in that, they discuss controlled burning among other things.. they reference Dr Scott Stephans who was lead author on
'Drought, Tree Mortality, and Wildfire in Forests Adapted to Frequent Fire' February 2018 / BioScience
where it is stated, summary first paragraph :
Massive tree mortality has occurred rapidly in frequent-fire-adapted forests of the Sierra Nevada, California. This mortality is a product of acute drought compounded by the long-established removal of a key ecosystem process: frequent, low- to moderate-intensity fire. ... The scale of present tree mortality is so large that greater potential for “mass fire” exists in the coming decades, driven by the amount and continuity of dry, combustible, large woody material that could produce large, severe fires. For long-term adaptation to climate change, we highlight the importance of moving beyond triage of dead and dying trees to making “green” (live) forests more resilient.
The winter months used to be spent executing forestry management, 'raking' with bulldozers and diggers designed to clear the fuel that builds up on the ground and becomes a major fire hazard in the summer and fall months. (You can easily find video of forestry raking and controlled burns online, the same term is used in the UK). Controlled burns to clear fire roads and areas in order to prevent fie spread complete the winter cycle.
We are now years behind in clearing the undergrowth that are a major cause of fires. Whether it is federal or state land the environmental lobbyists have been highly effective in challenging these ancient practices, believing they harm our planet.
Always keen to cut costs, the state now spends far more seasonally on fire fighting, a hugely lucrative business, than preventative investment in land management. We are at a crisis point but the governor choses to claim it is 'global warming' that is causing these massive fires, when in reality the far greater issue, which could be quickly rectified, is lack of forestry and vegetation management.
We are now in a situation where logging mills have burnt in Oregon, making it even harder to keep up with processing wood and adding to the cost of housing. While California burns we are importing construction timber from Canada.