Have the California wildfires of 2020 “set a record,” as state officials report? Only if you don’t look back too far. What some are calling “unfathomable” today was commonplace in California’s past — and helps explain why America’s West Coast has a forestry management problem. On Sunday, the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, or “CAL FIRE,” announced this year’s wildfires have burned 4 million acres, and the season isn’t over. “The 4 million mark is unfathomable. It boggles the mind, and it takes your breath away,” said Scott McLean, a spokesman for CAL FIRE. “And that number will grow.” But before 1800, California regularly burned this much acreage a year — or more — before modern control burn policies went into place. In fact, a report published in Nature Sustainability earlier this year argues California needs to burn 20 million acres of forest in order to restore forest health. That’s the case made by a trio of climate experts during a press event earlier this month. “Manmade policies — not manmade climate change — are what’s fueling these catastrophic fires,” said Myron Ebell, director for Energy and Environment for the Competitive Enterprise Institute. Ebell, Heartland Institute President […]
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