Episode Details

Climate Change Exacerbates California’s Wildfires

Nearly all of California’s landscapes are naturally fire-dependent or fire-adapted, and this beneficial relationship with fire allows ecosystems to maintain healthy functions and promotes biodiversity. However, high-intensity wildfires disrupt this relationship and cause detrimental damage to these ecosystems as wildfires impact tree regeneration, soil erosion, and water quality. According to modeling by the California Air Resources Board, climate change makes the conditions for high-intensity wildfires – like hot, dry summers – more likely. 

Extreme Wildfires Hurt Wildlife

High-intensity wildfires impact wildlife. Many animals cannot move, so die in the fires. Those that can escape, by running or burrowing into the ground, face another challenge when they return: adapting to a new and changing environment. 

While directly measuring wildlife casualties isn’t possible, emergency vets and zoos across California report dramatic increases in their wildlife patients after severe wildfires. During the 2021 fire season, the Wildlife Disaster Network through UC Davis’s Veterinary Emergency Response Team cared for more than 2000 injured wildlife and pets. According to estimates by The Wildlife Society, fires the year before had killed between 300 to 600 cougars – 15% of California’s cougar population.

California’s Plan to Increase Fire Resiliency

In 2021, Governor Newsom signed SB 85, the $536 million Wildfire and Forest Resilience Action Plan, into law to support early action and intervention against wildfires and measures to build resilient communities, restore ecological health, and fund wildfire suppression. 

The California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW) manages over one million acres of land in the state – many of which are both fire-prone and vital habitats for wildlife. As a result, the CDFW plays a key role in implementing SB 85’s goals. 

As part of that effort, the California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW) undertook “the largest wildfire protection and resilience efforts in its history.” This new support has helped not only safeguard CDFW property, but better protect surrounding homes, communities, and wildlife habitats, as well. SB 85 also allowed CFDW to hire additional staff, afford new equipment, and start over forty new fire control projects like creating fire breaks, removing wildfire fuel, thinning overgrown vegetation, expanding livestock grazing, and more. 

In January 2023, the U.S. Senate also introduced the Wildfire Emergency Act. This bill has bipartisan support and aims to reduce the risks of catastrophic wildfires faced in California and across the West of the country. The $250 million act would increase forest restoration and wildfire resilience projects.

Looking Forward 

The California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection

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