California Vegetation Treatment Program
The proposed CalVTP directs implementation of vegetation treatments on public and private land across the state as one component of the state’s efforts to reduce the risk of loss of lives and property, reduce fire suppression costs, and protect natural resources from wildfire. The California Board of Forestry and Fire Protection began analyzing the proposed program in early 2019 to consider and disclose the environmental effects of expanding CalFire’s vegetation treatment activities to cover a total of 250,000 acres per year (up from 33,000 acres per year on average in previous years) to help achieve the Governor’s goal of 500,000 annual acres of treatment on non-federal lands (Executive Order B-52-18). Vegetation treatments include wildland-urban interface fuel reduction, fuel breaks, and ecological restoration, through activities such as prescribed burning, mechanical and manual vegetation removal, prescribed grazing, and herbicides. RMM attorneys Jim Moose and Sabrina Teller advise the Board of Forestry regarding the preparation and certification of a Program EIR for the project.