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CAL FIRE: Dedicated to
California’s Forests & Wildlands
The women and men of the California Department of Forestry and Fire
Protection (CAL FIRE) are dedicated to the fire protection and stewardship of
over 31 million acres of California’s privately-owned wildlands. CAL FIRE’s
mission emphasizes the management and protection of California’s natural
resources; a goal that is accomplished through ongoing assessment and
research. Department personnel including foresters, environmental scientists,
archaeologists, biologists, and fire personnel work closely to implement fuels
management projects to reduce the threat of uncontrolled wildfires and improve
forest health.
Introduction
Mission
History
Forest and land management has been at the core of the Department since its
inception in 1885. Then known as the State Board of Forestry, the Department
was primarily tasked with enforcing the few laws the state had concerning
wildfire and forest lands. At the turn of the 20th century, the first state
forester was assigned (E.T. Allen) and the earliest stages of a state fire patrol
began to form. As the century progressed, so too did the responsibilities of
the Department. Today, CAL FIRE is a full-service resource protection and
emergency management department responding to wildfires and all risk
emergencies.
Fire Prevention
Preventing wildfires in the State Responsibility Area (SRA) is a vital part of
CAL FIRE’s mission. While these efforts have occurred since the early days of
the Department, CAL FIRE has adapted to the evolving threat from wildfires
and has succeeded in significantly increasing its efforts in fire prevention.
Common fire prevention projects include fuels reduction, prescribed fire,
Defensible Space inspections, emergency evacuation planning, fire prevention
education, fire hazard severity mapping, home hardening and fire-related law
enforcement activities. Wildland fire prevention engineering processes reduce
or eliminate fire hazards and risks by reducing fuel loads and creating a break
in horizontal and vertical fuel continuity.
Environmental Protection
CAL FIRE uses the totality of its resource professionals to ensure
that California environmental laws are obeyed for any project
undertaken by the Department. Registered Professional
Foresters, Environmental Scientists, Archeologists, Hydrologists,
Soil Scientists, Fire Scientists, and various other experts in natural
resource protection contribute to this work every day. On December
30, 2019, the Board of Forestry and Fire Protection approved a Statewide
Programmatic Environmental Impact Report titled “California Statewide
Vegetation Treatment Program,” known as the CalVTP. The program provides
California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) compliance for CAL FIRE and
other public entities’ vegetation management projects.
Learn
More
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