Former California governor focuses on saving California forests from fires

COLUSA COUNTY, Calif. — Former California Gov. Jerry Brown has reentered the public policy arena in California with a call to action to prevent wildfires.

A group he convened at his Northern California ranch early this fall has drafted a document, dubbed the Venado Declaration. It calls for a shift in emphasis from fighting wildfires to managing the forests in ways that prevent them from starting. 

Brown has called California's mega fires "the new abnormal" as climate change turns the state warmer and drier. With the help of Ken Pimlott, the former chief of the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, Brown convened a group at his rural Colusa County ranch in September 2021, to discuss what could be done to save California's forests.

California’s wildfires have become fiercer and more destructive with climate change. The document, shared with The Associated Press, calls for a massive increase in forest management spending, from the record $1.5 billion now budgeted to $5 billion. Other suggestions include building more biomass facilities and sawmills to process harvested trees and training more workers in forest management.

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