Legislative Update - May 2025

By Lary Camp, Legislative Committee Co-Chair

Regulatory Update: The Executive Officer of the Board of Forestry has not filled as of this date. Dan Stapleton, the Executive Officer for Licensing continues to temporarily fill the position. The Board passed Emergency Rules to implement the Forest Resilience and the Oak Woodland Exemptions in January that are effective for one year. Talk to your RPF or local Cal Fire forester for more details. The Board is deeply engaged on regulations governing home hardening in the Zero Zone (0 to 5 feet) from the exterior of a residence in response to the Governor’s office.

The May revision of the state budget was released on May 14, there are clearly concerns that funding for forest resource management and wildfire suppression could be significantly reduced. These potential impacts combined with potential staffing/budget reductions by federal agencies do not bode well in the fire season is severe this coming summer. FLC cosigned a letter with CFA and Pacific Forest Trust to legislators urging them to not transfer dedicated funds in the Timber Regulation and Forest Restoration Fund (TRFRF) to the general fund. Here is a link to the letter: https://forestlandowners.org/download_file/295/0.

FYI – For those members who live in the northeastern portion of the state, the repopulation of the forest and range lands by wolf packs has become a major issue especially for ranchers who are losing cattle to pack attacks. While funding was provided to reimburse losses, the earmarked funds have been depleted, and no supplemental funds are provided. There have been a number or media articles in the last few months but no solutions have been found to be effective. Included here is a link to a story about ongoing research published by Professors at UC Davis, https://www.plantsciences.ucdavis.edu/news/tate-wolves. For those members on the coast, begin to think about the problem as elk and deer are the preferred food source but cattle appear to be a suitable alternative.
Interesting update on the role of forests in carbon sequestration. Here is the link to the paper, on the California wildfire taskforce website https://wildfiretaskforce.org/the-new-report-on-effects-of-forest-management-on-carbon-storage-in-california/. Additional discussion and commentary will be included in the next newsletter. A bit wonky but it has some dire implications for forests acting as a sink for CO2 under current practices.

Legislative Update: The table below lists the bill that FLC and CFA are currently monitoring. Many are listed in the “watch” group at the moment awaiting Committee hearings or amendments. The FLC board has provided separate letters or joined with CFA and other partners to prepare letters of support or opposition to several bills in the current legislature and will continue to do so over the next several months.

In addition to the bills listed above, FLC is monitoring in conjunction with CFA proposed bills in the following areas: The letter following the bill indicates current status NP = no current position, O = Oppose, S = support, W = Watch.

Firefighters/Emergency Response: AB 270 (S), AB 294 (S), AB 591 (W, NP), AB 1075 (W, NP), AB 1309 (W, NP), AB 1395 (W, NP), SB 223 (W), SB 234 (S), SB 514 (W), and SB 581 (W).

Fire Mapping/Planning: AB 261 (W), AB 300 (W), AB 1455 (W, NP), and SB 326 (NP).
Proposition 4 Funding: AB 307 (W), AB 372 (NP), and SB 90 (W, NP).

Wildlife/Parks/30x30 Implementation: AB 43 (W), AB 454 (W), AB 679 (W), AB 846 (NP), AB 900 (W), and AB 902 (W).

Water: AB 263 (W), AB 362 (W), AB 430 (S), and AB 794 (NP).

Additional bills being monitored since the March report.

AB 241 (S), AB 252 (W), AB 429 (S), AB 479 (W), AB 619 (W), AB 706 (S), AB 799 (W), AB 812 (W), AB 914 (O), AB 1057 (W), AB 1124 (W), AB 1331 (O).

Current Year

Legislative Archives

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Appellate Decision on WFMP Case

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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

Download Letter

Legislative Committee Assignments

• Assembly Committees Webpage
• Senate Committees Webpage

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.

• PPIC Forest Health Report (Sept 2017)
• PPIC Forest Health Panel Debrief (Sept 2017)

If you are interested in wathcing the panel debrief, the video is posted on the PPIC's website:

Agency and Advocacy Letters

• FLC Letter - USFWS - NSO TA