Fires in California’s scrublands and forests are in integral part of their ecology. Research in the past 20 years has shown that protection of life and property must be based on understanding that large wind-driven wildfires are what cause nearly all of the devastation in our communities. The State of California is still holding on to the outdated idea that fire suppression has resulted in the loss of life and property and that massive wildland vegetation removal would reduce the risk to structures from wind-driven fires. It won’t.

The California Chaparral Institute has been a leader on this issue for nearly two decades and spearheaded the attached letter from conservation groups on the most recent “Vegetation Treatment Program” proposed by the State. It contains extensive background information and we encourage interested parties to read the letter and its attachments.