Assemblymember Connolly Introduces the Beneficial Fire Capacity Act

AB 1891 supports tribes and conservation goals by strengthening wildfire resilience projects

• Isabella Jimenez
• [email protected]

SACRAMENTO, CA - Today, Assemblymember Damon Connolly introduced AB 1891, the Beneficial Fire Capacity Act with sponsorship from the Karuk Tribe and Watershed Research and Training Center. This bill establishes a dedicated funding source and thoughtful programmatic changes that will enable beneficial fire practitioners to overcome financial barriers and apply beneficial fire at the scale needed to sustain healthy forest ecosystems and wildlife habitat, mitigate against catastrophic wildfire, and protect communities.

"Beneficial fire has been a proven practice utilized by California's first peoples for thousands of years," said Assemblymember Connolly. "It is an honor to stand with the Karuk Tribe and the Watershed Research and Training Center to introduce AB 1891 to dedicate grant funding to beneficial fire practitioners. The evidence is clear, beneficial fire projects help our ecosystems foster biodiversity, reduces wildfire risk, and preserves natural habitats and forests. It is time we expand these practices and give California another tool to help make our state more resilient to wildfires and natural disasters."

The risk of wildfires is growing in California, due to the combined effects of more than a century of fire exclusion and fuel accumulation, layered with a changing climate that makes landscapes and communities even more vulnerable. Beneficial fire, including prescribed fire, cultural burning, and wildfire managed for resource benefits, is a cost-effective tool for reducing these risks. Thousands of years of tribal stewardship and utilization of beneficial fire has proven its effectiveness throughout the state.

The Beneficial Fire Capacity Act builds on the goals of recent executive actions by Governor Newsom to advance the state toward its beneficial fire goals.

This legislation creates the Beneficial Fire Capacity Program, which will:

● Set aside 10% of Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund (GGRF) funding allocated to CalFire for wildfire resiliency to support beneficial fire, with 25% dedicated specifically to tribes.

● Expand training, organizational capacity, and support for tribal and community-led beneficial fire programs.

● Create partnership opportunities by funding beneficial fire programs developed by California Native American tribes, nongovernmental organizations, universities and colleges, local fire services, and others.

● Provide competitive grants for beneficial fire implementation, capacity building, research, innovation, and training.

The Beneficial Fire Capacity Act is sponsored by the Karuk Tribe and The Watershed Research and Training Center and has earned strong support from beneficial fire practitioners, conservation organizations, prescribed burn associations, and others across the state who are working to increase California's fire resilience and preparation:

"The Karuk Tribe is proud to sponsor the Beneficial Fire Capacity Act. We have been burning since Time Immemorial to care for our homelands; provide habitat for wildlife, and food, fiber, and medicine for our people; and to protect our communities. With this Act, Assemblymember Connolly has authored a bill that recognizes the critical importance of beneficial fire to mitigate and prevent catastrophic wildfire. It invests in what is needed to truly get us to pace and scale: supporting a well-trained beneficial fire workforce. We look forward to working with the Assemblymember, the Legislature, and the Governor to pass this legislation into law," said Vice Chairman Kenneth Brink, Karuk Tribe.

"We know that California's landscapes and communities need more beneficial fire. However, our statewide capacity for this work is not on par with the scale of the need, or with the ambitious goals the state has set. This bill brings a longer-term vision, focusing not just on acres treated in the near term-as existing grant programs have done-but also on the workforce, training, and organizational growth needed to truly scale beneficial fire into the future. The dedicated funding provided through the Beneficial Fire Capacity Program is the critical next step in advancing this work," said Lenya Quinn-Davidson Director of the University of California Agriculture and Natural Resources Fire Network.

"The Statewide Strategy for the Expansion of Beneficial Fire, created through the Governor's Wildfire and Forest Resilience Task Force, recognizes that state and federal wildland fire agencies can't achieve our ambitious goals alone. It's going to take locally and tribally led capacity and initiative; bringing partners together from across sectors, reaching key landownerships, connecting projects across jurisdictions, and grounding the implementation in local workforces trained and committed to bringing good fire to their communities and landscape across generations. The Beneficial Fire Capacity Program is key to realizing this vision," said Nick Goulette, Co-Executive Director, Watershed Research & Training Center.

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Assemblymember Connolly represents the entirety of Marin County and Southern Sonoma County