Thread by @ivolo

Can we solve U.S mega-fires within 5 years? What if we can treat our forests at risk every 5 years, instead of every 126 yrs? There is once-in-a-decade opportunity, to bring back the western US we love, sitting in draft reconciliation bill form, and we need help.

Read below:🔥👇

USFS Fire Modeling Institute estimates the US has 63M acres of National Forest at risk, with ~20M high risk acres in CA.

100 years of active fire suppression has caused our forests to become dense and fuel-laden. Check out the natural forests of 1936 vs. today:

ted.com/talks/paul_hes…

Luckily, we're able to mechanically thin forests and do prescribed burns to reduce hazardous fuel.

Forestry also has the potential to create tens of thousands of new, rewarding, outdoor jobs in the coming decade.

When 150ft mega fire flames enter zones of treated forest, they drop to be 15 ft flames along the forest floor, and firefighters can stop the fire.

https://twitter.com/kcraBrianHickey/status/1428758670628691973

sfgate.com/renotahoe/arti…

A mega-fire that travels through untreated forest kills all the trees, releases all the carbon, destroys the roots & soil, and creates a future brush-land ecosystem. When the same fire travels thru treated land, it leaves behind an even healthier forest.

woodsinstitute.stanford.edu/system/files/p…

In 2021, the USDA fuel reduction budget is $510M; At ~$1000/acre treated, USFS can theoretically do 500,000 acres/yr. At this rate, it would take us 123 years federally, and 40 years in CA - ie: we burn down.

usda.gov/sites/default/…

Last week the House Agriculture Committee proposed $14B (!!) for hazardous fuel management for 2022; this would eventually support a rate of 14M acres/yr (if we can scale policy, workforce).

docs.house.gov/meetings/AG/AG…

This rate would support the treatment of all US forests at-risk every 5 years and CA federal forests every 2 years (!!) This is EXACTLY what we need.

A scale challenge awaits us — ex: CalFire only treats ~30k acres/yr (we need to 16x). Some years there are only 3 weeks of accessible burn windows for prescribed burns. There are only 6 short logging trucks in all of Shasta County. We have a lot of work to do!

Scale is possible, the Tahoe forest treatment that saved South Lake Tahoe looks to be ~$1000/acre over 65k acres/10 years, while the smaller Caples project was $63/acre.

https://twitter.com/MichaelWWara/status/1432468167683497987

Economies of scale & efficiency are possible with innovation and better execution.

But forest treatment (thinning + prescribed burns) is the only way to save our healthy natural forests in US West.

To help — we need more "Wildfires are solvable in 5 years" news coverage to push the budgets, talent, and projects in this important climate space!

gabekleinman.medium.com/california-meg…

cc @SominiSengupta @PopovichN @nytclimate @whereishayley @KarenMelissaGa7 @drvolts