California Insider

Senate leader John Burton, in a memo to members, has put them on notice to be ready to meet in special session on the afternoon of Nov. 18, the day after Arnold Schwarzenegger is scheduled to be sworn in as governor.

--Gov. Gray Davis and federal lawmakers from California asked for federal financial help in thinning dead trees in April, citing the danger of catastrophic fire. The feds failed to respond to the plea until last Friday, then denied the request. In the Chronicle.

--In the same story, it’s noted that forest scientists warned that more thinning was needed years ago, but were stymied by environmentalists opposed to legislation that would have allowed it. They opposed the proposals because the bills would have also allowed timber companies to cut more healthy trees.

--The San Diego County sheriff’s pilots who rescued the hunter believed to have started the Cedar fire alerted the US Forest Service, asked them to help fight the fire and asked for permission to collect water from hanging buckets to try to douse it. The Forest Service told them to stand down because night was falling and choppers don’t fight fire at night. Story in the LA Times.

--And here is the SD Union story from Thursday about teh state's refusal to use federal helicopters from North Island.

The debate over thinning and who did what, when, is going to rage for months, if not years. But it should be noted that most of the damage so far has occurred far from the forests that are at issue. The chaparral that burned in Ramona, Alpine, Crest, the city of San Diego and the Simi Valley has never been a serious candidate for the kind of thinning contemplated in the Healthy Forest bill, nor would it be practical to include it.

Then there is the story of John Lucas, the former firefighter who fought alone to save his own house near Lake Arrowhead. What Lucas did when the fire arrived couldn't be matched by most people. But it's interesting to note what he did in advance: planted a mini-greenbelt, thinned the forest, built a water tower. He knew the fire was coming and prepared for it, and his home survived. An example for other individuals in fire-prone areas, as well as for the government. In the Bee.