Bill Text: CA SCR75 | 2009-2010 | Regular Session | Chaptered

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Bill Title: Wildfires: United States Forest Service.

Spectrum: Bipartisan Bill

Status: (Passed) 2010-07-07 - Chaptered by Secretary of State. Res. Chapter 56, Statutes of 2010. [SCR75 Detail]

Download: California-2009-SCR75-Chaptered.html

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BILL NUMBER: SCR 75	CHAPTERED
	BILL TEXT

	RESOLUTION CHAPTER  56
	FILED WITH SECRETARY OF STATE  JULY 7, 2010
	ADOPTED IN SENATE  APRIL 27, 2010
	ADOPTED IN ASSEMBLY  JULY 1, 2010
	AMENDED IN SENATE  APRIL 19, 2010

INTRODUCED BY   Senator Hollingsworth

                        FEBRUARY 18, 2010

   Relative to wildfires.


	LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


   SCR 75, Hollingsworth. Wildfires: United States Forest Service.
   This measure would declare that there is an ongoing emergency due
to the threat of wildfire, call on the federal government to take
immediate measures to prevent imminent catastrophic wildfires, and
request Governor Schwarzenegger to advocate at the federal level for
the United States Forest Service to undertake prevention and
maintenance work in the state's federal forest lands.



   WHEREAS, Catastrophic wildfires continue to threaten lives,
property, and the natural resources of the state; and
   WHEREAS, Insurance losses for each fire season run into the
billions of dollars, and insurers have paid out in excess of eight
billion dollars ($8,000,000,000) to thousands of policy holders from
just the top 10 state wildfires since 1970; and
   WHEREAS, State wildfires cause employment losses in the hundreds
of millions of dollars; and
   WHEREAS, The increase of catastrophic wildfires in the state has
resulted in harmful secondary environmental effects, including
diminished air and water quality, impacted watersheds, increased
greenhouse gas emissions and other air pollutant emissions, and
threatened habitats of sensitive wildlife species; and
   WHEREAS, Approximately 80 percent of the state's developed surface
water supply originates on watershed lands within rural counties and
near federal lands. The state's residents utilize this water for
domestic, commercial, agricultural, industrial, recreational, and
other beneficial uses. These rivers, lakes, and watershed lands also
serve as habitat for hundreds of species of fish and wildlife; and
   WHEREAS, The state is comprised of approximately 50 percent
publicly owned land and 50 percent privately owned land, but many
rural counties have substantially higher percentages of publicly
owned land, some as much as 98 percent; and
   WHEREAS, There are over 43,000,000 acres of federal land in the
state, much of which has not been adequately managed to mitigate the
risk of catastrophic wildfire; and
   WHEREAS, Two of the three largest wildfires in the state in the
past 100 years began on federally owned land; and
   WHEREAS, Millions of dollars are spent each year fighting fires in
our national forests; and
   WHEREAS, The United States Forest Service spent over one billion
two hundred seventy million dollars ($1,270,000,000) on fire
suppression in 2008, which exceeded 50 percent of the 2008 wildland
fire budget; and
   WHEREAS, The escalating costs of fighting fires on United States
Forest Service land over the last 10 years has significantly
diminished the available resources for the critically needed
prevention measures that could minimize these catastrophic fires; and

   WHEREAS, The state has made significant strides towards reducing
the risk of catastrophic wildfires on state and private lands,
including ranking lands as to the level of fire hazard, requiring 100
feet of defensible space around homes, requiring ignition-resistant
materials on all new construction that is built in a fire hazard
severity zone within a state responsibility area, a local agency very
high fire hazard severity zone, or a designated wildland-urban
interface (WUI) fire area, and many other things to not only address
preservation of life and property but mitigate the environmental
damage of large scale wildfire as well; and
   WHEREAS, Even with these positive mitigation efforts made by the
state, there continues to be an extreme risk of catastrophic
wildfires in the state and throughout the West due to unnaturally
heavy fuel loads and the early drying of wildland vegetation; now,
therefore, be it
   Resolved by the Senate of the State of California, the Assembly
thereof concurring, That the Legislature of the State of California
declares that there is an ongoing emergency due to the threat of
wildfire; and be it further
   Resolved, That the Legislature calls on the federal government to
take immediate measures to prevent imminent catastrophic wildfires;
and be it further
   Resolved, That the Legislature, together with the state's local
governments, requests that Governor Schwarzenegger advocate at the
federal level for the United States Forest Service to undertake
prevention and maintenance work in the state's federal forest lands;
and be it further
   Resolved, That the Secretary of the Senate transmit copies of this
resolution to the Governor and to the author for appropriate
distribution.