SACRAMENTO: Senator Sam Aanestad (R-Grass Valley) described himself as “mad as hell” and announced he’s “not going to take it anymore” at the conclusion of a special Legislative Wildfire Summit billed as “California Burns.” The three-hour summit, which also featured Congressmen Wally Herger (R-Chico), John Doolittle (R-Granite Bay), Senator Dave Cox (R-Fair Oaks) and Assemblymembers Rick Keene (R-Chico) and Doug LaMalfa (R-Richvale), took place today at the State Capitol.
 
“The devastation caused by the more than two thousand wildfires that hit California this summer is unimaginable and unacceptable,” said Senator Aanestad during today’s summit. “That devastation includes 15 people who are dead, including nine firefighters who were killed while battling the Buckhorn Wildfire in Trinity County. The sad thing is, much of this could have been avoided.”
 
Today’s summit not only featured testimony and statements from elected leaders, but representatives from the United States Forest Service, California Fire Safe Council, Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, Northern California Water Association, Quincy Library Group and the California Farm Bureau Federation.
 
“We know that current forestry management practices have led to an increased number and severity of wildfires in California,” said Senator Aanestad during today’s summit. “That includes complex government regulations and restrictions on the way we manage our timberlands in the State of California.
 
Senator Aanestad and other elected leaders and panelists who took part in today’s hearing agreed that additional studies on the wildfire threats facing California are not needed. They instead pressed federal elected leaders and Governor Schwarzenegger to take concrete and swift action designed to reduce the fuel buildup on state and national forestlands.
 
“It’s time for real action and not just words by the Governor, the Legislature and state agencies,” said Senator Aanestad. “It’s time for real action, not just words, by our President, our Congress and our federal agencies. And it can be done.”
 
Senator Aanestad and the other elected leaders who took part in today’s hearing drafted a letter to Governor Schwarzenegger demanding a change in current forestry policies that have left more than one million acres in California burned.
 
“I’m mad as hell and I’m not going to take it anymore,” said Senator Aanestad. “This didn’t have to happen.”