a result of warming global temperatures. \u003ccite>(Erin Baldassari/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Hellerstein remembers the rupture when her memories of the past severed from her expectations of the future. It was September 2020, and smoke from fires burning across the state had smothered the sky. She watched, with jarring dissonance, as partygoers in hazmat masks waited outside a nightclub in San Francisco.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“They were just pretending everything was normal,” she said. “That was another turning point for me, just cognitively of being like, ‘OK, yeah, things are really not what I remember from my childhood growing up here.’”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>For me, it was visiting Paradise this summer five years after the Camp Fire ravaged the area, and seeing its pine trees replaced with shrubby manzanita and sprouting oaks. As fires and drought kill the mixed conifer trees that give the Sierra foothills their signature beauty, other plants more accustomed to Southern California’s clime are slowly replacing them.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1985418\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-1985418\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/35/2023/11/230809-SoldOutParadise-46-BL-qut.jpg\" alt=\"A house sits on a hillside dotted with green shrubs and dry grasses in the foreground.\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1280\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/11/230809-SoldOutParadise-46-BL-qut.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/11/230809-SoldOutParadise-46-BL-qut-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/11/230809-SoldOutParadise-46-BL-qut-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/11/230809-SoldOutParadise-46-BL-qut-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/11/230809-SoldOutParadise-46-BL-qut-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/11/230809-SoldOutParadise-46-BL-qut-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Empty lots dot the side of a residential area of Paradise on Aug. 9, 2023. The Camp Fire, a deadly fire that destroyed much of the towns of Paradise and Concow, swept through the area in 2018. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>These pine trees — whose smell, earthy and fresh after the first fall rain, is permanently imprinted in my olfactory memory — are some of the most threatened. Of all the impacts climate change may bring, their prospective loss is one I haven’t quite reconciled.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“There’s so much grief there because we’ve had it so good in our life,” said Sam Hinrichs, a resident of Nevada County for 35 years. “We’ve had it so good, and we didn’t pay attention to that.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Hinrichs was once a volunteer firefighter and used to do wildfire mitigation work. Now, she sits on the board of the North San Juan Fire Protection District in Nevada County. She’s keenly aware of her own risk of living three miles down a gravel road, surrounded by forest.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I do look at those climate maps, and I see where the danger zones are,” she said. “I think about fire every day, all the time.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1985419\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-1985419\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/35/2023/11/Inimim-Forest_San-Juan-Ridge_05-qut.jpg\" alt=\"A dead tree is surrounded by green trees.\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1280\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/11/Inimim-Forest_San-Juan-Ridge_05-qut.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/11/Inimim-Forest_San-Juan-Ridge_05-qut-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/11/Inimim-Forest_San-Juan-Ridge_05-qut-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/11/Inimim-Forest_San-Juan-Ridge_05-qut-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/11/Inimim-Forest_San-Juan-Ridge_05-qut-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/11/Inimim-Forest_San-Juan-Ridge_05-qut-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A dead tree stands in the Inimim Forest on Aug. 9, 2023. A prolonged drought in California that began in 2000 and has been the most extreme since the 1500s has resulted in significant tree mortality. The mixed conifer trees of the mid-elevation Sierra Nevada Foothills are particularly threatened. \u003ccite>(Erin Baldassari/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>She’s watched the pine trees around her house turn brown from bark beetles that thrive in hotter weather and overproduce, killing the trees they feed on. It’s something she wants her son, Stanley, to see, so he can learn what to do about it.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Though he’s only 6 years old, she’s already gotten him involved in tending their land, identifying which pine and cedar trees to fell, their seedlings replanted upslope, where it’s cooler, and which Black Oaks that can tolerate warmer weather, to leave in place.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I’m not feeling precious about [the pines] anymore,” she said. “I just want to give him skills for resilience and noticing what needs to happen.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1985423\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-1985423\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/35/2023/11/Inimim-Forest_San-Juan-Ridge_03-qut.jpg\" alt=\"A clearing in a wooded area.\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1280\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/11/Inimim-Forest_San-Juan-Ridge_03-qut.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/11/Inimim-Forest_San-Juan-Ridge_03-qut-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/11/Inimim-Forest_San-Juan-Ridge_03-qut-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/11/Inimim-Forest_San-Juan-Ridge_03-qut-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/11/Inimim-Forest_San-Juan-Ridge_03-qut-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/11/Inimim-Forest_San-Juan-Ridge_03-qut-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A significantly thinned area of the Inimim Forest on the San Juan Ridge in Nevada County on Aug. 9, 2023, co-managed by the federal Bureau of Land Management and the Yuba Watershed Institute, a local nonprofit that got its start in the back-to-the-land movement of the 1970s. The management plan has thinned the forest, allowing light to filter through the trees and keeping brush close to the ground, making the area more likely to survive a wildfire. \u003ccite>(Erin Baldassari/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Noticing, and knowing, what needs to happen is not an innate skill. It’s one Hinrichs developed from growing up in the area and from hand-clearing most of her 17-acre property. Using chainsaws and pole saws, she’s worked acre-by-acre, determining which plants hold birds’ nests or provide cover for nursing deers and which can be removed. It’s a labor-intensive process, but it also gives her unique insight into the forest’s health.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The quail have come back since we’ve done this clearing,” she said. “I had only 12 quail, and now we’re up to like, 40, which is really cool.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Hinrichs cannot know whether these efforts will be enough to save her home from a wildfire. Like many in this more remote part of the county, she lives without an insurer willing to cover her losses, relying instead on her own prevention efforts of hand-clearing the land and using prescribed fire to reduce her risk.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I married this land. I’ve made this my project,” she said. “If my house burns down, I’ll build another one. Probably. I’m trying to make it so my house doesn’t burn down, but fire is also just part of this place.”\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Taking care\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>In her book, \u003cem>Fire Monks: Zen Mind Meets Wildfire\u003c/em>, Berkeley author Colleen Morton Busch describes how a group of Buddhist monks at the Tassajara Zen Center in California’s Carmel Valley prepared for a wildfire bearing down on them.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It was 2008, during the \u003ca href=\"https://www.sfgate.com/news/article/Tassajara-monks-practice-Zen-of-firefighting-3277372.php\">Basin Complex Fire\u003c/a>, and there was a debate among the monks and their students about the Zen Buddhist idea of non-attachment. Some argued to let the monastery burn.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1985206\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-1985206\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/35/2023/11/231110-COLLEEN-MORTON-BUSCH_BERKELEY_02-EB-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"A person with glasses sits at a table in an indoor setting.\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/11/231110-COLLEEN-MORTON-BUSCH_BERKELEY_02-EB-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/11/231110-COLLEEN-MORTON-BUSCH_BERKELEY_02-EB-KQED-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/11/231110-COLLEEN-MORTON-BUSCH_BERKELEY_02-EB-KQED-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/11/231110-COLLEEN-MORTON-BUSCH_BERKELEY_02-EB-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/11/231110-COLLEEN-MORTON-BUSCH_BERKELEY_02-EB-KQED-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/11/231110-COLLEEN-MORTON-BUSCH_BERKELEY_02-EB-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/11/231110-COLLEEN-MORTON-BUSCH_BERKELEY_02-EB-KQED-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Berkeley author Colleen Morton Busch poses for a portrait at her home on Sept. 19, 2023. Morton Busch is the author of ‘Fire Monks: Zen Mind Meets Wildfire,’ which describes the ways a group of monks at the Tassajara Zen Center in California’s Carmel Valley prepared and then defended against a wildfire bearing down on them. \u003ccite>(Erin Baldassari/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>In the end, a group of five decided to stay and defend it. Morton-Busch wrote:\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A clever Zen teacher might say that standing back and letting the monastery burn belies a kind of attachment to the idea of non-attachment. That trying to save it when it could all burn anyway is true non-attachment. In trying to save Tassajara from the fire, or your own life from disaster, you can’t be sure you will. In fact, you can lose everything you love in a moment. And that’s not a reason to give up. If anything, it’s a reason to turn toward the fire, recognizing it as a force of both creation and destruction and to take care of what’s right in front of you because that’s all you actually have.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In some ways, the fire bearing down on Tassajara is a lot like climate change — a planetary fire bearing down on all of us.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In other ways, it is very different. The monks had one fire to contend with, but across the globe, we all face a different climate. It may be a hurricane in one area, record-breaking temperatures in another, deadly wildfires one year, heavy rains the next.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Then, there are the ways these changes quietly manifest, and are mourned or endured, in each heart and mind.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>When Barbara was alive, and in the years since she passed away, most of our monthly trips up there were, and still are, spent tending the land.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1985469\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-1985469\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/35/2023/11/Barbaras-House_North-San-Juan_3-qut.jpg\" alt=\"A river and bank with trees.\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1273\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/11/Barbaras-House_North-San-Juan_3-qut.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/11/Barbaras-House_North-San-Juan_3-qut-800x530.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/11/Barbaras-House_North-San-Juan_3-qut-1020x676.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/11/Barbaras-House_North-San-Juan_3-qut-160x106.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/11/Barbaras-House_North-San-Juan_3-qut-768x509.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/11/Barbaras-House_North-San-Juan_3-qut-1536x1018.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">The Yuba River winds through the Sierra Nevada foothills north of Hoyt’s Crossing in August 2023. The river is one of many world-class amenities that lure people to the area. \u003ccite>(Erin Baldassari/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>In a continuous cycle of labor defined by the seasons, we begin after the first fall rain, limbing trees and pulling the flammable and invasive scotch broom. In the spring, we mow down annual grasses to preemptively rob the summer’s fires of their fuel. This year, I’ll bring my now four-year-old along with me. Together, we’ll gather branches from the ground to stack for kindling. And hopefully one day, we’ll both learn how to put good fire on the ground.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>There is something liberating about this labor, which is itself a daily act of defiance.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It is here, in Nevada County and places like it, where no veneer of denialism can cover the stark realities already underway and where there is little time to brood over what is to come because there is too much work to be done now.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In these places, precariously poised on the knife’s edge of a shifting climate, the choice is clear: leave or turn toward the fire.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cp>\u003cem>Update, 11:30 a.m., Jan. 31\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Citizen scientists and volunteers have counted over 233,300 monarch butterflies across the western United States as part of \u003ca href=\"https://westernmonarchcount.org/western-monarch-count-tallies-233394-butterflies/\">Xerces Society’s 27th annual count\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>This total, calculated from Nov. 11 through Dec. 3, 2023, is slightly lower than last year’s count — and remains at just 5% of their \u003ca href=\"https://www.xerces.org/blog/current-status-of-western-monarch-butterflies-by-numbers\">numbers from the 1980s when the monarch population was in the millions\u003c/a>. But it is far better than \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/science/1971791/only-2000-monarch-butterflies-remain-in-california-but-they-still-dont-have-protection\">2020’s record-low count of just 2,000 butterflies \u003c/a>or \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/science/1956190/just-29000-western-monarch-butterflies-are-left-in-california-thats-down-from-millions\">2021’s meager 29,000.\u003c/a>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Despite ongoing efforts to save the butterflies, western monarchs face a decades-long severe decline. “A lot of insect loss — not just for monarchs — is linked to habitat loss, and part of the solution is widespread rewilding and habitat restoration,” said Emma Pelton, a monarch conservation biologist with the Xerces Society.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The use of pesticides, disease and a changing climate may also have contributed to the decline in monarch butterflies, Pelton said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Over 400 volunteers and partners participated in the annual Thanksgiving count coordinated by the Xerces Society. “Volunteers and partners are the heartbeat of the Western Monarch Count community science effort,” said Isis Howard, who coordinates the count for the Xerces Society. “They embody a collective commitment to the conservation of western monarch butterflies.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://xerces.org/volunteer/wmc\">Read more about volunteering for the monarch butterfly count\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Original story from Nov. 3, 2023, continues:\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Fall and winter are when western monarch butterflies get all the spotlight here in California.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In the fall, \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11901374/how-you-can-help-save-the-monarch-butterfly-and-other-pollinators\">these brilliant fluttering insects in hues of orange and black\u003c/a> make their way from west of the Rocky Mountain Range to the many overwintering sites in coastal California. Our coastal forests provide a mild seaside climate and suitable microhabitat for them to cluster to stay warm before leaving again in early spring.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The annual monarch butterfly migration cycle is one of the most spectacular events in the insect world. Western monarchs usually start showing up here in coastal California right around mid-October. This year, some of the very first clusters were reported at the very beginning of October — which is a little earlier than in the past few years, according to Emma Pelton, a conservation biologist at Xerces Society, a wildlife organization.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“In really warm fall years, we see later aggregating and clustering,” Pelton said. But because the Pacific coast has had more “chaotic weather patterns” in recent years due to climate change, she noted, it’s not always easy to predict precisely when the monarch clustering will occur. And it’s local weather conditions that really drive a lot of these butterflies to cluster or then break up, Pelton said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1985064\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 2124px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-1985064\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/35/2023/11/GettyImages-184945669.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2124\" height=\"1411\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/11/GettyImages-184945669.jpg 2124w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/11/GettyImages-184945669-800x531.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/11/GettyImages-184945669-1020x678.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/11/GettyImages-184945669-160x106.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/11/GettyImages-184945669-768x510.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/11/GettyImages-184945669-1536x1020.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/11/GettyImages-184945669-2048x1361.jpg 2048w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/11/GettyImages-184945669-1920x1275.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2124px) 100vw, 2124px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Monarch butterflies (Danaus plexippus) resting on a tree branch in their winter nesting area. Taken in Santa Cruz, California. \u003ccite>(GomezDavid/Getty Images)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003ch2>Where to see monarchs near the Bay Area\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Coastal groves and eucalyptus trees provide a temperate and protected environment for the butterflies during their hibernation. So, if you want to see their bright colors, you’ll want to head south on Hwy 1 from the Bay Area.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A few places in California where monarchs frequently find refuge in colder winter months:\u003c/p>\n\u003cul>\n\u003cli>\u003ca href=\"https://www.pgmuseum.org/monarch-viewing/\">Pacific Grove’s butterfly grove\u003c/a> near Monterey\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>\u003ca href=\"https://www.parks.ca.gov/?page_id=541\">Natural Bridges State Beach\u003c/a> in Santa Cruz\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>\u003ca href=\"https://www.parks.ca.gov/?page_id=550\">Lighthouse Field State Beach\u003c/a> in Santa Cruz\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>\u003ca href=\"http://www.parks.ca.gov/?page_id=595\">Pismo State Beach\u003c/a> in San Luis Obispo\u003c/li>\n\u003c/ul>\n\u003cp>Some lesser-known sites in Alameda county in the Bay Area where monarchs have been seen in the past include:\u003c/p>\n\u003cul>\n\u003cli>\u003ca href=\"https://www.ebparks.org/parks/ardenwood\">The Ardenwood Historic Farm\u003c/a> in Fremont\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>\u003ca href=\"https://berkeleyca.gov/community-recreation/parks-recreation/parks/aquatic-park\">Berkeley Aquatic Park\u003c/a> in Berkeley\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>\u003ca href=\"https://www.albanyca.org/Home/Components/FacilityDirectory/FacilityDirectory/56/1670\">Albany Hill Park\u003c/a> in Albany\u003c/li>\n\u003c/ul>\n\u003cp>Xerces has a \u003ca href=\"https://westernmonarchcount.org/map-of-overwintering-sites/\">map of all the monarch butterfly overwintering sites in California\u003c/a>, but note that some of these locations might not be open to the public.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Western monarch numbers over the years\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>[aside postID='science_1980427,news_11901374,science_1956190' label='Related coverage']In the 1980s, \u003ca href=\"https://www.calparks.org/monarchs\">over 4 million western monarch butterflies migrated to the coast annually\u003c/a>. But by the mid-2010s, the population had declined to around 200,000 butterflies.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In both 2018 and 2019, volunteers counted under 30,000 monarchs. That downward pattern continued in 2020, when volunteers counted a record low of less than 2,000 monarchs, according to Xerces.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Some good news, however, has come in more recent years. In 2021 and 2022, the numbers went back up to around the 300,000 mark.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I think this has inspired a lot more hope that the migration can be saved. And we need to double down on our conservation actions,” said Pelton, with the Xerces Society.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Reasons like \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/science/1956190/just-29000-western-monarch-butterflies-are-left-in-california-thats-down-from-millions\">habitat loss, use of pesticides, disease, and a changing climate\u003c/a> may have contributed to the decline in monarch butterflies.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>How can I help monarch butterflies?\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>The easiest way to get involved is to log your monarch sightings.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>When you see a monarch, Pelton encourages folks to record that on community science applications like \u003ca href=\"https://www.inaturalist.org/\">iNaturalist\u003c/a>. Not only that, you can also help by logging sightings of milkweed, \u003ca href=\"https://www.xerces.org/milkweed-faq\">the plant monarch butterfly’s need for their caterpillars\u003c/a>. The data from iNaturalist feeds into the \u003ca href=\"https://www.monarchmilkweedmapper.org/\">Western Monarch Milkweed Mapper\u003c/a>, which is used by researchers in the monarch world to “understand where and when butterflies are, where and when milkweed is,” Pelton said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Another way people can help with monarch butterfly conservation is by planting more native milkweed in their home gardens or neighborhoods, like in community gardens, schools or at places of worship. “I think everyone has a role in planting nectar plants that support monarchs,” Pelton said. Through programs like the \u003ca href=\"https://xerces.org/pollinator-conservation/habitat-kits\">Xerces Habitat Kit\u003c/a>, folks can apply for free native milkweed and other host plants for other butterflies.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3DC8INr7tvQ\u003c/p>\n\u003cp> \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>One thing to note: Pelton advises avoiding the tropical milkweed species Asclepias Curassavica. Tropical milkweed can potentially interrupt monarch migration and help spread disease caused by a parasite called Ophryocystis elektroscirrha, or OE.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>There’s increasing evidence showing that pesticides may be contributing to the declining monarch populations, Pelton said. This means that thinking about ways to lower our reliance on pesticides in general, both in our agricultural and urban areas, can be a significant way to support the habitat for monarchs.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Pelton advocates for focusing on “the bigger picture issues like climate change policies, pesticide regulation and registration — things that support wildlife, native plants, and native habitats on our landscape.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>How can I take part in the annual Thanksgiving and New Year’s count of monarchs?[pullquote align=\"right\" size=\"medium\" citation=\"Emma Pelton, a conservation biologist at Xerces Society\"]“I like to think of monarchs as a little bit of a Trojan horse. We’re going to get people hooked, and then really we’re going to get them into all these other conservation [efforts].”[/pullquote]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Peak numbers for monarch butterflies begin in November — which is also the time when Xerces conducts their annual Thanksgiving monarch count.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>This year will be the 27th annual \u003ca href=\"https://westernmonarchcount.org/\">Western Monarch Count\u003c/a>, and volunteers can take part between Nov. 11 and Dec. 3 during the Thanksgiving count and again between Dec. 23 and Jan. 7 during the New Year’s count.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>You can \u003ca href=\"https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSdILTQuNbV0SOT7IJ7MaGqHtTrBU8NlCCxeupxtmjtzb7xa9w/viewform\">sign up\u003c/a> to join a \u003ca href=\"https://www.eventbrite.com/e/sunrise-monarch-count-training-with-zach-zito-and-the-xerces-society-tickets-740309725317?utm_source=eventbrite&utm_medium=email&utm_content=follow_notification&utm_campaign=following_published_event&utm_term=Sunrise+Monarch+Count+Training+with+Zach+Zito+and+the+Xerces+Society&aff=ebemoffollowpublishemail\">free training on Nov. 4\u003c/a>. You’ll also have access to \u003ca href=\"https://www.westernmonarchcount.org/training-videos/\">online training videos\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Next step for conservation enthusiasts\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Pelton hopes that some of the excitement around western monarch conservation can spread to other insects that are maybe less beloved. “I like to think of monarchs as a little bit of a Trojan horse,” she said. “We’re going to get people hooked, and then really we’re going to get them into all these other conservation [efforts].”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Like the conservation of California’s beautiful black and yellow bumble bees, for example. The California Bumble Bee Atlas is a community science effort to track and conserve the species, which Pelton calls “big, fuzzy, beautiful.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“They have very clear patterns on them,” she said — and it doesn’t take a ton of training or time to start to be able to identify individual species of the bumblebee.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The biodiversity crisis and how that intersects with the climate change crisis is something that we also all should be thinking about, Pelton said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Habitat is just one of those really great ways where we can tackle the problem — by creating refuges and creating a diversity of habitats [wildlife] can use, so they can adapt in a changing climate,” she said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>\u003cem>Update, 11:30 a.m., Jan. 31\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Citizen scientists and volunteers have counted over 233,300 monarch butterflies across the western United States as part of \u003ca href=\"https://westernmonarchcount.org/western-monarch-count-tallies-233394-butterflies/\">Xerces Society’s 27th annual count\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>This total, calculated from Nov. 11 through Dec. 3, 2023, is slightly lower than last year’s count — and remains at just 5% of their \u003ca href=\"https://www.xerces.org/blog/current-status-of-western-monarch-butterflies-by-numbers\">numbers from the 1980s when the monarch population was in the millions\u003c/a>. But it is far better than \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/science/1971791/only-2000-monarch-butterflies-remain-in-california-but-they-still-dont-have-protection\">2020’s record-low count of just 2,000 butterflies \u003c/a>or \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/science/1956190/just-29000-western-monarch-butterflies-are-left-in-california-thats-down-from-millions\">2021’s meager 29,000.\u003c/a>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Despite ongoing efforts to save the butterflies, western monarchs face a decades-long severe decline. “A lot of insect loss — not just for monarchs — is linked to habitat loss, and part of the solution is widespread rewilding and habitat restoration,” said Emma Pelton, a monarch conservation biologist with the Xerces Society.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The use of pesticides, disease and a changing climate may also have contributed to the decline in monarch butterflies, Pelton said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Over 400 volunteers and partners participated in the annual Thanksgiving count coordinated by the Xerces Society. “Volunteers and partners are the heartbeat of the Western Monarch Count community science effort,” said Isis Howard, who coordinates the count for the Xerces Society. “They embody a collective commitment to the conservation of western monarch butterflies.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://xerces.org/volunteer/wmc\">Read more about volunteering for the monarch butterfly count\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Original story from Nov. 3, 2023, continues:\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Fall and winter are when western monarch butterflies get all the spotlight here in California.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In the fall, \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11901374/how-you-can-help-save-the-monarch-butterfly-and-other-pollinators\">these brilliant fluttering insects in hues of orange and black\u003c/a> make their way from west of the Rocky Mountain Range to the many overwintering sites in coastal California. Our coastal forests provide a mild seaside climate and suitable microhabitat for them to cluster to stay warm before leaving again in early spring.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The annual monarch butterfly migration cycle is one of the most spectacular events in the insect world. Western monarchs usually start showing up here in coastal California right around mid-October. This year, some of the very first clusters were reported at the very beginning of October — which is a little earlier than in the past few years, according to Emma Pelton, a conservation biologist at Xerces Society, a wildlife organization.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“In really warm fall years, we see later aggregating and clustering,” Pelton said. But because the Pacific coast has had more “chaotic weather patterns” in recent years due to climate change, she noted, it’s not always easy to predict precisely when the monarch clustering will occur. And it’s local weather conditions that really drive a lot of these butterflies to cluster or then break up, Pelton said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1985064\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 2124px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-1985064\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/35/2023/11/GettyImages-184945669.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2124\" height=\"1411\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/11/GettyImages-184945669.jpg 2124w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/11/GettyImages-184945669-800x531.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/11/GettyImages-184945669-1020x678.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/11/GettyImages-184945669-160x106.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/11/GettyImages-184945669-768x510.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/11/GettyImages-184945669-1536x1020.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/11/GettyImages-184945669-2048x1361.jpg 2048w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/11/GettyImages-184945669-1920x1275.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2124px) 100vw, 2124px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Monarch butterflies (Danaus plexippus) resting on a tree branch in their winter nesting area. Taken in Santa Cruz, California. \u003ccite>(GomezDavid/Getty Images)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003ch2>Where to see monarchs near the Bay Area\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Coastal groves and eucalyptus trees provide a temperate and protected environment for the butterflies during their hibernation. So, if you want to see their bright colors, you’ll want to head south on Hwy 1 from the Bay Area.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A few places in California where monarchs frequently find refuge in colder winter months:\u003c/p>\n\u003cul>\n\u003cli>\u003ca href=\"https://www.pgmuseum.org/monarch-viewing/\">Pacific Grove’s butterfly grove\u003c/a> near Monterey\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>\u003ca href=\"https://www.parks.ca.gov/?page_id=541\">Natural Bridges State Beach\u003c/a> in Santa Cruz\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>\u003ca href=\"https://www.parks.ca.gov/?page_id=550\">Lighthouse Field State Beach\u003c/a> in Santa Cruz\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>\u003ca href=\"http://www.parks.ca.gov/?page_id=595\">Pismo State Beach\u003c/a> in San Luis Obispo\u003c/li>\n\u003c/ul>\n\u003cp>Some lesser-known sites in Alameda county in the Bay Area where monarchs have been seen in the past include:\u003c/p>\n\u003cul>\n\u003cli>\u003ca href=\"https://www.ebparks.org/parks/ardenwood\">The Ardenwood Historic Farm\u003c/a> in Fremont\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>\u003ca href=\"https://berkeleyca.gov/community-recreation/parks-recreation/parks/aquatic-park\">Berkeley Aquatic Park\u003c/a> in Berkeley\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>\u003ca href=\"https://www.albanyca.org/Home/Components/FacilityDirectory/FacilityDirectory/56/1670\">Albany Hill Park\u003c/a> in Albany\u003c/li>\n\u003c/ul>\n\u003cp>Xerces has a \u003ca href=\"https://westernmonarchcount.org/map-of-overwintering-sites/\">map of all the monarch butterfly overwintering sites in California\u003c/a>, but note that some of these locations might not be open to the public.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Western monarch numbers over the years\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>In the 1980s, \u003ca href=\"https://www.calparks.org/monarchs\">over 4 million western monarch butterflies migrated to the coast annually\u003c/a>. But by the mid-2010s, the population had declined to around 200,000 butterflies.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In both 2018 and 2019, volunteers counted under 30,000 monarchs. That downward pattern continued in 2020, when volunteers counted a record low of less than 2,000 monarchs, according to Xerces.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Some good news, however, has come in more recent years. In 2021 and 2022, the numbers went back up to around the 300,000 mark.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I think this has inspired a lot more hope that the migration can be saved. And we need to double down on our conservation actions,” said Pelton, with the Xerces Society.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Reasons like \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/science/1956190/just-29000-western-monarch-butterflies-are-left-in-california-thats-down-from-millions\">habitat loss, use of pesticides, disease, and a changing climate\u003c/a> may have contributed to the decline in monarch butterflies.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>How can I help monarch butterflies?\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>The easiest way to get involved is to log your monarch sightings.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>When you see a monarch, Pelton encourages folks to record that on community science applications like \u003ca href=\"https://www.inaturalist.org/\">iNaturalist\u003c/a>. Not only that, you can also help by logging sightings of milkweed, \u003ca href=\"https://www.xerces.org/milkweed-faq\">the plant monarch butterfly’s need for their caterpillars\u003c/a>. The data from iNaturalist feeds into the \u003ca href=\"https://www.monarchmilkweedmapper.org/\">Western Monarch Milkweed Mapper\u003c/a>, which is used by researchers in the monarch world to “understand where and when butterflies are, where and when milkweed is,” Pelton said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Another way people can help with monarch butterfly conservation is by planting more native milkweed in their home gardens or neighborhoods, like in community gardens, schools or at places of worship. “I think everyone has a role in planting nectar plants that support monarchs,” Pelton said. Through programs like the \u003ca href=\"https://xerces.org/pollinator-conservation/habitat-kits\">Xerces Habitat Kit\u003c/a>, folks can apply for free native milkweed and other host plants for other butterflies.\u003c/p>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003cspan class='utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__youtubeShortcode__embedYoutube'>\n \u003cspan class='utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__youtubeShortcode__embedYoutubeInside'>\n \u003ciframe\n loading='lazy'\n class='utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__youtubeShortcode__youtubePlayer'\n type='text/html'\n src='//www.youtube.com/embed/3DC8INr7tvQ'\n title='//www.youtube.com/embed/3DC8INr7tvQ'\n allowfullscreen='true'\n style='border:0;'>\u003c/iframe>\n \u003c/span>\n \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003cp> \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>One thing to note: Pelton advises avoiding the tropical milkweed species Asclepias Curassavica. Tropical milkweed can potentially interrupt monarch migration and help spread disease caused by a parasite called Ophryocystis elektroscirrha, or OE.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>There’s increasing evidence showing that pesticides may be contributing to the declining monarch populations, Pelton said. This means that thinking about ways to lower our reliance on pesticides in general, both in our agricultural and urban areas, can be a significant way to support the habitat for monarchs.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Pelton advocates for focusing on “the bigger picture issues like climate change policies, pesticide regulation and registration — things that support wildlife, native plants, and native habitats on our landscape.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>How can I take part in the annual Thanksgiving and New Year’s count of monarchs?\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Peak numbers for monarch butterflies begin in November — which is also the time when Xerces conducts their annual Thanksgiving monarch count.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>This year will be the 27th annual \u003ca href=\"https://westernmonarchcount.org/\">Western Monarch Count\u003c/a>, and volunteers can take part between Nov. 11 and Dec. 3 during the Thanksgiving count and again between Dec. 23 and Jan. 7 during the New Year’s count.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>You can \u003ca href=\"https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSdILTQuNbV0SOT7IJ7MaGqHtTrBU8NlCCxeupxtmjtzb7xa9w/viewform\">sign up\u003c/a> to join a \u003ca href=\"https://www.eventbrite.com/e/sunrise-monarch-count-training-with-zach-zito-and-the-xerces-society-tickets-740309725317?utm_source=eventbrite&utm_medium=email&utm_content=follow_notification&utm_campaign=following_published_event&utm_term=Sunrise+Monarch+Count+Training+with+Zach+Zito+and+the+Xerces+Society&aff=ebemoffollowpublishemail\">free training on Nov. 4\u003c/a>. You’ll also have access to \u003ca href=\"https://www.westernmonarchcount.org/training-videos/\">online training videos\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Next step for conservation enthusiasts\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Pelton hopes that some of the excitement around western monarch conservation can spread to other insects that are maybe less beloved. “I like to think of monarchs as a little bit of a Trojan horse,” she said. “We’re going to get people hooked, and then really we’re going to get them into all these other conservation [efforts].”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Like the conservation of California’s beautiful black and yellow bumble bees, for example. The California Bumble Bee Atlas is a community science effort to track and conserve the species, which Pelton calls “big, fuzzy, beautiful.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“They have very clear patterns on them,” she said — and it doesn’t take a ton of training or time to start to be able to identify individual species of the bumblebee.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The biodiversity crisis and how that intersects with the climate change crisis is something that we also all should be thinking about, Pelton said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Habitat is just one of those really great ways where we can tackle the problem — by creating refuges and creating a diversity of habitats [wildlife] can use, so they can adapt in a changing climate,” she said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cp>[dl_subscribe]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Every year, up to half the honeybee colonies in the U.S. die. Varroa mites, the bees’ ghastly parasites, are one of the main culprits. After hitching a ride into a hive, a mite mom hides in a honeycomb cell, where she and her offspring feed on a growing bee. But beekeepers and scientists are helping honeybees fight back.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003ch3>TRANSCRIPT\u003c/h3>\n\u003cp>Here’s a go-to recipe for beekeepers. It’s called a “sugar shake.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Take a half-cup of bees. That’s about 300.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Put them in a jar and cover them with a mesh lid.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Add two tablespoons confectioners’ sugar.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Shake for 30 seconds. We’re going for a nice, even coat.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Empty the sugar onto a tray. And there you have it: frosted varroa mites, aka \u003cem>Varroa destructor\u003c/em>. They’re a honeybee’s worst enemy.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The fine-powdered sugar made them lose the grip they had on their hosts.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A minute ago, the mites were on the bees in the hive.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It’s as if you were carrying around a tick the size of a dinner plate.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Every year, up to half the managed honeybee hives in the United States die from hazards like pesticide exposure, lack of flowers to forage on year-round, and varroa mites.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>To feed, a varroa mite nestles between the bees’ protective plates.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It digs in with its gnarly mouth, the gnathosoma. The mite sinks it into a crucial organ called the fat body. It’s a layer of tissue that lines the abdomen.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[pullquote]\u003cbr>\nADDITIONAL RESOURCES\u003cbr>\nElina L. Niño, associate professor of cooperative extension in apiculture at UC Davis, has answered \u003ca href=\"https://elninobeelab.sf.ucdavis.edu/resources-community\">common questions about honeybees\u003c/a> from beekeepers, homeowners and gardeners, including where to send pests to be identified. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>This 2019 paper by Samuel Ramsey and colleagues details how they discovered that \u003ca href=\"https://www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/pnas.1818371116\">varroa mites feed on the fat body of honeybees\u003c/a>. For a long time, it was thought that the mites fed on honeybees’ blood, known as hemolymph.\u003cbr>\n[/pullquote]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Sort of like the human liver, the fat body helps the bee break down harmful stuff, including pesticides. And it maintains the bee’s immune system. So, when varroa mites attack the fat body, they seriously weaken the bee.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The mites can also transmit a virus that causes a bee to be born with deformed wings, no good for flying.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Let’s go back to the “sugar shake.” Beekeepers use them to monitor the varroa mites in their hives.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As few as three mites per half-cup of bees could kill a hive within the year. That’s because varroa mites are great at sneaking into hives, hiding, and reproducing like mad.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The first mite gets into a hive by hitching a ride on a bee from another colony. Maybe the bee’s own colony wasn’t doing well and it was looking for a new home.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The mite sniffs around for a bee larva and sneaks in right before the bees cover the cell with wax.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The defenseless larva is now trapped with its enemy, which begins to feed.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As the larva grows into a pupa, the mite, called a foundress, starts her family. Take a look underneath this bee pupa.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The mite’s firstborn is always a son. The rest are daughters. They’re hard to tell apart when they’re young.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>When the siblings come of age inside the cell, they’ll meet up on this pile of mite poop – maybe they’re guided by the scent. And they’ll mate … with each other.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Sometimes two foundresses make it into a cell. Then their offspring get to mate with someone they’re not related to.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The mites live off the bee pupa, but they don’t kill it.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>When the bee is all grown up, it chews its way out of the cell.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The mite slips onto its next victim. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>So, why don’t the bees just pick those mites off themselves?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Well, we didn’t start seeing varroa mites in the U.S. until the 1980s. They evolved on eastern honeybees, in Asia. That’s why the western honeybees in the Americas and Europe aren’t yet good at defending against them.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>When beekeepers find mites in a sugar shake, they treat a hive with pesticide strips that kill the mites. But mites are becoming resistant.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>So, researchers are selectively breeding honeybees to fight back.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The U.S. Department of Agriculture and private companies are breeding bees that can sniff out varroa mites. When the bees find some, they uncap the cells and interrupt reproduction. The bees then, um, “recycle” the unlucky pupa. Yep, they’re eating it.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>At Purdue and Central State universities, scientists breed honeybees known as “mite-biters.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>After collecting sperm from a male bee, they inseminate a queen.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Both the queen and the male come from colonies that are particularly good at killing mites by chewing off their legs.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It’s a grisly end for these tormentors and – just maybe – a fair shake for the honeybees.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Hey sugar, what’s shakin’? We’ve got more bee stories for you. Bindweed turret bees fill their underground nests with pollen. See those “pollen pants”? But freeloading flies drop their own eggs into the nests … from the air!\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Also, PBS Digital Studios wants to know what you enjoy on YouTube and what you want more of. Follow the link in the description to take their annual survey. You even get to vote on new show ideas. Thanks for representing, and please tell them Deep Look sent you.\u003c/p>\n\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Sort of like the human liver, the fat body helps the bee break down harmful stuff, including pesticides. And it maintains the bee’s immune system. So, when varroa mites attack the fat body, they seriously weaken the bee.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The mites can also transmit a virus that causes a bee to be born with deformed wings, no good for flying.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Let’s go back to the “sugar shake.” Beekeepers use them to monitor the varroa mites in their hives.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As few as three mites per half-cup of bees could kill a hive within the year. That’s because varroa mites are great at sneaking into hives, hiding, and reproducing like mad.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The first mite gets into a hive by hitching a ride on a bee from another colony. Maybe the bee’s own colony wasn’t doing well and it was looking for a new home.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The mite sniffs around for a bee larva and sneaks in right before the bees cover the cell with wax.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The defenseless larva is now trapped with its enemy, which begins to feed.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As the larva grows into a pupa, the mite, called a foundress, starts her family. Take a look underneath this bee pupa.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The mite’s firstborn is always a son. The rest are daughters. They’re hard to tell apart when they’re young.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>When the siblings come of age inside the cell, they’ll meet up on this pile of mite poop – maybe they’re guided by the scent. And they’ll mate … with each other.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Sometimes two foundresses make it into a cell. Then their offspring get to mate with someone they’re not related to.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The mites live off the bee pupa, but they don’t kill it.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>When the bee is all grown up, it chews its way out of the cell.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The mite slips onto its next victim. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>So, why don’t the bees just pick those mites off themselves?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Well, we didn’t start seeing varroa mites in the U.S. until the 1980s. They evolved on eastern honeybees, in Asia. That’s why the western honeybees in the Americas and Europe aren’t yet good at defending against them.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>When beekeepers find mites in a sugar shake, they treat a hive with pesticide strips that kill the mites. But mites are becoming resistant.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>So, researchers are selectively breeding honeybees to fight back.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The U.S. Department of Agriculture and private companies are breeding bees that can sniff out varroa mites. When the bees find some, they uncap the cells and interrupt reproduction. The bees then, um, “recycle” the unlucky pupa. Yep, they’re eating it.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>At Purdue and Central State universities, scientists breed honeybees known as “mite-biters.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>After collecting sperm from a male bee, they inseminate a queen.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Both the queen and the male come from colonies that are particularly good at killing mites by chewing off their legs.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It’s a grisly end for these tormentors and – just maybe – a fair shake for the honeybees.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Hey sugar, what’s shakin’? We’ve got more bee stories for you. Bindweed turret bees fill their underground nests with pollen. See those “pollen pants”? But freeloading flies drop their own eggs into the nests … from the air!\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Also, PBS Digital Studios wants to know what you enjoy on YouTube and what you want more of. Follow the link in the description to take their annual survey. You even get to vote on new show ideas. Thanks for representing, and please tell them Deep Look sent you.\u003c/p>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"title": "In a Charred Moonscape, a Band of Hopeful Workers Try to Save the Joshua Tree",
"headTitle": "In a Charred Moonscape, a Band of Hopeful Workers Try to Save the Joshua Tree | KQED",
"content": "\u003cp>\u003cem>“The Country since leaving the Colorado has been a dry rocky sandy Barren desert.”\u003c/em> — Jedediah Smith, 1826.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Early western explorers who ventured into the Mojave Desert, like Jedediah Smith, often mischaracterized it as a barren landscape, devoid of life.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Yet a closer inspection of these sweeping landscapes reveals soil-hugging carpets of springtime flowers, native grasses and fragrant shrubs, alongside the more obvious cacti and succulents.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Where the desert lives up to its stereotype is after a wildfire.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In the shadow of last month’s York Fire in California’s Mojave National Preserve, almost nothing is left amid the rocks and sand, except the charred carcasses of Mojave yuccas, Joshua trees, and chollas. The soil is a mottled brown and black, and some plants have been reduced to mere silhouettes of char on the ground.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1984232\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 2560px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-1984232\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/35/2023/09/mojave-fire-duo-update_custom-a3c213912e6160eaecee2d97b08fdc7b6034e2bc-scaled.jpg\" alt=\"Two photos side-by-side,burnt desert plants in an arid landscape with blue skies behind and hills on the horizon in the left photo.\" width=\"2560\" height=\"1901\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/09/mojave-fire-duo-update_custom-a3c213912e6160eaecee2d97b08fdc7b6034e2bc-scaled.jpg 2560w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/09/mojave-fire-duo-update_custom-a3c213912e6160eaecee2d97b08fdc7b6034e2bc-800x594.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/09/mojave-fire-duo-update_custom-a3c213912e6160eaecee2d97b08fdc7b6034e2bc-1020x757.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/09/mojave-fire-duo-update_custom-a3c213912e6160eaecee2d97b08fdc7b6034e2bc-160x119.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/09/mojave-fire-duo-update_custom-a3c213912e6160eaecee2d97b08fdc7b6034e2bc-768x570.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/09/mojave-fire-duo-update_custom-a3c213912e6160eaecee2d97b08fdc7b6034e2bc-1536x1141.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/09/mojave-fire-duo-update_custom-a3c213912e6160eaecee2d97b08fdc7b6034e2bc-2048x1521.jpg 2048w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/09/mojave-fire-duo-update_custom-a3c213912e6160eaecee2d97b08fdc7b6034e2bc-1920x1426.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2560px) 100vw, 2560px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A scorched Joshua tree (left) and a burned barrel cactus are remnants of the York Fire. \u003ccite>(Krystal Ramirez/NPR)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>The moonscape is the result of a fire that burned quickly and widely, engulfing roughly 130 square miles of the preserve — including picturesque Caruthers Canyon, a boulder-strewn spot popular with campers.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Caruthers Canyon is the prettiest place we had. It was a beautiful little pinyon-juniper forest up there,” says Debra Hughson, who is the preserve’s deputy superintendent. “When the pinyon-juniper burns, it doesn’t come back. Not in my lifetime. Not in your lifetime. Maybe never.”\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>There may be no going back\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>This latest wildfire comes as a reminder of the unpredictable future facing some of the desert’s most iconic residents. Warmer, drier temperatures are already stressing the preserve’s spindly Joshua trees. Models predict those warming trends will leave Joshua trees with fewer suitable places to live. Scroll forward in time, Hughson says, and their range shrinks: “It melts like an ice cube on a hot sidewalk.” On top of that, in recent years wide-ranging wildfires are also pushing the succulents into greater peril.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“They’re already living on the edge,” Hughson says. “What we’re doing here globally is we’re cranking up the temperature, and here we’re also cranking down the rainfall, the precipitation.” Joshua trees, she explains, are having a hard time keeping up with such swift climate changes. “Then you get a major stressor like this, that just erases the chalkboard.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1984233\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 2560px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-1984233\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/35/2023/09/2023-08-joshuatressjojavedesert-kramirez_06_custom-1bfcaa4dc80a136adcb22d55f96c66e6c9aa9524-scaled.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2560\" height=\"1705\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/09/2023-08-joshuatressjojavedesert-kramirez_06_custom-1bfcaa4dc80a136adcb22d55f96c66e6c9aa9524-scaled.jpg 2560w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/09/2023-08-joshuatressjojavedesert-kramirez_06_custom-1bfcaa4dc80a136adcb22d55f96c66e6c9aa9524-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/09/2023-08-joshuatressjojavedesert-kramirez_06_custom-1bfcaa4dc80a136adcb22d55f96c66e6c9aa9524-1020x679.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/09/2023-08-joshuatressjojavedesert-kramirez_06_custom-1bfcaa4dc80a136adcb22d55f96c66e6c9aa9524-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/09/2023-08-joshuatressjojavedesert-kramirez_06_custom-1bfcaa4dc80a136adcb22d55f96c66e6c9aa9524-768x511.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/09/2023-08-joshuatressjojavedesert-kramirez_06_custom-1bfcaa4dc80a136adcb22d55f96c66e6c9aa9524-1536x1023.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/09/2023-08-joshuatressjojavedesert-kramirez_06_custom-1bfcaa4dc80a136adcb22d55f96c66e6c9aa9524-2048x1364.jpg 2048w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/09/2023-08-joshuatressjojavedesert-kramirez_06_custom-1bfcaa4dc80a136adcb22d55f96c66e6c9aa9524-1920x1279.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2560px) 100vw, 2560px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Debra Hughson is the deputy superintendent at Mojave National Preserve. She says Joshua trees are struggling to keep up with such swift climate changes. \u003ccite>(Krystal Ramirez/NPR)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>What she means is the park’s dense Joshua tree forests may never come back after a fire. A grassy savannah might rise up to replace them, with a few Joshua trees scattered throughout as a reminder of what once was.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Nowhere is that potential future on greater display than along Morning Star Mine Road, which cuts across the northern reaches of the preserve. On one side of the road there is a Joshua tree forest so dense it looks like a green wall at a distance, with a rich understory of drab greenish-gray bushes. On the other side there’s a graveyard of blackened Joshua trees with sun-bleached buds. The ground is mostly bare, aside from patches of grass, and the color palette is black, white and shades of tan.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1984234\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 2560px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-1984234\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/35/2023/09/2023-08-joshuatressjojavedesert-kramirez_09_custom-6507473b7144787a889fad9d2f2a6b59823c0e74-scaled.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2560\" height=\"1705\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/09/2023-08-joshuatressjojavedesert-kramirez_09_custom-6507473b7144787a889fad9d2f2a6b59823c0e74-scaled.jpg 2560w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/09/2023-08-joshuatressjojavedesert-kramirez_09_custom-6507473b7144787a889fad9d2f2a6b59823c0e74-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/09/2023-08-joshuatressjojavedesert-kramirez_09_custom-6507473b7144787a889fad9d2f2a6b59823c0e74-1020x679.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/09/2023-08-joshuatressjojavedesert-kramirez_09_custom-6507473b7144787a889fad9d2f2a6b59823c0e74-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/09/2023-08-joshuatressjojavedesert-kramirez_09_custom-6507473b7144787a889fad9d2f2a6b59823c0e74-768x511.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/09/2023-08-joshuatressjojavedesert-kramirez_09_custom-6507473b7144787a889fad9d2f2a6b59823c0e74-1536x1023.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/09/2023-08-joshuatressjojavedesert-kramirez_09_custom-6507473b7144787a889fad9d2f2a6b59823c0e74-2048x1364.jpg 2048w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/09/2023-08-joshuatressjojavedesert-kramirez_09_custom-6507473b7144787a889fad9d2f2a6b59823c0e74-1920x1279.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2560px) 100vw, 2560px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Plant remains hang over Valley View Ranch, one of the sites that burned in the 2020 Dome Fire at Mojave National Preserve. \u003ccite>(Krystal Ramirez/NPR)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>The road was a firebreak during the 2020 Dome Fire. Flames destroyed an estimated 1.3 million Joshua trees on Cima Dome, an area that was once the park’s grandest example of dense Joshua tree woodland. The area’s relatively high elevation was supposed to serve as a sort of sanctuary — a climate refuge where Joshua trees could continue to thrive amid hotter, drier conditions elsewhere in their range. Then, the fire came – an unexpected destabilizing force that casts that long-term trajectory into question.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Hughson trained as a geologist. She talks about the future of the Joshua tree and what might happen at Cima Dome as if she still assesses these seismic ecological changes at the tempo of geologic time. “In the end,” she says, “the desert is going to tell us what it’s going to be and it’s going to show us what it’s going to be.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Replanting hope in the desert\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Scientists are not waiting to see what the desert becomes. They’re actively intervening with an ambitious years-long project to replant some 4,000 Joshua trees at Cima Dome.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Biological science technician Erin Knight walks through a graveyard of dead Joshua trees, near the remains of an old cattle operation called Valley View Ranch. Some of the plants have toppled to the ground. Others still stand, but they’re falling to pieces; the branches that once stretched up to the sky now dangle and sway eerily in the desert wind.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1984235\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 2560px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-1984235\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/35/2023/09/2023-08-joshuatressjojavedesert-kramirez_05_custom-ddf67a8272af1d1f6982f41a639e917fbd5b81b8-scaled.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2560\" height=\"1705\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/09/2023-08-joshuatressjojavedesert-kramirez_05_custom-ddf67a8272af1d1f6982f41a639e917fbd5b81b8-scaled.jpg 2560w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/09/2023-08-joshuatressjojavedesert-kramirez_05_custom-ddf67a8272af1d1f6982f41a639e917fbd5b81b8-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/09/2023-08-joshuatressjojavedesert-kramirez_05_custom-ddf67a8272af1d1f6982f41a639e917fbd5b81b8-1020x679.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/09/2023-08-joshuatressjojavedesert-kramirez_05_custom-ddf67a8272af1d1f6982f41a639e917fbd5b81b8-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/09/2023-08-joshuatressjojavedesert-kramirez_05_custom-ddf67a8272af1d1f6982f41a639e917fbd5b81b8-768x511.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/09/2023-08-joshuatressjojavedesert-kramirez_05_custom-ddf67a8272af1d1f6982f41a639e917fbd5b81b8-1536x1023.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/09/2023-08-joshuatressjojavedesert-kramirez_05_custom-ddf67a8272af1d1f6982f41a639e917fbd5b81b8-2048x1364.jpg 2048w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/09/2023-08-joshuatressjojavedesert-kramirez_05_custom-ddf67a8272af1d1f6982f41a639e917fbd5b81b8-1920x1279.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2560px) 100vw, 2560px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Erin Knight is a biological science technician at the Mojave National Preserve. \u003ccite>(Krystal Ramirez/NPR)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“Kind of our own little chandelier here in the desert,” Knight jokes.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Small chicken wire cages are scattered throughout the grove. This is where volunteers have planted baby Joshua trees, in hopes of resurrecting the century-old giants that perished here. Knight crouches down near one of the cages, and checks a numbered tag.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>She says this seedling was planted on Nov. 6 last year, and a volunteer named it Bratislava — the capital of Slovakia. Unfortunately, this one’s dead, as are many others at this site. In fact, in the two years this project’s been underway, 80% of the roughly 1,900 Joshua trees planted in the burn scar of the Dome Fire have died.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1984230\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 2560px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-1984230\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/35/2023/09/2023-08-joshuatressjojavedesert-kramirez_17-edit_custom-bbcb6de0b000d7a4b78bf4dfdc7a988596b6668a-scaled.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2560\" height=\"1705\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/09/2023-08-joshuatressjojavedesert-kramirez_17-edit_custom-bbcb6de0b000d7a4b78bf4dfdc7a988596b6668a-scaled.jpg 2560w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/09/2023-08-joshuatressjojavedesert-kramirez_17-edit_custom-bbcb6de0b000d7a4b78bf4dfdc7a988596b6668a-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/09/2023-08-joshuatressjojavedesert-kramirez_17-edit_custom-bbcb6de0b000d7a4b78bf4dfdc7a988596b6668a-1020x679.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/09/2023-08-joshuatressjojavedesert-kramirez_17-edit_custom-bbcb6de0b000d7a4b78bf4dfdc7a988596b6668a-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/09/2023-08-joshuatressjojavedesert-kramirez_17-edit_custom-bbcb6de0b000d7a4b78bf4dfdc7a988596b6668a-768x511.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/09/2023-08-joshuatressjojavedesert-kramirez_17-edit_custom-bbcb6de0b000d7a4b78bf4dfdc7a988596b6668a-1536x1023.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/09/2023-08-joshuatressjojavedesert-kramirez_17-edit_custom-bbcb6de0b000d7a4b78bf4dfdc7a988596b6668a-2048x1364.jpg 2048w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/09/2023-08-joshuatressjojavedesert-kramirez_17-edit_custom-bbcb6de0b000d7a4b78bf4dfdc7a988596b6668a-1920x1279.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2560px) 100vw, 2560px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Charred carcasses of Mojave yuccas, Joshua trees and chollas are seen at the edge of the York Fire in San Bernardino County, California, inside Mojave National Preserve. \u003ccite>(Krystal Ramirez/NPR)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“Unfortunately, restoring Joshua trees is more of an art than a science, and sometimes it works out really well and sometimes it doesn’t,” Hughson says. Some of the baby Joshua trees have been eaten, especially those without a cage. Others die of thirst, though volunteers and scientists at the preserve make their best efforts to water the baby seedlings.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“There’s been hundreds and hundreds of volunteers that have participated. We even had a camel train packing water into these,” Hughson says. Restoration work in the desert, she explains, is not for the faint of heart.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1984236\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 2560px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-1984236\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/35/2023/09/2023-08-joshuatressjojavedesert-kramirez_14_custom-3ed023c31490c2b4a8b0f4afe63ddd822f9ecd46-scaled.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2560\" height=\"1705\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/09/2023-08-joshuatressjojavedesert-kramirez_14_custom-3ed023c31490c2b4a8b0f4afe63ddd822f9ecd46-scaled.jpg 2560w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/09/2023-08-joshuatressjojavedesert-kramirez_14_custom-3ed023c31490c2b4a8b0f4afe63ddd822f9ecd46-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/09/2023-08-joshuatressjojavedesert-kramirez_14_custom-3ed023c31490c2b4a8b0f4afe63ddd822f9ecd46-1020x679.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/09/2023-08-joshuatressjojavedesert-kramirez_14_custom-3ed023c31490c2b4a8b0f4afe63ddd822f9ecd46-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/09/2023-08-joshuatressjojavedesert-kramirez_14_custom-3ed023c31490c2b4a8b0f4afe63ddd822f9ecd46-768x511.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/09/2023-08-joshuatressjojavedesert-kramirez_14_custom-3ed023c31490c2b4a8b0f4afe63ddd822f9ecd46-1536x1023.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/09/2023-08-joshuatressjojavedesert-kramirez_14_custom-3ed023c31490c2b4a8b0f4afe63ddd822f9ecd46-2048x1364.jpg 2048w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/09/2023-08-joshuatressjojavedesert-kramirez_14_custom-3ed023c31490c2b4a8b0f4afe63ddd822f9ecd46-1920x1279.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2560px) 100vw, 2560px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Supervisory park ranger Sierra Willoughby waters a baby Joshua tree, named ‘Lychee,’ inside its protective cage. \u003ccite>(Krystal Ramirez/NPR)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“It’s a tale of failed experiments,” Hughson says. “Go look at the literature on restoration in the desert, especially the Mojave Desert. And OK, ‘Well, this didn’t work.’ Another paper on, ‘Well, that didn’t work.’ ‘OK, well, we tried this, and we failed miserably.’ And the stories of success are very rare.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Still, hundreds of these Joshua tree seedlings have survived. Knight’s colleague Ryan McRae found one nearby. It’s only a few inches tall, and looks like the top of a baby pineapple. Knight looks up its name, and says it’s called “Lychee.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1984237\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 2560px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-1984237\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/35/2023/09/2023-08-joshuatressjojavedesert-kramirez_59_custom-a8038b813b6ae0c89086f9158f89aaae227e6e4d-scaled.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2560\" height=\"1705\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/09/2023-08-joshuatressjojavedesert-kramirez_59_custom-a8038b813b6ae0c89086f9158f89aaae227e6e4d-scaled.jpg 2560w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/09/2023-08-joshuatressjojavedesert-kramirez_59_custom-a8038b813b6ae0c89086f9158f89aaae227e6e4d-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/09/2023-08-joshuatressjojavedesert-kramirez_59_custom-a8038b813b6ae0c89086f9158f89aaae227e6e4d-1020x679.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/09/2023-08-joshuatressjojavedesert-kramirez_59_custom-a8038b813b6ae0c89086f9158f89aaae227e6e4d-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/09/2023-08-joshuatressjojavedesert-kramirez_59_custom-a8038b813b6ae0c89086f9158f89aaae227e6e4d-768x511.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/09/2023-08-joshuatressjojavedesert-kramirez_59_custom-a8038b813b6ae0c89086f9158f89aaae227e6e4d-1536x1023.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/09/2023-08-joshuatressjojavedesert-kramirez_59_custom-a8038b813b6ae0c89086f9158f89aaae227e6e4d-2048x1364.jpg 2048w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/09/2023-08-joshuatressjojavedesert-kramirez_59_custom-a8038b813b6ae0c89086f9158f89aaae227e6e4d-1920x1279.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2560px) 100vw, 2560px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A surviving Joshua tree inside the Mojave National Preserve. \u003ccite>(Krystal Ramirez/NPR)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>It’s still tiny, and McRae points out one of the huge challenges of restoring a forest with two-inch-tall seedlings. “These Joshua trees only grow about 1.5 to 2 inches per year. So if you can imagine a 10-foot-tall tree or so, you can get an idea of how many years or decades it would take to get to that height.” At a conservative 1.5 inches per year — it would take at least 80 years to return this area back to the way it was before the fire.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We probably won’t see it in any of our lives,” Knight says.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Preparing for the future\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Kelso is an old railroad town in another corner of the park near a giant field of sand dunes. Behind a 1920s schoolhouse, there’s a small beige building with two bright teal doors reading BOYS and GIRLS. There’s no sign from the outside, but the GIRLS room is now a makeshift field lab.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1984238\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 2560px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-1984238\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/35/2023/09/2023-08-joshuatressjojavedesert-kramirez_40_custom-002484d6c789abb2a9ed1eb900b6a035bd37bd13-scaled.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2560\" height=\"1705\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/09/2023-08-joshuatressjojavedesert-kramirez_40_custom-002484d6c789abb2a9ed1eb900b6a035bd37bd13-scaled.jpg 2560w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/09/2023-08-joshuatressjojavedesert-kramirez_40_custom-002484d6c789abb2a9ed1eb900b6a035bd37bd13-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/09/2023-08-joshuatressjojavedesert-kramirez_40_custom-002484d6c789abb2a9ed1eb900b6a035bd37bd13-1020x679.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/09/2023-08-joshuatressjojavedesert-kramirez_40_custom-002484d6c789abb2a9ed1eb900b6a035bd37bd13-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/09/2023-08-joshuatressjojavedesert-kramirez_40_custom-002484d6c789abb2a9ed1eb900b6a035bd37bd13-768x511.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/09/2023-08-joshuatressjojavedesert-kramirez_40_custom-002484d6c789abb2a9ed1eb900b6a035bd37bd13-1536x1023.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/09/2023-08-joshuatressjojavedesert-kramirez_40_custom-002484d6c789abb2a9ed1eb900b6a035bd37bd13-2048x1364.jpg 2048w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/09/2023-08-joshuatressjojavedesert-kramirez_40_custom-002484d6c789abb2a9ed1eb900b6a035bd37bd13-1920x1279.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2560px) 100vw, 2560px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Seed technician Christina Sanchez stands outside the old restroom that’s been converted into a seed lab, behind the historic Kelso schoolhouse. \u003ccite>(Krystal Ramirez/NPR)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“This is our seed lab,” says Christina Sanchez, a seed technician. “This is where we’re sorting all of the Joshua tree seeds, and where we store them before they go to the nursery.” The nursery is a facility near Lake Mead, where rows of pots contain baby Joshua tree sprouts, ready to be transplanted into the wild.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Sanchez pulls over a big bucket, full of cream-colored Joshua tree fruits she and her team have collected. She takes one out and shakes it: “Sounds like a little rattle,” she says. The seeds are about the size of roma tomatoes, but they’re brittle and hard. She breaks one open with a crack, and reveals the black hockey-puck-like seeds inside.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A curious contraption that looks like a cross between an ant farm and a pinball machine hooks up to a shop vac blower. It’s a seed cleaning machine, and when Sanchez switches on the blower, the seeds flutter through the chutes inside.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1984239\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 2560px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-1984239\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/35/2023/09/mojave-fire-trio_custom-0b8a68fcf7b1839732e5970ecf3b645e51c7554e-scaled.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2560\" height=\"1812\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/09/mojave-fire-trio_custom-0b8a68fcf7b1839732e5970ecf3b645e51c7554e-scaled.jpg 2560w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/09/mojave-fire-trio_custom-0b8a68fcf7b1839732e5970ecf3b645e51c7554e-800x566.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/09/mojave-fire-trio_custom-0b8a68fcf7b1839732e5970ecf3b645e51c7554e-1020x722.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/09/mojave-fire-trio_custom-0b8a68fcf7b1839732e5970ecf3b645e51c7554e-160x113.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/09/mojave-fire-trio_custom-0b8a68fcf7b1839732e5970ecf3b645e51c7554e-768x544.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/09/mojave-fire-trio_custom-0b8a68fcf7b1839732e5970ecf3b645e51c7554e-1536x1087.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/09/mojave-fire-trio_custom-0b8a68fcf7b1839732e5970ecf3b645e51c7554e-2048x1449.jpg 2048w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/09/mojave-fire-trio_custom-0b8a68fcf7b1839732e5970ecf3b645e51c7554e-1920x1359.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2560px) 100vw, 2560px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Clockwise from top left: Sanchez opens Joshua tree seed pods. Right: She then separates the seeds with a seed cleaning machine. Bottom left: Sanchez shows a handful of seeds after they have been separated. \u003ccite>(Krystal Ramirez/NPR)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>From here, she’ll dump the viable seeds into big jars, labeled with the collection site, and put them in a big chest freezer. The freezer is already half full of jars brimming with some 300,000 Joshua tree seeds.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“This is the future of the species,” Sanchez says. “This deep freezer here, this is holding our future.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Many of the Joshua tree seedlings planted so far have died, raising the question whether collecting and storing seeds is a gesture of hope.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We’re going to lose a species if we don’t try,” she says. “We just gotta keep trying.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1984240\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 2560px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-1984240\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/35/2023/09/2023-08-joshuatressjojavedesert-kramirez_52_custom-5e07e098f0aa839d06d569bafc0c04cc54a3d7ed-scaled.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2560\" height=\"1705\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/09/2023-08-joshuatressjojavedesert-kramirez_52_custom-5e07e098f0aa839d06d569bafc0c04cc54a3d7ed-scaled.jpg 2560w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/09/2023-08-joshuatressjojavedesert-kramirez_52_custom-5e07e098f0aa839d06d569bafc0c04cc54a3d7ed-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/09/2023-08-joshuatressjojavedesert-kramirez_52_custom-5e07e098f0aa839d06d569bafc0c04cc54a3d7ed-1020x679.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/09/2023-08-joshuatressjojavedesert-kramirez_52_custom-5e07e098f0aa839d06d569bafc0c04cc54a3d7ed-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/09/2023-08-joshuatressjojavedesert-kramirez_52_custom-5e07e098f0aa839d06d569bafc0c04cc54a3d7ed-768x511.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/09/2023-08-joshuatressjojavedesert-kramirez_52_custom-5e07e098f0aa839d06d569bafc0c04cc54a3d7ed-1536x1023.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/09/2023-08-joshuatressjojavedesert-kramirez_52_custom-5e07e098f0aa839d06d569bafc0c04cc54a3d7ed-2048x1364.jpg 2048w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/09/2023-08-joshuatressjojavedesert-kramirez_52_custom-5e07e098f0aa839d06d569bafc0c04cc54a3d7ed-1920x1279.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2560px) 100vw, 2560px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Sanchez stands next to a chest freezer holding a jar of Joshua tree seeds that were harvested prior to the York Fire. The freezer is already half full of jars brimming with roughly 300,000 Joshua tree seeds. \u003ccite>(Krystal Ramirez/NPR)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Debra Hughson acknowledges that the replanting effort is just a “drop in the ocean,” given the massive losses of Joshua trees here in recent years. “That’s a few hundred we’ve managed, in a landscape that had 1.3 million,” she says. “So you can do the math.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Numbers aside, Hughson expresses skepticism that people really have much of a role in “rebuilding” wilderness. “I don’t think that wilderness areas can be built. They can be designated, but nature created it,” she says. “We seem to be capable of destroying it … but we can’t create something that we don’t really even understand.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1984241\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 2560px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-1984241\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/35/2023/09/2023-08-joshuatressjojavedesert-kramirez_11_custom-02457637f193030b8433188b613f4e908e2d1e06-scaled.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2560\" height=\"1705\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/09/2023-08-joshuatressjojavedesert-kramirez_11_custom-02457637f193030b8433188b613f4e908e2d1e06-scaled.jpg 2560w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/09/2023-08-joshuatressjojavedesert-kramirez_11_custom-02457637f193030b8433188b613f4e908e2d1e06-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/09/2023-08-joshuatressjojavedesert-kramirez_11_custom-02457637f193030b8433188b613f4e908e2d1e06-1020x679.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/09/2023-08-joshuatressjojavedesert-kramirez_11_custom-02457637f193030b8433188b613f4e908e2d1e06-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/09/2023-08-joshuatressjojavedesert-kramirez_11_custom-02457637f193030b8433188b613f4e908e2d1e06-768x511.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/09/2023-08-joshuatressjojavedesert-kramirez_11_custom-02457637f193030b8433188b613f4e908e2d1e06-1536x1023.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/09/2023-08-joshuatressjojavedesert-kramirez_11_custom-02457637f193030b8433188b613f4e908e2d1e06-2048x1364.jpg 2048w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/09/2023-08-joshuatressjojavedesert-kramirez_11_custom-02457637f193030b8433188b613f4e908e2d1e06-1920x1279.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2560px) 100vw, 2560px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A Banana yucca sprouts in the burned landscape near Valley View Ranch. \u003ccite>(Krystal Ramirez/NPR)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Even so, the replanting project continues in October. The goal is to get 2,000 more Joshua trees in the ground over the next two years, and as before, \u003ca href=\"https://www.nps.gov/moja/getinvolved/cima-dome-joshua-tree-forest-restoration.htm\">the preserve is relying on wilderness-savvy volunteers\u003c/a>. That human aspect, Hughson says, might be one of the most compelling reasons to do what seems very difficult, if not near impossible, on an ecological scale.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It makes us feel better. You know, psychologically, there were a lot of people that got a lot of good feelings and satisfaction from helping with the Joshua tree planting,” she says. “And to try to help makes you feel better about yourself and more hopeful about the future. And that in itself is a valuable thing.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cdiv class=\"fullattribution\">Copyright 2023 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=In+a+charred+moonscape%2C+a+band+of+hopeful+workers+try+to+save+the+Joshua+tree&utme=8(APIKey)9(MDAxOTAwOTE4MDEyMTkxMDAzNjczZDljZA004)\">\u003c/div>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>\u003cem>“The Country since leaving the Colorado has been a dry rocky sandy Barren desert.”\u003c/em> — Jedediah Smith, 1826.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Early western explorers who ventured into the Mojave Desert, like Jedediah Smith, often mischaracterized it as a barren landscape, devoid of life.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Yet a closer inspection of these sweeping landscapes reveals soil-hugging carpets of springtime flowers, native grasses and fragrant shrubs, alongside the more obvious cacti and succulents.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Where the desert lives up to its stereotype is after a wildfire.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In the shadow of last month’s York Fire in California’s Mojave National Preserve, almost nothing is left amid the rocks and sand, except the charred carcasses of Mojave yuccas, Joshua trees, and chollas. The soil is a mottled brown and black, and some plants have been reduced to mere silhouettes of char on the ground.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1984232\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 2560px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-1984232\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/35/2023/09/mojave-fire-duo-update_custom-a3c213912e6160eaecee2d97b08fdc7b6034e2bc-scaled.jpg\" alt=\"Two photos side-by-side,burnt desert plants in an arid landscape with blue skies behind and hills on the horizon in the left photo.\" width=\"2560\" height=\"1901\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/09/mojave-fire-duo-update_custom-a3c213912e6160eaecee2d97b08fdc7b6034e2bc-scaled.jpg 2560w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/09/mojave-fire-duo-update_custom-a3c213912e6160eaecee2d97b08fdc7b6034e2bc-800x594.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/09/mojave-fire-duo-update_custom-a3c213912e6160eaecee2d97b08fdc7b6034e2bc-1020x757.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/09/mojave-fire-duo-update_custom-a3c213912e6160eaecee2d97b08fdc7b6034e2bc-160x119.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/09/mojave-fire-duo-update_custom-a3c213912e6160eaecee2d97b08fdc7b6034e2bc-768x570.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/09/mojave-fire-duo-update_custom-a3c213912e6160eaecee2d97b08fdc7b6034e2bc-1536x1141.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/09/mojave-fire-duo-update_custom-a3c213912e6160eaecee2d97b08fdc7b6034e2bc-2048x1521.jpg 2048w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/09/mojave-fire-duo-update_custom-a3c213912e6160eaecee2d97b08fdc7b6034e2bc-1920x1426.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2560px) 100vw, 2560px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A scorched Joshua tree (left) and a burned barrel cactus are remnants of the York Fire. \u003ccite>(Krystal Ramirez/NPR)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>The moonscape is the result of a fire that burned quickly and widely, engulfing roughly 130 square miles of the preserve — including picturesque Caruthers Canyon, a boulder-strewn spot popular with campers.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Caruthers Canyon is the prettiest place we had. It was a beautiful little pinyon-juniper forest up there,” says Debra Hughson, who is the preserve’s deputy superintendent. “When the pinyon-juniper burns, it doesn’t come back. Not in my lifetime. Not in your lifetime. Maybe never.”\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>There may be no going back\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>This latest wildfire comes as a reminder of the unpredictable future facing some of the desert’s most iconic residents. Warmer, drier temperatures are already stressing the preserve’s spindly Joshua trees. Models predict those warming trends will leave Joshua trees with fewer suitable places to live. Scroll forward in time, Hughson says, and their range shrinks: “It melts like an ice cube on a hot sidewalk.” On top of that, in recent years wide-ranging wildfires are also pushing the succulents into greater peril.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“They’re already living on the edge,” Hughson says. “What we’re doing here globally is we’re cranking up the temperature, and here we’re also cranking down the rainfall, the precipitation.” Joshua trees, she explains, are having a hard time keeping up with such swift climate changes. “Then you get a major stressor like this, that just erases the chalkboard.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1984233\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 2560px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-1984233\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/35/2023/09/2023-08-joshuatressjojavedesert-kramirez_06_custom-1bfcaa4dc80a136adcb22d55f96c66e6c9aa9524-scaled.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2560\" height=\"1705\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/09/2023-08-joshuatressjojavedesert-kramirez_06_custom-1bfcaa4dc80a136adcb22d55f96c66e6c9aa9524-scaled.jpg 2560w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/09/2023-08-joshuatressjojavedesert-kramirez_06_custom-1bfcaa4dc80a136adcb22d55f96c66e6c9aa9524-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/09/2023-08-joshuatressjojavedesert-kramirez_06_custom-1bfcaa4dc80a136adcb22d55f96c66e6c9aa9524-1020x679.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/09/2023-08-joshuatressjojavedesert-kramirez_06_custom-1bfcaa4dc80a136adcb22d55f96c66e6c9aa9524-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/09/2023-08-joshuatressjojavedesert-kramirez_06_custom-1bfcaa4dc80a136adcb22d55f96c66e6c9aa9524-768x511.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/09/2023-08-joshuatressjojavedesert-kramirez_06_custom-1bfcaa4dc80a136adcb22d55f96c66e6c9aa9524-1536x1023.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/09/2023-08-joshuatressjojavedesert-kramirez_06_custom-1bfcaa4dc80a136adcb22d55f96c66e6c9aa9524-2048x1364.jpg 2048w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/09/2023-08-joshuatressjojavedesert-kramirez_06_custom-1bfcaa4dc80a136adcb22d55f96c66e6c9aa9524-1920x1279.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2560px) 100vw, 2560px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Debra Hughson is the deputy superintendent at Mojave National Preserve. She says Joshua trees are struggling to keep up with such swift climate changes. \u003ccite>(Krystal Ramirez/NPR)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>What she means is the park’s dense Joshua tree forests may never come back after a fire. A grassy savannah might rise up to replace them, with a few Joshua trees scattered throughout as a reminder of what once was.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Nowhere is that potential future on greater display than along Morning Star Mine Road, which cuts across the northern reaches of the preserve. On one side of the road there is a Joshua tree forest so dense it looks like a green wall at a distance, with a rich understory of drab greenish-gray bushes. On the other side there’s a graveyard of blackened Joshua trees with sun-bleached buds. The ground is mostly bare, aside from patches of grass, and the color palette is black, white and shades of tan.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1984234\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 2560px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-1984234\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/35/2023/09/2023-08-joshuatressjojavedesert-kramirez_09_custom-6507473b7144787a889fad9d2f2a6b59823c0e74-scaled.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2560\" height=\"1705\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/09/2023-08-joshuatressjojavedesert-kramirez_09_custom-6507473b7144787a889fad9d2f2a6b59823c0e74-scaled.jpg 2560w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/09/2023-08-joshuatressjojavedesert-kramirez_09_custom-6507473b7144787a889fad9d2f2a6b59823c0e74-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/09/2023-08-joshuatressjojavedesert-kramirez_09_custom-6507473b7144787a889fad9d2f2a6b59823c0e74-1020x679.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/09/2023-08-joshuatressjojavedesert-kramirez_09_custom-6507473b7144787a889fad9d2f2a6b59823c0e74-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/09/2023-08-joshuatressjojavedesert-kramirez_09_custom-6507473b7144787a889fad9d2f2a6b59823c0e74-768x511.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/09/2023-08-joshuatressjojavedesert-kramirez_09_custom-6507473b7144787a889fad9d2f2a6b59823c0e74-1536x1023.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/09/2023-08-joshuatressjojavedesert-kramirez_09_custom-6507473b7144787a889fad9d2f2a6b59823c0e74-2048x1364.jpg 2048w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/09/2023-08-joshuatressjojavedesert-kramirez_09_custom-6507473b7144787a889fad9d2f2a6b59823c0e74-1920x1279.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2560px) 100vw, 2560px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Plant remains hang over Valley View Ranch, one of the sites that burned in the 2020 Dome Fire at Mojave National Preserve. \u003ccite>(Krystal Ramirez/NPR)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>The road was a firebreak during the 2020 Dome Fire. Flames destroyed an estimated 1.3 million Joshua trees on Cima Dome, an area that was once the park’s grandest example of dense Joshua tree woodland. The area’s relatively high elevation was supposed to serve as a sort of sanctuary — a climate refuge where Joshua trees could continue to thrive amid hotter, drier conditions elsewhere in their range. Then, the fire came – an unexpected destabilizing force that casts that long-term trajectory into question.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Hughson trained as a geologist. She talks about the future of the Joshua tree and what might happen at Cima Dome as if she still assesses these seismic ecological changes at the tempo of geologic time. “In the end,” she says, “the desert is going to tell us what it’s going to be and it’s going to show us what it’s going to be.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Replanting hope in the desert\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Scientists are not waiting to see what the desert becomes. They’re actively intervening with an ambitious years-long project to replant some 4,000 Joshua trees at Cima Dome.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Biological science technician Erin Knight walks through a graveyard of dead Joshua trees, near the remains of an old cattle operation called Valley View Ranch. Some of the plants have toppled to the ground. Others still stand, but they’re falling to pieces; the branches that once stretched up to the sky now dangle and sway eerily in the desert wind.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1984235\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 2560px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-1984235\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/35/2023/09/2023-08-joshuatressjojavedesert-kramirez_05_custom-ddf67a8272af1d1f6982f41a639e917fbd5b81b8-scaled.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2560\" height=\"1705\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/09/2023-08-joshuatressjojavedesert-kramirez_05_custom-ddf67a8272af1d1f6982f41a639e917fbd5b81b8-scaled.jpg 2560w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/09/2023-08-joshuatressjojavedesert-kramirez_05_custom-ddf67a8272af1d1f6982f41a639e917fbd5b81b8-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/09/2023-08-joshuatressjojavedesert-kramirez_05_custom-ddf67a8272af1d1f6982f41a639e917fbd5b81b8-1020x679.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/09/2023-08-joshuatressjojavedesert-kramirez_05_custom-ddf67a8272af1d1f6982f41a639e917fbd5b81b8-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/09/2023-08-joshuatressjojavedesert-kramirez_05_custom-ddf67a8272af1d1f6982f41a639e917fbd5b81b8-768x511.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/09/2023-08-joshuatressjojavedesert-kramirez_05_custom-ddf67a8272af1d1f6982f41a639e917fbd5b81b8-1536x1023.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/09/2023-08-joshuatressjojavedesert-kramirez_05_custom-ddf67a8272af1d1f6982f41a639e917fbd5b81b8-2048x1364.jpg 2048w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/09/2023-08-joshuatressjojavedesert-kramirez_05_custom-ddf67a8272af1d1f6982f41a639e917fbd5b81b8-1920x1279.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2560px) 100vw, 2560px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Erin Knight is a biological science technician at the Mojave National Preserve. \u003ccite>(Krystal Ramirez/NPR)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“Kind of our own little chandelier here in the desert,” Knight jokes.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Small chicken wire cages are scattered throughout the grove. This is where volunteers have planted baby Joshua trees, in hopes of resurrecting the century-old giants that perished here. Knight crouches down near one of the cages, and checks a numbered tag.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>She says this seedling was planted on Nov. 6 last year, and a volunteer named it Bratislava — the capital of Slovakia. Unfortunately, this one’s dead, as are many others at this site. In fact, in the two years this project’s been underway, 80% of the roughly 1,900 Joshua trees planted in the burn scar of the Dome Fire have died.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1984230\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 2560px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-1984230\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/35/2023/09/2023-08-joshuatressjojavedesert-kramirez_17-edit_custom-bbcb6de0b000d7a4b78bf4dfdc7a988596b6668a-scaled.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2560\" height=\"1705\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/09/2023-08-joshuatressjojavedesert-kramirez_17-edit_custom-bbcb6de0b000d7a4b78bf4dfdc7a988596b6668a-scaled.jpg 2560w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/09/2023-08-joshuatressjojavedesert-kramirez_17-edit_custom-bbcb6de0b000d7a4b78bf4dfdc7a988596b6668a-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/09/2023-08-joshuatressjojavedesert-kramirez_17-edit_custom-bbcb6de0b000d7a4b78bf4dfdc7a988596b6668a-1020x679.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/09/2023-08-joshuatressjojavedesert-kramirez_17-edit_custom-bbcb6de0b000d7a4b78bf4dfdc7a988596b6668a-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/09/2023-08-joshuatressjojavedesert-kramirez_17-edit_custom-bbcb6de0b000d7a4b78bf4dfdc7a988596b6668a-768x511.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/09/2023-08-joshuatressjojavedesert-kramirez_17-edit_custom-bbcb6de0b000d7a4b78bf4dfdc7a988596b6668a-1536x1023.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/09/2023-08-joshuatressjojavedesert-kramirez_17-edit_custom-bbcb6de0b000d7a4b78bf4dfdc7a988596b6668a-2048x1364.jpg 2048w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/09/2023-08-joshuatressjojavedesert-kramirez_17-edit_custom-bbcb6de0b000d7a4b78bf4dfdc7a988596b6668a-1920x1279.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2560px) 100vw, 2560px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Charred carcasses of Mojave yuccas, Joshua trees and chollas are seen at the edge of the York Fire in San Bernardino County, California, inside Mojave National Preserve. \u003ccite>(Krystal Ramirez/NPR)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“Unfortunately, restoring Joshua trees is more of an art than a science, and sometimes it works out really well and sometimes it doesn’t,” Hughson says. Some of the baby Joshua trees have been eaten, especially those without a cage. Others die of thirst, though volunteers and scientists at the preserve make their best efforts to water the baby seedlings.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“There’s been hundreds and hundreds of volunteers that have participated. We even had a camel train packing water into these,” Hughson says. Restoration work in the desert, she explains, is not for the faint of heart.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1984236\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 2560px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-1984236\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/35/2023/09/2023-08-joshuatressjojavedesert-kramirez_14_custom-3ed023c31490c2b4a8b0f4afe63ddd822f9ecd46-scaled.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2560\" height=\"1705\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/09/2023-08-joshuatressjojavedesert-kramirez_14_custom-3ed023c31490c2b4a8b0f4afe63ddd822f9ecd46-scaled.jpg 2560w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/09/2023-08-joshuatressjojavedesert-kramirez_14_custom-3ed023c31490c2b4a8b0f4afe63ddd822f9ecd46-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/09/2023-08-joshuatressjojavedesert-kramirez_14_custom-3ed023c31490c2b4a8b0f4afe63ddd822f9ecd46-1020x679.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/09/2023-08-joshuatressjojavedesert-kramirez_14_custom-3ed023c31490c2b4a8b0f4afe63ddd822f9ecd46-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/09/2023-08-joshuatressjojavedesert-kramirez_14_custom-3ed023c31490c2b4a8b0f4afe63ddd822f9ecd46-768x511.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/09/2023-08-joshuatressjojavedesert-kramirez_14_custom-3ed023c31490c2b4a8b0f4afe63ddd822f9ecd46-1536x1023.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/09/2023-08-joshuatressjojavedesert-kramirez_14_custom-3ed023c31490c2b4a8b0f4afe63ddd822f9ecd46-2048x1364.jpg 2048w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/09/2023-08-joshuatressjojavedesert-kramirez_14_custom-3ed023c31490c2b4a8b0f4afe63ddd822f9ecd46-1920x1279.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2560px) 100vw, 2560px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Supervisory park ranger Sierra Willoughby waters a baby Joshua tree, named ‘Lychee,’ inside its protective cage. \u003ccite>(Krystal Ramirez/NPR)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“It’s a tale of failed experiments,” Hughson says. “Go look at the literature on restoration in the desert, especially the Mojave Desert. And OK, ‘Well, this didn’t work.’ Another paper on, ‘Well, that didn’t work.’ ‘OK, well, we tried this, and we failed miserably.’ And the stories of success are very rare.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Still, hundreds of these Joshua tree seedlings have survived. Knight’s colleague Ryan McRae found one nearby. It’s only a few inches tall, and looks like the top of a baby pineapple. Knight looks up its name, and says it’s called “Lychee.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1984237\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 2560px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-1984237\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/35/2023/09/2023-08-joshuatressjojavedesert-kramirez_59_custom-a8038b813b6ae0c89086f9158f89aaae227e6e4d-scaled.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2560\" height=\"1705\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/09/2023-08-joshuatressjojavedesert-kramirez_59_custom-a8038b813b6ae0c89086f9158f89aaae227e6e4d-scaled.jpg 2560w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/09/2023-08-joshuatressjojavedesert-kramirez_59_custom-a8038b813b6ae0c89086f9158f89aaae227e6e4d-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/09/2023-08-joshuatressjojavedesert-kramirez_59_custom-a8038b813b6ae0c89086f9158f89aaae227e6e4d-1020x679.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/09/2023-08-joshuatressjojavedesert-kramirez_59_custom-a8038b813b6ae0c89086f9158f89aaae227e6e4d-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/09/2023-08-joshuatressjojavedesert-kramirez_59_custom-a8038b813b6ae0c89086f9158f89aaae227e6e4d-768x511.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/09/2023-08-joshuatressjojavedesert-kramirez_59_custom-a8038b813b6ae0c89086f9158f89aaae227e6e4d-1536x1023.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/09/2023-08-joshuatressjojavedesert-kramirez_59_custom-a8038b813b6ae0c89086f9158f89aaae227e6e4d-2048x1364.jpg 2048w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/09/2023-08-joshuatressjojavedesert-kramirez_59_custom-a8038b813b6ae0c89086f9158f89aaae227e6e4d-1920x1279.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2560px) 100vw, 2560px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A surviving Joshua tree inside the Mojave National Preserve. \u003ccite>(Krystal Ramirez/NPR)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>It’s still tiny, and McRae points out one of the huge challenges of restoring a forest with two-inch-tall seedlings. “These Joshua trees only grow about 1.5 to 2 inches per year. So if you can imagine a 10-foot-tall tree or so, you can get an idea of how many years or decades it would take to get to that height.” At a conservative 1.5 inches per year — it would take at least 80 years to return this area back to the way it was before the fire.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We probably won’t see it in any of our lives,” Knight says.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Preparing for the future\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Kelso is an old railroad town in another corner of the park near a giant field of sand dunes. Behind a 1920s schoolhouse, there’s a small beige building with two bright teal doors reading BOYS and GIRLS. There’s no sign from the outside, but the GIRLS room is now a makeshift field lab.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1984238\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 2560px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-1984238\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/35/2023/09/2023-08-joshuatressjojavedesert-kramirez_40_custom-002484d6c789abb2a9ed1eb900b6a035bd37bd13-scaled.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2560\" height=\"1705\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/09/2023-08-joshuatressjojavedesert-kramirez_40_custom-002484d6c789abb2a9ed1eb900b6a035bd37bd13-scaled.jpg 2560w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/09/2023-08-joshuatressjojavedesert-kramirez_40_custom-002484d6c789abb2a9ed1eb900b6a035bd37bd13-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/09/2023-08-joshuatressjojavedesert-kramirez_40_custom-002484d6c789abb2a9ed1eb900b6a035bd37bd13-1020x679.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/09/2023-08-joshuatressjojavedesert-kramirez_40_custom-002484d6c789abb2a9ed1eb900b6a035bd37bd13-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/09/2023-08-joshuatressjojavedesert-kramirez_40_custom-002484d6c789abb2a9ed1eb900b6a035bd37bd13-768x511.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/09/2023-08-joshuatressjojavedesert-kramirez_40_custom-002484d6c789abb2a9ed1eb900b6a035bd37bd13-1536x1023.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/09/2023-08-joshuatressjojavedesert-kramirez_40_custom-002484d6c789abb2a9ed1eb900b6a035bd37bd13-2048x1364.jpg 2048w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/09/2023-08-joshuatressjojavedesert-kramirez_40_custom-002484d6c789abb2a9ed1eb900b6a035bd37bd13-1920x1279.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2560px) 100vw, 2560px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Seed technician Christina Sanchez stands outside the old restroom that’s been converted into a seed lab, behind the historic Kelso schoolhouse. \u003ccite>(Krystal Ramirez/NPR)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“This is our seed lab,” says Christina Sanchez, a seed technician. “This is where we’re sorting all of the Joshua tree seeds, and where we store them before they go to the nursery.” The nursery is a facility near Lake Mead, where rows of pots contain baby Joshua tree sprouts, ready to be transplanted into the wild.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Sanchez pulls over a big bucket, full of cream-colored Joshua tree fruits she and her team have collected. She takes one out and shakes it: “Sounds like a little rattle,” she says. The seeds are about the size of roma tomatoes, but they’re brittle and hard. She breaks one open with a crack, and reveals the black hockey-puck-like seeds inside.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A curious contraption that looks like a cross between an ant farm and a pinball machine hooks up to a shop vac blower. It’s a seed cleaning machine, and when Sanchez switches on the blower, the seeds flutter through the chutes inside.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1984239\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 2560px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-1984239\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/35/2023/09/mojave-fire-trio_custom-0b8a68fcf7b1839732e5970ecf3b645e51c7554e-scaled.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2560\" height=\"1812\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/09/mojave-fire-trio_custom-0b8a68fcf7b1839732e5970ecf3b645e51c7554e-scaled.jpg 2560w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/09/mojave-fire-trio_custom-0b8a68fcf7b1839732e5970ecf3b645e51c7554e-800x566.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/09/mojave-fire-trio_custom-0b8a68fcf7b1839732e5970ecf3b645e51c7554e-1020x722.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/09/mojave-fire-trio_custom-0b8a68fcf7b1839732e5970ecf3b645e51c7554e-160x113.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/09/mojave-fire-trio_custom-0b8a68fcf7b1839732e5970ecf3b645e51c7554e-768x544.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/09/mojave-fire-trio_custom-0b8a68fcf7b1839732e5970ecf3b645e51c7554e-1536x1087.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/09/mojave-fire-trio_custom-0b8a68fcf7b1839732e5970ecf3b645e51c7554e-2048x1449.jpg 2048w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/09/mojave-fire-trio_custom-0b8a68fcf7b1839732e5970ecf3b645e51c7554e-1920x1359.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2560px) 100vw, 2560px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Clockwise from top left: Sanchez opens Joshua tree seed pods. Right: She then separates the seeds with a seed cleaning machine. Bottom left: Sanchez shows a handful of seeds after they have been separated. \u003ccite>(Krystal Ramirez/NPR)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>From here, she’ll dump the viable seeds into big jars, labeled with the collection site, and put them in a big chest freezer. The freezer is already half full of jars brimming with some 300,000 Joshua tree seeds.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“This is the future of the species,” Sanchez says. “This deep freezer here, this is holding our future.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Many of the Joshua tree seedlings planted so far have died, raising the question whether collecting and storing seeds is a gesture of hope.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We’re going to lose a species if we don’t try,” she says. “We just gotta keep trying.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1984240\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 2560px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-1984240\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/35/2023/09/2023-08-joshuatressjojavedesert-kramirez_52_custom-5e07e098f0aa839d06d569bafc0c04cc54a3d7ed-scaled.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2560\" height=\"1705\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/09/2023-08-joshuatressjojavedesert-kramirez_52_custom-5e07e098f0aa839d06d569bafc0c04cc54a3d7ed-scaled.jpg 2560w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/09/2023-08-joshuatressjojavedesert-kramirez_52_custom-5e07e098f0aa839d06d569bafc0c04cc54a3d7ed-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/09/2023-08-joshuatressjojavedesert-kramirez_52_custom-5e07e098f0aa839d06d569bafc0c04cc54a3d7ed-1020x679.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/09/2023-08-joshuatressjojavedesert-kramirez_52_custom-5e07e098f0aa839d06d569bafc0c04cc54a3d7ed-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/09/2023-08-joshuatressjojavedesert-kramirez_52_custom-5e07e098f0aa839d06d569bafc0c04cc54a3d7ed-768x511.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/09/2023-08-joshuatressjojavedesert-kramirez_52_custom-5e07e098f0aa839d06d569bafc0c04cc54a3d7ed-1536x1023.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/09/2023-08-joshuatressjojavedesert-kramirez_52_custom-5e07e098f0aa839d06d569bafc0c04cc54a3d7ed-2048x1364.jpg 2048w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/09/2023-08-joshuatressjojavedesert-kramirez_52_custom-5e07e098f0aa839d06d569bafc0c04cc54a3d7ed-1920x1279.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2560px) 100vw, 2560px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Sanchez stands next to a chest freezer holding a jar of Joshua tree seeds that were harvested prior to the York Fire. The freezer is already half full of jars brimming with roughly 300,000 Joshua tree seeds. \u003ccite>(Krystal Ramirez/NPR)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Debra Hughson acknowledges that the replanting effort is just a “drop in the ocean,” given the massive losses of Joshua trees here in recent years. “That’s a few hundred we’ve managed, in a landscape that had 1.3 million,” she says. “So you can do the math.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Numbers aside, Hughson expresses skepticism that people really have much of a role in “rebuilding” wilderness. “I don’t think that wilderness areas can be built. They can be designated, but nature created it,” she says. “We seem to be capable of destroying it … but we can’t create something that we don’t really even understand.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1984241\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 2560px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-1984241\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/35/2023/09/2023-08-joshuatressjojavedesert-kramirez_11_custom-02457637f193030b8433188b613f4e908e2d1e06-scaled.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2560\" height=\"1705\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/09/2023-08-joshuatressjojavedesert-kramirez_11_custom-02457637f193030b8433188b613f4e908e2d1e06-scaled.jpg 2560w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/09/2023-08-joshuatressjojavedesert-kramirez_11_custom-02457637f193030b8433188b613f4e908e2d1e06-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/09/2023-08-joshuatressjojavedesert-kramirez_11_custom-02457637f193030b8433188b613f4e908e2d1e06-1020x679.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/09/2023-08-joshuatressjojavedesert-kramirez_11_custom-02457637f193030b8433188b613f4e908e2d1e06-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/09/2023-08-joshuatressjojavedesert-kramirez_11_custom-02457637f193030b8433188b613f4e908e2d1e06-768x511.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/09/2023-08-joshuatressjojavedesert-kramirez_11_custom-02457637f193030b8433188b613f4e908e2d1e06-1536x1023.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/09/2023-08-joshuatressjojavedesert-kramirez_11_custom-02457637f193030b8433188b613f4e908e2d1e06-2048x1364.jpg 2048w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/09/2023-08-joshuatressjojavedesert-kramirez_11_custom-02457637f193030b8433188b613f4e908e2d1e06-1920x1279.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2560px) 100vw, 2560px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A Banana yucca sprouts in the burned landscape near Valley View Ranch. \u003ccite>(Krystal Ramirez/NPR)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Even so, the replanting project continues in October. The goal is to get 2,000 more Joshua trees in the ground over the next two years, and as before, \u003ca href=\"https://www.nps.gov/moja/getinvolved/cima-dome-joshua-tree-forest-restoration.htm\">the preserve is relying on wilderness-savvy volunteers\u003c/a>. That human aspect, Hughson says, might be one of the most compelling reasons to do what seems very difficult, if not near impossible, on an ecological scale.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It makes us feel better. You know, psychologically, there were a lot of people that got a lot of good feelings and satisfaction from helping with the Joshua tree planting,” she says. “And to try to help makes you feel better about yourself and more hopeful about the future. And that in itself is a valuable thing.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cdiv class=\"fullattribution\">Copyright 2023 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=In+a+charred+moonscape%2C+a+band+of+hopeful+workers+try+to+save+the+Joshua+tree&utme=8(APIKey)9(MDAxOTAwOTE4MDEyMTkxMDAzNjczZDljZA004)\">\u003c/div>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"title": "Ford, General Motors OK California's Plan to Ban New Diesel Big Rig Sales",
"headTitle": "Ford, General Motors OK California’s Plan to Ban New Diesel Big Rig Sales | KQED",
"content": "\u003cp>Ford, General Motors and several other large-truck manufacturers announced an agreement today with California over its clean truck rules, including a ban on the sale of new diesel big rigs by 2036, which the state passed in an attempt to fight air pollution and climate change.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Carbon pollution wafting from cars and trucks remains the state’s largest source of planet-warming emissions, and transportation has been one of the trickiest sectors for the state to decarbonize.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The state’s powerful Air Resources Board solidified two nation-leading clean truck rules this year. The new agreement is an industry stamp of approval on those plans.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Last March, the Biden administration approved California’s plan to require truck makers to ramp up the sale of electric, heavy-duty trucks by 2035. Next year, the state will require truck manufacturers to begin to sell more and more electric models. By 2045, most heavy-duty vehicles on the road must be electric.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Then in April, California banned the sale of combustion engine trucks by 2036.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Those rules are likely to face legal challenges from Republican-led states or industry groups, but the Truck and Engine Manufacturers Association agreed to follow them anyway. And the large-truck manufacturers say they are committed to electrification.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Gov. Gavin Newsom applauded the agreement in a statement that said: “Today, truck manufacturers join our urgent efforts to slash air pollution, showing the rest of the country that we can both cut dangerous pollution and build the economy of the future.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[pullquote size=\"medium\" align=\"right\" citation=\"Gov. Gavin Newsom\"]‘Today, truck manufacturers join our urgent efforts to slash air pollution, showing the rest of the country that we can both cut dangerous pollution and build the economy of the future.’[/pullquote]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Jed Mandel, president of the manufacturing association, said in a statement that the agreement is evidence of the group’s “commitment to reducing emissions and to a zero-emissions commercial vehicle future.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>He touted it as an example of industry and California’s air regulators working together, although truck makers had previously fought these clean truck rules.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Mandel’s manufacturers association and several truck companies, including Volvo, Daimler Truck, Volkswagen and PACCAR, had opposed clean truck rules on the federal and state level while they were publicly promoting zero-emissions fleets, \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2022/12/08/1141303693/truck-makers-lobby-to-weaken-u-s-climate-policies-report-finds\">KQED’s Laura Klivans reported\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Sasan Sadaat, a senior researcher and policy analyst with the environmental law organization Earth Justice, said the manufacturing association has for years actively fought against clean trucks in California and across the country.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“At every turn, whether it’s the Advanced Clean Truck rule, the Advanced Clean Fleets rule, the Heavy Duty NOx rule, challenging California’s authority to pass its own regulations, countering the stringency of EPA’s regulations, they’ve been the greatest barrier to more ambitious rules in slashing air pollution from trucks.” he said. “That’s their record.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As part of the new agreement, California will adopt some of the federal Environmental Protection Agency’s less-strict rules on nitrogen oxide emissions and provide several years of lead time before passing new regulations.[aside label='More on Climate Change' tag='climate-change']“Through this agreement, we have aligned on a single nationwide nitrogen oxide emissions standard, secured needed lead time and stability for manufacturers, and agreed on regulatory changes that will ensure continued availability of commercial vehicles,” Mandel said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The American Trucking Associations has said that California’s regulations are too costly and will be burdensome for businesses to adopt.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The industry group did not appear to approve of the agreement and issued a statement Thursday that said that while it has long advocated for harmonious regulations between California and the federal government, “the trucking industry shouldn’t be strong armed by the government into an agreement with such terms.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Our association represents motor carrier members — the paying customers who will inherit the costs of this agreement — and we will not roll over nor relinquish our right to litigate with any party when our interests are threatened,” the statement said. “It is clear that America has lost its way when the government bullies the private sector to succumb to unachievable timelines, targets and technologies.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The pact will have national implications, as other states typically follow California’s rules. Several other states adopted some of California’s earlier truck rules, representing more than one-fifth of the U.S. truck market.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The federal government sets emissions standards by law, but the EPA has allowed California to pass tighter rules on cars and trucks that the federal government eventually adopts.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n",
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"excerpt": "The Truck and Engine Manufacturers Association once opposed the state’s clean truck rules, including a ban on the sale of new diesel big rigs by 2036. Now, it will follow them.",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>Ford, General Motors and several other large-truck manufacturers announced an agreement today with California over its clean truck rules, including a ban on the sale of new diesel big rigs by 2036, which the state passed in an attempt to fight air pollution and climate change.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Carbon pollution wafting from cars and trucks remains the state’s largest source of planet-warming emissions, and transportation has been one of the trickiest sectors for the state to decarbonize.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The state’s powerful Air Resources Board solidified two nation-leading clean truck rules this year. The new agreement is an industry stamp of approval on those plans.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Last March, the Biden administration approved California’s plan to require truck makers to ramp up the sale of electric, heavy-duty trucks by 2035. Next year, the state will require truck manufacturers to begin to sell more and more electric models. By 2045, most heavy-duty vehicles on the road must be electric.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Then in April, California banned the sale of combustion engine trucks by 2036.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Those rules are likely to face legal challenges from Republican-led states or industry groups, but the Truck and Engine Manufacturers Association agreed to follow them anyway. And the large-truck manufacturers say they are committed to electrification.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Gov. Gavin Newsom applauded the agreement in a statement that said: “Today, truck manufacturers join our urgent efforts to slash air pollution, showing the rest of the country that we can both cut dangerous pollution and build the economy of the future.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Jed Mandel, president of the manufacturing association, said in a statement that the agreement is evidence of the group’s “commitment to reducing emissions and to a zero-emissions commercial vehicle future.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>He touted it as an example of industry and California’s air regulators working together, although truck makers had previously fought these clean truck rules.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Mandel’s manufacturers association and several truck companies, including Volvo, Daimler Truck, Volkswagen and PACCAR, had opposed clean truck rules on the federal and state level while they were publicly promoting zero-emissions fleets, \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2022/12/08/1141303693/truck-makers-lobby-to-weaken-u-s-climate-policies-report-finds\">KQED’s Laura Klivans reported\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Sasan Sadaat, a senior researcher and policy analyst with the environmental law organization Earth Justice, said the manufacturing association has for years actively fought against clean trucks in California and across the country.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“At every turn, whether it’s the Advanced Clean Truck rule, the Advanced Clean Fleets rule, the Heavy Duty NOx rule, challenging California’s authority to pass its own regulations, countering the stringency of EPA’s regulations, they’ve been the greatest barrier to more ambitious rules in slashing air pollution from trucks.” he said. “That’s their record.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As part of the new agreement, California will adopt some of the federal Environmental Protection Agency’s less-strict rules on nitrogen oxide emissions and provide several years of lead time before passing new regulations.\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>“Through this agreement, we have aligned on a single nationwide nitrogen oxide emissions standard, secured needed lead time and stability for manufacturers, and agreed on regulatory changes that will ensure continued availability of commercial vehicles,” Mandel said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The American Trucking Associations has said that California’s regulations are too costly and will be burdensome for businesses to adopt.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The industry group did not appear to approve of the agreement and issued a statement Thursday that said that while it has long advocated for harmonious regulations between California and the federal government, “the trucking industry shouldn’t be strong armed by the government into an agreement with such terms.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Our association represents motor carrier members — the paying customers who will inherit the costs of this agreement — and we will not roll over nor relinquish our right to litigate with any party when our interests are threatened,” the statement said. “It is clear that America has lost its way when the government bullies the private sector to succumb to unachievable timelines, targets and technologies.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The pact will have national implications, as other states typically follow California’s rules. Several other states adopted some of California’s earlier truck rules, representing more than one-fifth of the U.S. truck market.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The federal government sets emissions standards by law, but the EPA has allowed California to pass tighter rules on cars and trucks that the federal government eventually adopts.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"title": "California Lawmakers Wage Delta Water War With Newsom",
"headTitle": "California Lawmakers Wage Delta Water War With Newsom | KQED",
"content": "\u003cp>Amping up their concerns as a deadline looms, key California legislators today escalated their pushback on Gov. Gavin Newsom’s efforts to streamline the Delta water tunnel and other infrastructure projects.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The stalemate could become a critical lever while lawmakers haggle with Newsom over the 2023–2024 budget leading up to his \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/explainers/california-budget-2023/\">June 27 deadline for approving the spending plan\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A bipartisan group of \u003ca href=\"https://twitter.com/AsmVillapudua/status/1671286825888129027?s=20\">10 lawmakers from the Assembly and the Senate signed on to a letter today\u003c/a> urging Newsom and legislative leaders to stall Newsom’s package of infrastructure bills “for as long as \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/environment/2022/06/california-water-delta-tunnel/\">the Delta Conveyance Project\u003c/a> remains a part of the proposal.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The legislators said Newsom’s proposals — which would overhaul permitting and litigation for expansive projects like the controversial tunnel plan to replumb the Delta and send more water south — could cause environmental harm.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Rather than taking up a few blocks like a stadium, the tunnel would span multiple counties and impose water and air quality concerns throughout the region. If the project is litigated under (the California Environmental Quality Act), the process should not be rushed,” said the letter, spearheaded by Assemblymember \u003ca href=\"https://a13.asmdc.org/\">Carlos Villapudua\u003c/a>, a Democrat from Stockton and a member of the Delta Caucus.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In mid-May, Newsom unveiled an executive order and package of wide-ranging proposals to streamline state approval of major infrastructure projects, \u003ca href=\"https://www.gov.ca.gov/2023/05/19/governor-newsom-unveils-new-proposals-to-build-californias-clean-future-faster/\">such as bridges, reservoirs, semiconductor plants and the Delta tunnel\u003c/a>. Some of his proposals aim to keep transportation, energy and water projects from stalling under legal challenges related to the \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/environment/2023/05/gavin-newsom-ceqa-reform/\">California Environmental Quality Act\u003c/a> and make the state more appealing for federal funding.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The fight pits Newsom against lawmakers who say they feel “jammed” by Newsom’s use of the budget process to fast-track the bills. Environmental groups and salmon fishermen are squaring off against building and labor groups. And Delta counties are once again waging \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/environment/2022/06/california-water-delta-tunnel/\">a decades-long battle against a massive water project\u003c/a> that would reshape their region.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The Newsom administration says the changes are urgent because California needs to more rapidly build water and energy projects to prepare for climate change.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The proposals that the governor brings forward we don’t bring forward lightly into the budget process, but because we have to take action now,” California Natural Resources Secretary Wade Crowfoot said at a joint hearing of the Assembly Judiciary and Natural Resources committees in early June. “We need to be in a dead sprint implementing what we call our water supply strategy for a hotter, drier future.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Newsom’s Deputy Communications Director Alex Stack said the package “ensures California would still have the same nation-leading environmental protections while also cutting unnecessary red tape that has stalled key climate projects for years.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The final budget is not contingent on Newsom’s infrastructure proposals, and they could be enacted after it’s signed. But experts suspect they will be used as a political lever while negotiations hashing out the budget continue through the end of this month.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Introduced as budget trailer bills less than a month before the \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/explainers/california-budget-2023/\">Legislature’s June 15 budget deadline\u003c/a>, Newsom’s proposals bypass the typical legislative policy committee lineup and give lawmakers and the public less opportunity for deliberation or amendments.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It feels disrespectful to the process, to all the work that we’ve done … to have something come at this late date and want to be rushed through that has had such an impact on my district, and the state and the 4 million people who reside in that area,” Sen. Susan Talamantes Eggman, a Democrat from Stockton, said in a committee hearing this month.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Assembly consultants warned in a report that this approach “significantly limits transparency and public input” and “increases the potential for creating unintended consequences.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“They (Newsom officials) want to rewrite more than a century of California law in a backroom deal,” Doug Obegi, a senior attorney at the Natural Resources Defense Council, told CalMatters.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[pullquote size='medium' align='right' citation='Alex Stack, deputy communications director for Gov. Newsom']‘California would still have the same nation-leading environmental protections while also cutting unnecessary red tape that has stalled key climate projects for years.’[/pullquote]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>During informational hearings held in early June, lawmakers noted that this is not the first time that the Newsom administration has \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/environment/2022/06/energy-deal-budget-talks/\">brought policy proposals into the budget process\u003c/a>. “It is starting to feel like we are being jammed by design,” Sen. Monique Limón, a Democrat from Santa Barbara, said at the Senate Natural Resources and Water hearing.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>‘Overly onerous’ regulations or ‘railroading’ projects in?\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Water providers, business interests and several labor unions have voiced support for Newsom’s policy package.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Major infrastructure projects are too often bogged down in overly onerous regulatory processes and a siloed approach to permitting approvals, which increases overall costs and delays critical projects,” the Association of California Water Agencies, Mojave Water Agency, and the Almond Alliance all wrote in individual letters.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Much of the opposition stressed the impact on the tunnel project, including a coalition of the five counties ringing the Delta — Sacramento, Solano, San Joaquin, Contra Costa and Yolo.[pullquote size='medium' align='right' citation='Doug Obegi, senior attorney, Natural Resources Defense Council']‘They want to rewrite more than a century of California law in a backroom deal.’[/pullquote]“The Legislature is being asked to railroad over the objections of 4 million people and the 25 county supervisors that represent them and are trying to protect their homes and communities,” said Karen Lange on behalf of the Delta Counties Coalition at an informational hearing of the Assembly Committee on Water, Parks and Wildlife. “In the case of the tunnel, every county and city that is affected by it opposes it.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Stockton community organizations, salmon fishers and environmental groups said Newsom’s plan would remove guardrails and hamper litigation against the Delta tunnel and other projects.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>One Newsom proposal, for instance, would exclude \u003ca href=\"https://esd.dof.ca.gov/trailer-bill/public/trailerBill/pdf/954\">certain internal communications (PDF)\u003c/a> such as emails from the administrative record prepared for litigation if they didn’t ultimately reach the final decision-making body.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Assembly \u003ca href=\"https://antr.assembly.ca.gov/sites/antr.assembly.ca.gov/files/June%207%2C%202022%20Info%20Hearing%20Documents.pdf\">analysts warned that this “allows the agency to pick and choose what documents to include in the record” (PDF)\u003c/a>. Though these records could be available under a separate California Public Records Act request, this too can lead to lawsuits and delays and “could prove very costly to public agencies.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In today’s letter, legislators criticized parts of the package that would set a time limit for lawsuits challenging the tunnel and other projects and reduce protections against killing certain wildlife species, such as sandhill cranes that winter in the Delta.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Crowfoot told CalMatters that the proposals were not developed specifically to push through the tunnel project.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I haven’t been part of any internal conversation on fully protected species and our need to modernize it that discuss the Sandhill crane or its relationship to the project,” he said. “The intent is not to short circuit any environmental review or public input, but it is to ultimately get to an answer around whether this project can be supported and move forward.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/environment/2022/06/california-water-delta-tunnel/\">Decades in the making yet still decades from completion\u003c/a>, the proposed tunnel has been called both a water grab and a critical update to water supplies for 27 million people, mostly in Southern California, and 750,000 acres of farmland. State officials say it would protect a vital water artery from earthquakes, sea level rise and extreme swings from wet to dry, while local communities and environmental groups say it would upend the way of life and sensitive ecosystems of the Delta.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The estimated price tag, last updated in 2020, is around $16 billion, which would eventually be paid back by water agencies receiving its supplies. Last year, \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/environment/2022/07/delta-tunnel-water-report/\">a draft state environmental report\u003c/a> warned that the tunnel project would harm endangered and threatened species, convert 2,300 acres of farmland, and disrupt cultural and historic sites.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Asked why the administration included such a fiercely contested issue in the infrastructure package as part of the budget process, Crowfoot said in an interview, “We simply can’t kick the can down the road on this question because it generates disagreements and controversy.”\u003c/p>\n\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>Amping up their concerns as a deadline looms, key California legislators today escalated their pushback on Gov. Gavin Newsom’s efforts to streamline the Delta water tunnel and other infrastructure projects.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The stalemate could become a critical lever while lawmakers haggle with Newsom over the 2023–2024 budget leading up to his \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/explainers/california-budget-2023/\">June 27 deadline for approving the spending plan\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A bipartisan group of \u003ca href=\"https://twitter.com/AsmVillapudua/status/1671286825888129027?s=20\">10 lawmakers from the Assembly and the Senate signed on to a letter today\u003c/a> urging Newsom and legislative leaders to stall Newsom’s package of infrastructure bills “for as long as \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/environment/2022/06/california-water-delta-tunnel/\">the Delta Conveyance Project\u003c/a> remains a part of the proposal.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The legislators said Newsom’s proposals — which would overhaul permitting and litigation for expansive projects like the controversial tunnel plan to replumb the Delta and send more water south — could cause environmental harm.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Rather than taking up a few blocks like a stadium, the tunnel would span multiple counties and impose water and air quality concerns throughout the region. If the project is litigated under (the California Environmental Quality Act), the process should not be rushed,” said the letter, spearheaded by Assemblymember \u003ca href=\"https://a13.asmdc.org/\">Carlos Villapudua\u003c/a>, a Democrat from Stockton and a member of the Delta Caucus.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In mid-May, Newsom unveiled an executive order and package of wide-ranging proposals to streamline state approval of major infrastructure projects, \u003ca href=\"https://www.gov.ca.gov/2023/05/19/governor-newsom-unveils-new-proposals-to-build-californias-clean-future-faster/\">such as bridges, reservoirs, semiconductor plants and the Delta tunnel\u003c/a>. Some of his proposals aim to keep transportation, energy and water projects from stalling under legal challenges related to the \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/environment/2023/05/gavin-newsom-ceqa-reform/\">California Environmental Quality Act\u003c/a> and make the state more appealing for federal funding.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The fight pits Newsom against lawmakers who say they feel “jammed” by Newsom’s use of the budget process to fast-track the bills. Environmental groups and salmon fishermen are squaring off against building and labor groups. And Delta counties are once again waging \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/environment/2022/06/california-water-delta-tunnel/\">a decades-long battle against a massive water project\u003c/a> that would reshape their region.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The Newsom administration says the changes are urgent because California needs to more rapidly build water and energy projects to prepare for climate change.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The proposals that the governor brings forward we don’t bring forward lightly into the budget process, but because we have to take action now,” California Natural Resources Secretary Wade Crowfoot said at a joint hearing of the Assembly Judiciary and Natural Resources committees in early June. “We need to be in a dead sprint implementing what we call our water supply strategy for a hotter, drier future.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Newsom’s Deputy Communications Director Alex Stack said the package “ensures California would still have the same nation-leading environmental protections while also cutting unnecessary red tape that has stalled key climate projects for years.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The final budget is not contingent on Newsom’s infrastructure proposals, and they could be enacted after it’s signed. But experts suspect they will be used as a political lever while negotiations hashing out the budget continue through the end of this month.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Introduced as budget trailer bills less than a month before the \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/explainers/california-budget-2023/\">Legislature’s June 15 budget deadline\u003c/a>, Newsom’s proposals bypass the typical legislative policy committee lineup and give lawmakers and the public less opportunity for deliberation or amendments.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It feels disrespectful to the process, to all the work that we’ve done … to have something come at this late date and want to be rushed through that has had such an impact on my district, and the state and the 4 million people who reside in that area,” Sen. Susan Talamantes Eggman, a Democrat from Stockton, said in a committee hearing this month.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Assembly consultants warned in a report that this approach “significantly limits transparency and public input” and “increases the potential for creating unintended consequences.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“They (Newsom officials) want to rewrite more than a century of California law in a backroom deal,” Doug Obegi, a senior attorney at the Natural Resources Defense Council, told CalMatters.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "‘California would still have the same nation-leading environmental protections while also cutting unnecessary red tape that has stalled key climate projects for years.’",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>During informational hearings held in early June, lawmakers noted that this is not the first time that the Newsom administration has \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/environment/2022/06/energy-deal-budget-talks/\">brought policy proposals into the budget process\u003c/a>. “It is starting to feel like we are being jammed by design,” Sen. Monique Limón, a Democrat from Santa Barbara, said at the Senate Natural Resources and Water hearing.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>‘Overly onerous’ regulations or ‘railroading’ projects in?\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Water providers, business interests and several labor unions have voiced support for Newsom’s policy package.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Major infrastructure projects are too often bogged down in overly onerous regulatory processes and a siloed approach to permitting approvals, which increases overall costs and delays critical projects,” the Association of California Water Agencies, Mojave Water Agency, and the Almond Alliance all wrote in individual letters.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Much of the opposition stressed the impact on the tunnel project, including a coalition of the five counties ringing the Delta — Sacramento, Solano, San Joaquin, Contra Costa and Yolo.\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>“The Legislature is being asked to railroad over the objections of 4 million people and the 25 county supervisors that represent them and are trying to protect their homes and communities,” said Karen Lange on behalf of the Delta Counties Coalition at an informational hearing of the Assembly Committee on Water, Parks and Wildlife. “In the case of the tunnel, every county and city that is affected by it opposes it.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Stockton community organizations, salmon fishers and environmental groups said Newsom’s plan would remove guardrails and hamper litigation against the Delta tunnel and other projects.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>One Newsom proposal, for instance, would exclude \u003ca href=\"https://esd.dof.ca.gov/trailer-bill/public/trailerBill/pdf/954\">certain internal communications (PDF)\u003c/a> such as emails from the administrative record prepared for litigation if they didn’t ultimately reach the final decision-making body.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Assembly \u003ca href=\"https://antr.assembly.ca.gov/sites/antr.assembly.ca.gov/files/June%207%2C%202022%20Info%20Hearing%20Documents.pdf\">analysts warned that this “allows the agency to pick and choose what documents to include in the record” (PDF)\u003c/a>. Though these records could be available under a separate California Public Records Act request, this too can lead to lawsuits and delays and “could prove very costly to public agencies.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In today’s letter, legislators criticized parts of the package that would set a time limit for lawsuits challenging the tunnel and other projects and reduce protections against killing certain wildlife species, such as sandhill cranes that winter in the Delta.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Crowfoot told CalMatters that the proposals were not developed specifically to push through the tunnel project.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I haven’t been part of any internal conversation on fully protected species and our need to modernize it that discuss the Sandhill crane or its relationship to the project,” he said. “The intent is not to short circuit any environmental review or public input, but it is to ultimately get to an answer around whether this project can be supported and move forward.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/environment/2022/06/california-water-delta-tunnel/\">Decades in the making yet still decades from completion\u003c/a>, the proposed tunnel has been called both a water grab and a critical update to water supplies for 27 million people, mostly in Southern California, and 750,000 acres of farmland. State officials say it would protect a vital water artery from earthquakes, sea level rise and extreme swings from wet to dry, while local communities and environmental groups say it would upend the way of life and sensitive ecosystems of the Delta.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The estimated price tag, last updated in 2020, is around $16 billion, which would eventually be paid back by water agencies receiving its supplies. Last year, \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/environment/2022/07/delta-tunnel-water-report/\">a draft state environmental report\u003c/a> warned that the tunnel project would harm endangered and threatened species, convert 2,300 acres of farmland, and disrupt cultural and historic sites.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Asked why the administration included such a fiercely contested issue in the infrastructure package as part of the budget process, Crowfoot said in an interview, “We simply can’t kick the can down the road on this question because it generates disagreements and controversy.”\u003c/p>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"title": "California Confronts the Threat of 'Tranq' as Overdose Crisis Rages",
"headTitle": "California Confronts the Threat of ‘Tranq’ as Overdose Crisis Rages | KQED",
"content": "\u003cp>When San Francisco’s medical examiner announced in February that four people who had recently died of overdoses had the animal sedative \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/search?q=xylazine&site=all\">xylazine\u003c/a> in their systems, public health workers across the state sprang into action.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Drug dealers on the East Coast had in recent years begun mixing xylazine, which can have devastating effects on people, with the opioid fentanyl, causing a surge in emergency room visits in Philadelphia and other cities. But there had not been much evidence of it in California.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Now state and local officials are ramping up efforts to combat xylazine, commonly called “tranq,” by monitoring its spread, distributing test strips, and pushing to “schedule” it, meaning classify it as a controlled substance. Still, some worry it will be hard to prevent the pernicious drug — which has also begun appearing in Los Angeles, Santa Clara, and San Joaquin counties — from worsening the state’s overdose epidemic.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Unless significant change happens in scheduling xylazine and really reducing its availability, we could be on the heels of what’s happening on the East Coast,” said Jeffrey Hom, director of population behavioral health at the San Francisco Department of Public Health.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Hom, who previously led overdose prevention services in Philadelphia, said San Francisco’s public health department is collaborating with the medical examiner, the San Francisco AIDS Foundation, the city’s fire department and homeless and supportive housing agencies, and methadone clinics and hospitals to collect data, share updates, and conduct regular testing for xylazine.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We’re trying to think through how do we develop a system that can surveil for drugs like xylazine — or whatever the next drug will be,” Hom said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The California Department of Public Health is monitoring news reports of xylazine and has posted an \u003ca href=\"https://www.cdph.ca.gov/Programs/CCDPHP/sapb/CDPH%20Document%20Library/Issue-Brief-Xylazine_ADA.pdf\">issue brief (PDF)\u003c/a> about it, but a spokesperson told KFF Health News it does not yet have a “standardized and uniform statewide monitoring system.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Xylazine is a cost-effective way to extend the strong yet short-lived fentanyl high, said Philippe Bourgois, a UCLA anthropology and social medicine professor and co-author of the book “Righteous Dopefiend,” the product of a 10-year immersion in San Francisco’s heroin and crack street culture. But the trade-offs can be catastrophic.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Taken on its own, xylazine is so powerful it can knock a person out for up to 18 hours, said Bourgois. In Philadelphia, people who use tranq are getting “\u003ca href=\"https://jied.lse.ac.uk/articles/10.31389/jied.122\">concrete burns\u003c/a>,” which are similar to bedsores but are caused by lying passed out on the sidewalk for long periods, he added. Xylazine also has \u003ca href=\"https://www.dea.gov/alert/dea-reports-widespread-threat-fentanyl-mixed-xylazine\">necrotizing effects\u003c/a> that rot the skin and lead to amputations.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Most troubling of all, Bourgois said, is that xylazine constricts breathing, increasing the risk of an overdose when it’s mixed with fentanyl. By itself, it doesn’t respond to the overdose reversal drug naloxone, which has been one of the \u003ca href=\"https://www.gov.ca.gov/2023/03/20/master-plan-for-tackling-the-fentanyl-and-opioid-crisis/\">state’s key tools in trying to reduce overdose deaths\u003c/a>. But since xylazine is often mixed with fentanyl and other opioids, health authorities advise using naloxone to respond to suspected overdoses.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Xylazine is a disastrous drug,” Bourgois said. “Public health has to get ahead of this tragedy.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>About a dozen people who smoke or inject fentanyl and live on the streets of San Francisco told KFF Health News they are at the mercy of what drug dealers sell and have little insight into what’s actually in the drugs. They said they’ve never used xylazine knowingly and didn’t want it in their drugs.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Kris Franklin, 41, has been buying fentanyl in San Francisco for five years and acknowledged she’s gambling with her life. She’s lost count of the friends and acquaintances who have died from overdoses or street-related illnesses but estimates it at around 40 people.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I’m scared it’s going to be in my dope,” Franklin said of tranq. “You don’t know what you’re getting. … It’s not like a prescription from a doctor.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Rep. Jimmy Panetta (D-Calif.), whose district includes Santa Cruz and Monterey, introduced federal legislation in March to make xylazine a controlled substance.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It gives our law enforcement the tools that they can use to crack down and hopefully remove this type of deadly combination of fentanyl and xylazine off the streets,” Panetta said of the bill. “I think we got a good chance of getting this passed this year.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Governors in Pennsylvania and Ohio are using their \u003ca href=\"https://www.governor.pa.gov/newsroom/governor-shapiro-directs-administration-to-schedule-xylazine-as-a-controlled-substance-taking-action-against-dangerous-drug-contributing-to-opioid-overdoses/\">executive powers\u003c/a> to \u003ca href=\"https://content.govdelivery.com/attachments/OHIOGOVERNOR/2023/03/29/file_attachments/2451030/Signed%20EO%202023-08D.pdf\">restrict access to xylazine (PDF)\u003c/a>. In California, lawmakers are wrestling with several measures that would increase penalties for fentanyl dealers, but none address xylazine.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>One potential downside to any crackdown is that it could make it much harder for veterinarians and other customers to obtain the drug for their animals. And the FDA said late last year that it was not known whether tranq was being diverted from the animal supply or manufactured illicitly.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Siddarth Puri, associate medical director of prevention at the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health, noted that the data was sparse but that xylazine was likely more widespread than is known.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Puri and his public health colleagues learned only recently, from a \u003cem>Los Angeles Times\u003c/em> report, that \u003ca href=\"https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2023-03-22/la-sheriff-knew-about-tranq-four-years-ago\">county law enforcement officials had been spotting xylazine in the fentanyl supply for years\u003c/a>. The county Sheriff’s Department recently launched a \u003ca href=\"https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2023-05-10/sheriffs-dept-program-to-track-presence-of-flesh-eating-street-drug-in-los-angeles\">pilot project to track the presence of the drug\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“There are probably hundreds of other illicit synthetic substances that are being cut into the drugs that we don’t know about yet, and we don’t know how they’re going to impact people,” Puri said. “Right now, the spotlight is on xylazine.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>This story was produced by \u003ca href=\"http://khn.org/\">Kaiser Health News\u003c/a>, an editorially independent program of the \u003ca href=\"https://www.kff.org/\">Kaiser Family Foundation\u003c/a>.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>When San Francisco’s medical examiner announced in February that four people who had recently died of overdoses had the animal sedative \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/search?q=xylazine&site=all\">xylazine\u003c/a> in their systems, public health workers across the state sprang into action.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Drug dealers on the East Coast had in recent years begun mixing xylazine, which can have devastating effects on people, with the opioid fentanyl, causing a surge in emergency room visits in Philadelphia and other cities. But there had not been much evidence of it in California.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Now state and local officials are ramping up efforts to combat xylazine, commonly called “tranq,” by monitoring its spread, distributing test strips, and pushing to “schedule” it, meaning classify it as a controlled substance. Still, some worry it will be hard to prevent the pernicious drug — which has also begun appearing in Los Angeles, Santa Clara, and San Joaquin counties — from worsening the state’s overdose epidemic.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Unless significant change happens in scheduling xylazine and really reducing its availability, we could be on the heels of what’s happening on the East Coast,” said Jeffrey Hom, director of population behavioral health at the San Francisco Department of Public Health.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Hom, who previously led overdose prevention services in Philadelphia, said San Francisco’s public health department is collaborating with the medical examiner, the San Francisco AIDS Foundation, the city’s fire department and homeless and supportive housing agencies, and methadone clinics and hospitals to collect data, share updates, and conduct regular testing for xylazine.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We’re trying to think through how do we develop a system that can surveil for drugs like xylazine — or whatever the next drug will be,” Hom said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The California Department of Public Health is monitoring news reports of xylazine and has posted an \u003ca href=\"https://www.cdph.ca.gov/Programs/CCDPHP/sapb/CDPH%20Document%20Library/Issue-Brief-Xylazine_ADA.pdf\">issue brief (PDF)\u003c/a> about it, but a spokesperson told KFF Health News it does not yet have a “standardized and uniform statewide monitoring system.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Xylazine is a cost-effective way to extend the strong yet short-lived fentanyl high, said Philippe Bourgois, a UCLA anthropology and social medicine professor and co-author of the book “Righteous Dopefiend,” the product of a 10-year immersion in San Francisco’s heroin and crack street culture. But the trade-offs can be catastrophic.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Taken on its own, xylazine is so powerful it can knock a person out for up to 18 hours, said Bourgois. In Philadelphia, people who use tranq are getting “\u003ca href=\"https://jied.lse.ac.uk/articles/10.31389/jied.122\">concrete burns\u003c/a>,” which are similar to bedsores but are caused by lying passed out on the sidewalk for long periods, he added. Xylazine also has \u003ca href=\"https://www.dea.gov/alert/dea-reports-widespread-threat-fentanyl-mixed-xylazine\">necrotizing effects\u003c/a> that rot the skin and lead to amputations.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Most troubling of all, Bourgois said, is that xylazine constricts breathing, increasing the risk of an overdose when it’s mixed with fentanyl. By itself, it doesn’t respond to the overdose reversal drug naloxone, which has been one of the \u003ca href=\"https://www.gov.ca.gov/2023/03/20/master-plan-for-tackling-the-fentanyl-and-opioid-crisis/\">state’s key tools in trying to reduce overdose deaths\u003c/a>. But since xylazine is often mixed with fentanyl and other opioids, health authorities advise using naloxone to respond to suspected overdoses.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Xylazine is a disastrous drug,” Bourgois said. “Public health has to get ahead of this tragedy.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>About a dozen people who smoke or inject fentanyl and live on the streets of San Francisco told KFF Health News they are at the mercy of what drug dealers sell and have little insight into what’s actually in the drugs. They said they’ve never used xylazine knowingly and didn’t want it in their drugs.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Kris Franklin, 41, has been buying fentanyl in San Francisco for five years and acknowledged she’s gambling with her life. She’s lost count of the friends and acquaintances who have died from overdoses or street-related illnesses but estimates it at around 40 people.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I’m scared it’s going to be in my dope,” Franklin said of tranq. “You don’t know what you’re getting. … It’s not like a prescription from a doctor.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Rep. Jimmy Panetta (D-Calif.), whose district includes Santa Cruz and Monterey, introduced federal legislation in March to make xylazine a controlled substance.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It gives our law enforcement the tools that they can use to crack down and hopefully remove this type of deadly combination of fentanyl and xylazine off the streets,” Panetta said of the bill. “I think we got a good chance of getting this passed this year.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Governors in Pennsylvania and Ohio are using their \u003ca href=\"https://www.governor.pa.gov/newsroom/governor-shapiro-directs-administration-to-schedule-xylazine-as-a-controlled-substance-taking-action-against-dangerous-drug-contributing-to-opioid-overdoses/\">executive powers\u003c/a> to \u003ca href=\"https://content.govdelivery.com/attachments/OHIOGOVERNOR/2023/03/29/file_attachments/2451030/Signed%20EO%202023-08D.pdf\">restrict access to xylazine (PDF)\u003c/a>. In California, lawmakers are wrestling with several measures that would increase penalties for fentanyl dealers, but none address xylazine.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>One potential downside to any crackdown is that it could make it much harder for veterinarians and other customers to obtain the drug for their animals. And the FDA said late last year that it was not known whether tranq was being diverted from the animal supply or manufactured illicitly.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Siddarth Puri, associate medical director of prevention at the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health, noted that the data was sparse but that xylazine was likely more widespread than is known.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Puri and his public health colleagues learned only recently, from a \u003cem>Los Angeles Times\u003c/em> report, that \u003ca href=\"https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2023-03-22/la-sheriff-knew-about-tranq-four-years-ago\">county law enforcement officials had been spotting xylazine in the fentanyl supply for years\u003c/a>. The county Sheriff’s Department recently launched a \u003ca href=\"https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2023-05-10/sheriffs-dept-program-to-track-presence-of-flesh-eating-street-drug-in-los-angeles\">pilot project to track the presence of the drug\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“There are probably hundreds of other illicit synthetic substances that are being cut into the drugs that we don’t know about yet, and we don’t know how they’re going to impact people,” Puri said. “Right now, the spotlight is on xylazine.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>This story was produced by \u003ca href=\"http://khn.org/\">Kaiser Health News\u003c/a>, an editorially independent program of the \u003ca href=\"https://www.kff.org/\">Kaiser Family Foundation\u003c/a>.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"info": "Possible is hosted by entrepreneur Reid Hoffman and writer Aria Finger. Together in Possible, Hoffman and Finger lead enlightening discussions about building a brighter collective future. The show features interviews with visionary guests like Trevor Noah, Sam Altman and Janette Sadik-Khan. Possible paints an optimistic portrait of the world we can create through science, policy, business, art and our shared humanity. It asks: What if everything goes right for once? How can we get there? Each episode also includes a short fiction story generated by advanced AI GPT-4, serving as a thought-provoking springboard to speculate how humanity could leverage technology for good.",
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