Wildfires have burned over 5 million acres in the West. Are they too big for Washington to ignore? [Los Angeles Times]
… Feeling new urgency from a historic wildfire season, Western Republicans and Democrats have put forward legislative proposals for addressing the region’s forests, which are unnaturally overgrown thanks to decades of fire suppression. … On Thursday, Wyden unveiled his plan — a set of changes that would require the Forest Service and the Bureau of Land Management to use prescribed fire more frequently to preemptively burn off excess vegetation that can otherwise become tinder for out-of-control blazes. … Another proposal, a bipartisan bill from Sens. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) and Steve Daines (R-Mont.), presents a vastly different approach. It would create new exemptions to the nation’s bedrock environmental law, the National Environmental Policy Act, limiting public review of forestry projects to speed up the removal of small trees and shrubs.
A California town’s fire-protection plans hit red tape, then the flames came [Wall Street Journal]
BERRY CREEK, Calif.—As the smoke from the nearby fire-devastated town of Paradise cleared in 2018, local officials were trying to gain approval of forest-thinning projects to help this mountain community avoid a similar fate. Nearly two years after they first applied for approval from the state of California, the contract for one of the projects went out for bidding on Sept. 4. …Then just four days later, the North Complex fire roared through this community of 2,500, wiping out most of the homes and leaving at least 10 people dead, more than one-third of the total fatalities from wildfires this year in California.
Opinion: Climate change is affecting wildfires. But Newsom and legislators still need to do more [Los Angeles Times]
Message to Democrats: Just because President Trump says it, that doesn’t necessarily mean it’s wrong. … I think it’s time for the governor to start blaming mismanagement of the forests as much as climate change for these horrendous wildfires. Most of us understand that global warming is real and people around the globe need to slow it. California can be a role model, but we can’t lower the planet’s thermometer ourselves — it’s beyond the state’s reach. We do have the ability, however, to better cope with climate change in our forests by managing them better.
Creek Fire: Farm work goes on amid smoky conditions [KFSN TV, Fresno]
Despite the smoky conditions, the work never ends on Valley farms. The lemongrass crop had to be cut and packed so orders could quickly be filled. But because of the layer of smoke hovering, crews on David Sarabian’s farm were all wearing N95 respirators. … They were difficult to find at first but the State of California has made 13 million masks available to essential ag businesses. Sarabian said, “We couldn’t get the PPEs we needed and then we were able to find some through the Fresno County Ag Department to get us through the hump. Now the farm bureau has some. It’s loosened up.”
https://abc30.com/farms-creek-fire-wildfire-farm-workers-work-smoke-air-quality/6426851/
Gov. Newsom urged by lawmakers, advocates to sign farmworker COVID-19 relief package [KABC TV, Los Angeles]
… A group of advocates and California lawmakers are urging Gov. Gavin Newsom to sign a COVID-19 farmworker relief package. The three bills – AB 2043, AB 2164, AB 2165 – would ensure enforcement by Cal/OSHA and oversight during the COVID-19 pandemic, expand telehealth services for rural and community health centers and expand the availability to electronic filing to all state trial courts due to difficult access in many rural communities. … Among other recent efforts, the state has helped distribute about 13 million surgical masks and other personal protective equipment to agricultural workers.
https://abc7.com/governor-gavin-newsom-farmworkers-covid-19-coronavirus/6426962/
Leafy greens were linked to 40 E. coli outbreaks in a decade. Most involved romaine [NBC News]
Leafy greens are a common culprit of foodborne illnesses, with the produce linked to 40 outbreaks of a serious strain of E. coli from 2009 to 2018, a report published Wednesday in the journal Emerging Infectious Diseases finds. Among those outbreaks, one lettuce in particular bore the brunt of the blame: romaine. … Of outbreaks linked to a specific leafy green — rather than a mix — 54 percent were linked to romaine. … It’s not entirely clear why romaine was the most common culprit in the outbreaks. … Romaine did grow in popularity during the decade analyzed, the researchers wrote.
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