California pulls out troops from Mexico border

Starting in April, 110 California National Guard troops will receive 11 days of training in using shovels, rakes and chain saws to help thin trees and brush, California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection spokesman Mike Mohler said.

They will be divided into five teams that will travel around the state working on forest management projects, mainly clearing or reducing trees and vegetation in an effort to deprive flames of fuel.

“They will be boots on the ground doing fuels projects alongside Calfire crews,” Mohler said. “We’ve had them out for flood fighting, several different operations, but this would be the first time their mission would be fuels thinning and forest management.” They have helped fight fires before, however.

Former governor Arnold Schwarzenegger was the first in recent decades to deploy California National Guard troops as firefighters.

That occurred on July 4, 2008, ater lightning storms sparked hundreds of fires, Guard Lieutenant Colonel Jonathan Shiroma said.

He referred questions about the latest effort to Calfire, which is directing the Guard’s new assignment.

The training is similar for firefighting and fire protection. Mohler said the troops also will receive some training in forest management, “so they’re not just out there cuting brush” but understand why they’re doing what they’re doing.

For instance, firefighting crews generally cut fire lines down to mineral earth during active wildfires, while fuels management crews oten do less-intensive thinning of trees and chaparral to slow advancing flames.

That oten involves creating fuel breaks. They can range from stripping away all woody vegetation on wide strips of land to thinning larger trees and removing shorter trees, brush and debris to discourage fires from climbing into treetops and jumping from tree to tree.

“Calfire is taking the Trump approach, logging the forest and weakening critical environmental protections, and that’s the exact opposite of what we need to be doing,” Center for Biological Diversity scientist Shaye Wolf said.

She said the beter approach is to make homes more fire resistant while pruning vegetation immediately surrounding homes.

Calfire this month listed 35 fuel-reduction projects it wants to start immediately, covering more than 362sq km - double the acreage in previous years. But state officials estimate 60,704 sq km of California forestland need thinning or other restoration.