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How To Keep California's Forests Healthy and Reduce Fires

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President Donald Trump speaks to California Governor Gavin Newsom at Sacramento McClellan Airport in McClellan Park, California on September 14, 2020 during a briefing on wildfires.  (BRENDAN SMIALOWSKI/AFP via Getty Images)

Wildfires seem to be getting bigger, more frequent and more dangerous. Experts say that won’t change this season or next, unless the state and federal governments spend billions of dollars more on thinning forests and making California communities more resilient to fire. That would mean a big shift for foresters and firefighters who’ve spent the past century working to preserve timber and beating back the flames. But people who study fire say that shift in thinking is long overdue. We’ll talk about what it would take to rework how California manages wildfires and forests.

Guests:

Craig Thomas, director, Fire Restoration Group

Lenya Quinn-Davidson, area fire advisor, UC Cooperative Extension

Danielle Venton, reporter, KQED Science

Scott Stephens, professor of fire science, the College of Natural Resources at UC Berkeley

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