Trump calls on California to improve forest management

President Donald Trump is calling on California to do a better job with forest management to prevent deadly wildfires from happening.

Alan Marsden shares what exactly California is doing.

President trump is calling on california to do a better job with "forest management" to prevent deadly wildfires from happening... alan marsden joins us now -- alan what exactly is california doing... and is it helping or hindering the fight against wildfire?"

Hayley, yes, this got a lot of attention following the president's visit to sacramento yesterday.

And we should start by pointing out that experts, like uc berkeley forestry specialist, dr. bill stewart, says no amount of forest management would prevent the kinds of fires we've seen lately.

He says neglected forests*ca* add to the problem.

How closely trees are spaced and how much debris is beneath them determines the fire danger... and dr. stewart says private timber companies are doing a much better job of managing that -- than the government could.

And despite being criticized by president trump for poor forest management, governor newsom requested more funding, pointing out that it is federal lands in the state that pose the biggest problem.

"the wind-driven fires we're having now& nothing is gonna slow those down.

When you get high, 30 mph consistent winds, it doesn't matter what you did.

It's gonna burn.// "fifty-seven percent of the land in the state is federal forest land&three percent is california.

So we really do need that support."

# dr. stewart says there will never be enough money to manage forests as it's currently being done.

It will require california to soften its rules and change its attitude about logging.

And while that may sound unlikely, he says there are plenty of reasons to consider it.

Dr. stewart points out that managed forests make up only about 20 percent of the land in california subject to wildfires -- 80 percent is either wilderness or land covered by grass or shrubs.

Hayley.

Thanks alan -- dr. stewart says rather than always putting fires out, it may be necessary to actually start controlled burning of forestland, when winds aren't high, to provide buffer zones that can slow future wildfires down.# coronavirus -- still