California making progress on wildfire prevention, but federal cuts loom Play

The state of California is doing a pretty good job hacking back brush and trees that pose fire threats across this vast state. That's according to an analysis by experts at the Public Policy Institute of California.

The state is trying to trim brush and cut dead trees to reduce severe wildfire hazards on 1 million acres of wildlands each year. It's an ambitious target. The Public Policy Institute of California finds an average of 591,000 acres undergoing work to reduce wildfire hazard each year.

But the authors warn that federal policy cuts may limit California's ability to limit severe wildfire. The state's annual budget for wildfire mitigation work could drop by hundreds of millions as key funding sources dry up. There may be cuts of $200 million or so, and that means the crucially important work will not occur at the scale the state needs.

The Public Policy Institute report is urging the state and federal governments to preserve the spending levels of the past few years in preventing fire by clearing brush.

Say the authors: "Now is not the time to lose momentum."