primergray
04-28-2004, 03:54 AM
http://www.signonsandiego.com/uniontrib/20040428/news_2m28break.html
Bill to allow more clearing of land near structures rejected
Legislative setback angers Hollingsworth
By Michael Gardner
STAFF WRITER
April 28, 2004
SACRAMENTO – Wary of more logging on private parcels and weakening environmental safeguards, state Senate Democrats yesterday rejected legislation that would have expanded the amount of land property owners can clear to protect structures from fire.
The defeat outraged Sen. Dennis Hollingsworth, a La Mesa Republican who introduced the measure in the aftermath of last year's deadly firestorms that swept through San Diego and much of Southern California last year.
"Many homeowners expressed frustration and anger over environmental regulations preventing them from clearing dangerous brush," Hollingsworth said in a statement.
"This is one of the tragic lessons seared on our consciences from the fires and it is tragic that the pleas of those who experienced loss and know what needs to be done fell on deaf ears."
However, Hollingsworth in March voted against more modest legislation that still would have increased the area homeowners could clear.
San Diego's Dede Alpert was the lone Democrat on the Senate Natural Resources and Wildlife Committee to vote for Hollingsworth's bill, SB 1255.
"If we're going to prevent future disasters, we have to change some laws and make fire protection a priority," Alpert said.
Hollingsworth's measure would have allowed property owners to clear brush and trees up to 300 feet from any structure anywhere in the state.
The Democrat-backed SB 1369, carried by Sen. Sheila Kuehl, D-Santa Monica, would limit firebreaks to 100 feet and only in fire-prone areas. The Kuehl bill is moving through the Legislature.
The existing clearance limit is 30 feet, although in some areas more brush or trees can be removed.
A special commission appointed after the wildfires recommended relaxing standards on firebreaks, said Alpert, who was a member.
Critics complained that loose wording in Hollingsworth's bill would have allowed indiscriminate clearing and commercial logging.
The measure "overreaches and could create dramatic adverse impacts on the environment," the Sierra Club and Planning and Conservation League said in a joint letter of opposition.
Supporters included rural counties, the state Chamber of Commerce and a timber association.
"Forest fires are ruining lives and devastating landscape indiscriminately . . . Millions of acres of valuable forestlands and the jobs they provide are gone, maybe forever," said the chamber in a letter of support.
Bill to allow more clearing of land near structures rejected
Legislative setback angers Hollingsworth
By Michael Gardner
STAFF WRITER
April 28, 2004
SACRAMENTO – Wary of more logging on private parcels and weakening environmental safeguards, state Senate Democrats yesterday rejected legislation that would have expanded the amount of land property owners can clear to protect structures from fire.
The defeat outraged Sen. Dennis Hollingsworth, a La Mesa Republican who introduced the measure in the aftermath of last year's deadly firestorms that swept through San Diego and much of Southern California last year.
"Many homeowners expressed frustration and anger over environmental regulations preventing them from clearing dangerous brush," Hollingsworth said in a statement.
"This is one of the tragic lessons seared on our consciences from the fires and it is tragic that the pleas of those who experienced loss and know what needs to be done fell on deaf ears."
However, Hollingsworth in March voted against more modest legislation that still would have increased the area homeowners could clear.
San Diego's Dede Alpert was the lone Democrat on the Senate Natural Resources and Wildlife Committee to vote for Hollingsworth's bill, SB 1255.
"If we're going to prevent future disasters, we have to change some laws and make fire protection a priority," Alpert said.
Hollingsworth's measure would have allowed property owners to clear brush and trees up to 300 feet from any structure anywhere in the state.
The Democrat-backed SB 1369, carried by Sen. Sheila Kuehl, D-Santa Monica, would limit firebreaks to 100 feet and only in fire-prone areas. The Kuehl bill is moving through the Legislature.
The existing clearance limit is 30 feet, although in some areas more brush or trees can be removed.
A special commission appointed after the wildfires recommended relaxing standards on firebreaks, said Alpert, who was a member.
Critics complained that loose wording in Hollingsworth's bill would have allowed indiscriminate clearing and commercial logging.
The measure "overreaches and could create dramatic adverse impacts on the environment," the Sierra Club and Planning and Conservation League said in a joint letter of opposition.
Supporters included rural counties, the state Chamber of Commerce and a timber association.
"Forest fires are ruining lives and devastating landscape indiscriminately . . . Millions of acres of valuable forestlands and the jobs they provide are gone, maybe forever," said the chamber in a letter of support.