By Brian White, KP Public Affairs, FLC Legislative Advocate and Larry Camp, FLC Legislative Committee
The legislative season was a busy one this year. The fires of 2017 and 2018 created a lot of positive discussions about forest management and fires. FLC spent a significant amount of time in July and August this year meeting with legislative members, their staff and various other parties. Several positive steps were taken by the Legislature and signed by the Governor including SB 901, which will hopefully provide a significant amount of help to small forest landowners across the state. Some of these bills may be picked up again in the next session.
Work has already begun on next year’s legislative session. There are going to be items from these bills that will need some tuning up. A huge thanks goes out to Larry Camp for his tireless effort this year to keep small landowners’ interests heard in Sacramento by the decision makers. Should you have questions, direct them to legchair@forestlandowners.org.
Bill # |
Author |
Status |
Comments |
Position |
| AB 425 | Caballero (D) | Held on Senate Floor | THP Exemption and Temp Roads | Support |
| AB 1954 | Patterson (R) | Signed by Gov. | Extends Exemption for clearing around homes and buildings | Support |
| AB 1956 | Limon (D) | Signed by Gov. | Grant program for fuels management | Support |
| AB 2518 | Aguiar-Curry (D) | Signed by Gov. | Forest Products and Mass Timber Production | Support |
| AB 2889 | Caballero (D) | Signed by Gov. | THP bill of rights | Support |
| SB 1453 | McGuire (D) | Signed by Gov. | Statute of Limitations FP violations | Watch |
| SB 1260 | Jackson (D) | Signed by Gov. | Change liability std. for fires likely to be amended in the next week | Support |
| AB 2091 | Grayson (D) | Signed by Gov. | Creates an insurance pool for prescribed fire - likely to be amended in the next week | Support |
| AB 2551 | Wood (D) | Signed by Gov. | Use of GHG funds for forest management | Support |
| SB 1079 | Monning (D) | Signed by Gov. | Grant funding for forest management including advances to landowners for forest management | Support |
| AB 2627 | Kalra (D) | Failed to get out of Senate Fiscal Committee | Migratory bird protection with exemptions for THPs, etc. | Support |
| AB 2528 | Bloom (D) | Vetoed by Gov. | Climate adaptation | Oppose |
| SB 473 | Hertzberg (D) | Signed by Gov. | Calif Endangered Species Act | Oppose |
| AB 2975 | Friedman (D) | Signed by Gov. | Protection of wild and scenic rivers | Oppose |
| SB 901 | Dodd (D) | Signed by Gov. | Wildfire mitigation likely to be amended in the next week | Support Actively |
| SB 1088 | Dodd (D) | Conference Committee | Utilities resiliency and planning likely to be amended in the next year | Watch |
Track Bills by visiting http://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov and use the Quick Bill Search function.
Legislative Archives
Appellate Decision on WFMP Case
Good News -- Exemptions and NTMPs
CAL FIRE has reversed its policy change regarding the acceptance of exemptions for NTMPs. Please refer to the link below to view the letter from the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection (Ken Pimlott) to the California Board of Forestry and Fire Protection (Keith Gilless).
Should you have any questions, please send an email to the FLC Legislative Committee at legchair@forestlandowners.org.
Letter and Supporting Content from CAL FIRE to Board of Forestry
Legislative Committee Assignments
Public Policy Institute of California
The Public Policy Institute of California (PPIC) issued a report in mid-September on the status of forest health in the Headwaters Forests. On September 20, there was a panel debriefing on the report. Click on the links below to download the documents.
If you are interested in wathcing the panel debrief, the video is posted on the PPIC's website: