Bericht des Climate and Community Project in Kooperation mit der Universität von British Columbia, 26.8.2022 (engl. Originalfassung)
California wildfires are emblematic of the climate crisis and a harbinger of a dangerous future. The stakes could not be higher for communities across California, and the US West: in addition to the existential risks and air quality impacts posed by severe wildfire, functional forest ecosystems are critical for regulating water supplies and trapping carbon dioxide.
These ecological risks compound and complicate an equally vast set of social problems, many of which date back to colonization and the genocide of Indigenous peoples, followed by shifting forest management regimes that have left forests and communities degraded. Significant action is needed for forest restoration, and state and federal funding for restoration is beginning to pick up, but there is no guarantee that more money alone will maximize benefits for communities at the wildland-urban interface or the workers doing forest restoration on the ground.
We offer findings across four main areas, with companion recommendations to put forest restoration on the high road:
First, California’s forest restoration funding offers essential resources, but key changes to the grant system, as well as increased transparency and accountability, are needed to ensure funds are supporting local workers and workforce development.
Second, labor shortages are being felt across the restoration sector as a result of low wages, difficult working conditions, loss of forestry knowledge due to industrial decline, and structural economic problems for rural communities.
Third, limited US Forest Service (USFS) capacity poses challenges for implementing restoration work and building the workforce, and limits the effectiveness of new state and federal funding coming into the system.
Finally, there are an array of structural political and economic factors that limit the pace and scale of forest restoration in ways that contribute to local economies.
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