EHL was quoted on the San Diego Proctor Valley land acquisition and a pointed letter on fire issues was published in High County News.
KPBS public radio in San Diego covered the story (“Land deal protects critical San Diego habitat,” January 26, 2024) and noted the many rare species protected. EHL was asked about what it meant to the public.
“This will be as good a place as we have in San Diego where people can come and experience the coastal sage scrub ecosystem which is 90% gone,” said Dan Silver, of the Endangered Habitats League. “If you have Proctor Valley developed, the scenic value, that sense of place, would’ve been lost.”
The March 2024 edition of High County News, which covers the American West, contained a letter from EHL’s executive director criticizing blaming destructive wildfires solely on climate change.
With its complete emphasis on climate change, the interview with former California Insurance Commissioner Dave Jones substantially missed the mark. Large-scale wildfires are part of the natural ecology of California’s chaparral. They occurred before climate change set in and will continue. What is immediately driving the fire crisis in California is the persistent expansion of housing into high fire-hazard locations. Expansion of the “wildland-urban interface” also leads to more human-caused ignitions and to the frequent fires that are steadily converting native vegetation to flammable weeds.
