Director, Commonwealth Policy Center

Paradise, California has been nearly destroyed. The deadliest fire in California history took 85 lives, destroyed 14,000 homes and structures and left 153,336 acres of woodland charred. Paradise became a picture of hell on earth. The heat and flames, acrid smoke and destruction left in the fire's wake was a kind of evil most only see in the movies. Some are quick to blame global climate change. But according to former California legislator Chuck DeVore, the problem has been mismanagement. Devore points to a 2006 report by the Western Governors’ Association that warned, “…over time the fire-prone forests that were not thinned, burn in uncharacteristically destructive wildfires… …In the long term, leaving forests overgrown (makes them) prone to unnaturally destructive wildfires…” The Camp Fire didn't have to be so destructive and that's why Gov. Jerry Brown recently signed two new laws that changes forest management practices.