Note: In a previous article I pointed out that the federal government owned 57% of California forests, leaving only 43% under the control of Governor Gavin Newsom. Both the state and federal politicians didn't seem interested in spending money on forest management. This article explains one major obstruction to spending money on forest management:
Gov. Newsom and President Trump have blamed each other, like typical politicians. At one televised meeting with President Trump, Governor Newsom sort of apologized for California’s failure to manage its forests:
“There is no question when you look [at] this past decade and look at the past thousand years that we have not done justice on our forest management. I don’t think anyone disputes that.
... But one thing is fundamental – 57% of the land in this stateis federal forest land, 3% is California.” (The other 40% is held by private landowners, under California control)."
The federal government owns 57% of California’s forests, but it actually
controls 0% of them for forest management, which is controlled burns and logging.
Federal government management of it's own land in California requires jumping through various regulatory hurdlesto do so. The toughest hurdle is the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA).
Signed into law by President Nixon in 1970, NEPA requires that the federal government produce an Environmental Impact Statement for projects on public lands, a process that includes seeking public input, and is subject to lawsuits.
Radical green groups use the NEPA process to cause infinite delays for projects that they oppose, from roads to pipelines. The process imposed on the Keystone XL pipeline has lasted for a decade.
NEPA is not required for emergencies, such as fighting wildfires on public lands, but NEPA obstructs proactive forest management.
Over the past 1,100 years, researchers claim California has had "mega-droughts" lasting decades -- one lasted 220 years. Natural droughts happened long before SUVs and coal power plants.
California has now been in a drought for several years. Based on history, California could be in a drought for a long time. California and U.S. CO2 emissions reductions have had no effect on California’s drought-prone nature.
President Trump proposed administrative changes to NEPA to streamline approvals. But California and green allies are fighting his proposals.
California Democrats and their green allies refuse to practice sensible forest management, using lawsuits to block federal and state forest management in their wildfire-prone forests.