Democrats have been quick to blame devastating wildfires in Hawaii on climate change, though experts have pushed back, saying the fires are likely due to poor management.
and Natural Resources Committee Chairman Bruce Westerman, R-Ark., introduced the Save Our Sequoias Act to accelerate scientific forest management practices that prioritize wildfire risk reduction in an effort to protect the Giant Sequoia tree in California.
"But if we want to reduce fires tomorrow, if we want to protect communities this year, next year and over the next five years — the only way to act that quickly is to manage our forests for the climate and other risks they currently face," Wood added. According to Wood, who has researched forest management practices in the nation for years, the U.S. Forest Service has a backlog of about 80 million acres of land needing restoration and forest management, while thehas another 50 million acres that require management. That land, he said, is filled with dead, dying and diseased trees, which provide fuel for fires.
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