SECTION 1.
The Legislature finds and declares all of the following:(a) Prescribed burning reduces naturally occurring vegetative fuels within wild land areas. Reduction of the fuel load reduces the risk and severity of major catastrophic wildfires, thereby reducing the threat of loss of life and property, particularly in urbanized areas.
(b) Many of the state’s natural communities and ecosystems require periodic fire for maintenance of their ecological integrity. Prescribed burning is essential to the perpetuation, restoration, and management of many plant and animal communities. Significant loss of the state’s biological diversity will occur if fire is excluded from fire-dependent systems.
(c) Prescribed burning on forest land prepares sites for reforestation, removes undesirable competing vegetation, expedites nutrient cycling, and controls or eliminates certain forest pathogens. On range land, prescribed burning improves the quality and quantity of herbaceous vegetation necessary for livestock production.
(d) The application of prescribed burning is a land management tool that benefits the safety of the public, the environment, and the economy of California.
(e) Proper training in the use of prescribed burning is necessary to ensure maximum benefits and protection for the public.
(f) Liability issues and the inability of registered professional foresters to secure adequate liability insurance often preclude the use of prescribed burning as a forest and vegetation management tool.
(g) Given the pressing need to increase fire prevention activities and the challenges posed by a year-round fire season, the Legislature intends that the Department of Forestry and Fire Protection dedicate adequate numbers of staff solely to prescribed burning and vegetation management activities, including the permitting, oversight, and implementation thereof.
(h) To the extent that resources are available, the Legislature intends for the department to make spot weather forecasting available to those entities engaged in contracts pursuant to Article 2 (commencing with Section 4475) of, and to those entities that have obtained a burn permit issued pursuant to Article 3 (commencing with Section 4491) of, Chapter 7 of Part 2 of Division 4 of the Public Resources Code.
(i) The Legislature recognizes that prescribed fire is an important vegetation management tool, but that it is simply one tool to improve forest health and prevent future catastrophic wildfires. The Legislature does not intend for prescribed fire to supplant other vegetation management techniques and recognizes that the best results are often achieved by using both prescribed fire and mechanical thinning in combination with one another.