![]() ![]() “Even today, I have elders and tribal people who tell me, I shouldn’t be burning because we’re going to get in trouble with the government simply because they know what happened when their grandparents put fire on the ground,” he said. He said the compromise is a good start, but more needs to be done to overcome the racist legacy of laws that targeted Indigenous people who use fire. Ron Goode, chairman of the North Fork Mono tribe and a cultural burn boss, was also involved in the talks. “What we tried to come up with is some language where people could basically say what the conditions would be like when they’re burning.” “It’s still not perfect,” said Don Hankins, a professor at Cal State Chico and cultural burn practitioner. So the group came up with a compromise: cultural practitioners can instead include a description of the burn in their application. But cultural practitioners often don’t use burn plans, and requiring them to do so would infringe on tribal sovereignty. One stumbling block they had to overcome was that the legislation creating the program states that each project chief must submit a burn plan for review and approval by Cal Fire in order to qualify. The working group that developed the program guidelines also included representatives of Indigenous tribes, the state Department of Insurance, the Nature Conservancy and trade associations. But there are reasons to question that explanation. ![]() “And so if we can document that with the data, then we’re hoping that attracts the insurers back to the marketplace in California.”īusiness State Farm’s California freeze: Looming insurance apocalypse or political ploy?Ĭalifornia’s biggest seller of homeowners insurance says regulations and wildfires make new policies a financial loser. “We want to show insurers that it is a low risk type of event when a certified burn boss or cultural burner conducts a prescribed burn or cultural burn,” Nielson said. That may eventually alleviate the need for the program altogether. The pilot, set to expire in 2028, will also enable the state to gather information about the rates of escape and damage, as well as the benefits of burns, he said. “We are doing something brand new in hopes that it ends up with a real positive change for prescribed burning and cultural burning.” “For prescribed fire practitioners, it’s a huge deal,” said Len Nielson, the prescribed fire and environmental staff chief at the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, or Cal Fire, who is in charge of greenlighting the applications. By Friday afternoon, 20 projects had applied and 17 had been approved. In order to qualify, burns must be led by a certified burn boss or a cultural fire practitioner. ![]() The liability claims fund, which was rolled out recently, provides up to $2 million in coverage for up to 200 projects at a time. Will they survive?Ĭrews recently planted 30,000 giant sequoia seedlings in the western Sierra, as part of an ongoing effort to restore groves devastated by wildfire. Climate & Environment In burned-out groves of giant sequoias, crews plant seeds of hope. ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |