California Governor Jerry Brown has declared a state of emergency for the state’s forests, where an estimated 22 million trees have already died. Cal Fire’s chief says this means continuing work that has already happened.
What is killing them is a one-two punch–the drought plus bark beetles. While there is a huge number of dead or dying trees creating even more of a worry about fires, Cal Fire Chief Ken Pimlott says:
“It’s not reasonable or realistic to think that we are going cut 22 million trees down across the forest landscape. It’s really using every tool in the toolbox prioritizing those high risk areas and working at all the levels of government and the private sector and nonprofits and others to get the work done.”
Working with the private sector includes companies in the lumber industry that are trying to make use of as many of the dead trees as they can.
That work the chief mentioned with other levels of government already happens. The U.S. Forest Service and other federal agencies have worked with California for years to thin out those dead trees. The governor’s emergency declaration includes a request for more federal money to help with that effort.
From KFBK News Radio: https://www.kfbk.com/articles/kfbk-news-461777/governor-brown-declares-state-of-emergency-14088238