The California Dept. of Forestry and Fire Protection (CalFire) has issued a scientifically bankrupt plan to destroy vegetation without reducing fire hazard. EHL is responding.



Covering an astonishing 23 million acres, under a “Vegetation Treatment Program,” or VTP, millions of acres of native plant and wildlife habitat would be subjected to undetermined amounts of clearing, herbicide use, and prescribed fire. No differentiation is made between northern forests and southern chaparral; different habitats with different fire regimes are lumped together.

Under the proposal, future site-specific treatments would proceed without any meaningful additional environmental review, automatically proceeding under the vague and virtually empty analysis in the “programmatic environmental impact report” prepared by CalFire.

The VTP ignores the scientific literature showing that the treatments contemplated do not prevent future fires or save life or structures. Clearing vegetation allows flammable weeds to take root and in Santa Ana wind conditions, even young chaparral goes up in flames. Far more useful would be controlling human-caused ignitions (such as downed utility lines), enforcing limited clearing around structures and making structures resistant to windborne embers, and stopping putting new homes in harm’s way.

EHL is coordinating a review by respected fire scientists, and our Staff Attorney will provide a legal critique. In association with other groups, such as the Chaparral Institute and California Native Plant Society, we will also make policy-makers aware of this frightening program, which never should have seen the light of day. Perhaps this fiasco will be a catalyst for change at CalFire.