Western wildfire policy: From prescribed fire to public health
Climate adaptation cohort
Team: Michael Wara, Michael Mastrandrea, Deborah Sivas, Stefan Wager, Chris Field, Marshall Burke, Kari Nadeau
As climate change fuels more wildfires, California's traditional suppression strategies are becoming ineffective and costly. This project identified that liability rules and a lack of insurance for controlled burns were important obstacles to mitigating fire risk. Building on insights from a Smoke Policy Lab course, the team worked with government and Tribal partners to analyze reforms to prescribed fire liability, protect students from classroom smoke, and develop a quantitative process for reducing wildfire risk in California.
Strengthening wildfire resilience.
The team’s policy proposals informed California legislation that established a state claims fund for beneficial fire (SB 926), changed liability standards (SB 310), streamlined approvals for wildfire risk reduction (AB 131), and enabled Tribes to develop their own permitting programs for cultural burning (SB 332). Several of these policy solutions are now under consideration in other states and at the federal level.
Wildfire risk is an ever-present concern in the American West. A legal scholar and wildfire policy expert talks about how a recent Sustainability Accelerator grant helped a multidisciplinary team advance policy change in California.