The new law limits the liability of private landowners and public agencies that use prescribed fires under specified conditions.
, adds legal protections for those who conduct the burns for public benefit, including a number of groups who had been reluctant or unable to employ the practice because of dwindling insurance options and other complex barriers, according to experts who worked on the bill.Many said the move is essential not only to help forests recover from a century of fire suppression, but also to better arm the state for wildfire response in the years to come.
Those who are negligent in their use of fire will still be held accountable for fire-suppression costs or emergency services under the law, said Quinn-Davidson, who is also the director of Northern California Prescribed Fire Council., which was signed by Newsom at the end of September.
Prescribed fire is not new. For centuries, many of California’s Indigenous communities considered it essential for forest health and employed it to great success, along with similar burning practices applied for cultural goals and objectives. “What it means is that if a cultural burner is certified by a tribe, they have the same liability protection” as permitted burn bosses, said Wara, who also worked on the bill.
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