SOLUTIONS FOR CALIFORNIA WILDFIRES

SOLUTIONS FOR CALIFORNIA WILDFIRES

California needs to solicit companies and individuals willing to terrace and place under agricultural development those areas which form the perimeter around the metro areas in California. In exchange for providing this service to California, those willing to assume the cultivation and care of these perimeter areas should be granted 99-year renewable and performance-based leases, access to all perimeter areas, land for the development of rain and runoff catch-basins and irrigation, cooperation from all governmental entities to include expertise, planning, permitting and conflict-resolution.

These greenbelt areas will help to relocate wildfire concentrations to remoter locations where aerial and ground-based efforts of containment will be more effectively managed without the expenditure of such high percentages of manpower and resources within and adjacent to our population centers.

Even in Southern California, where rainfall is the lowest, we allow millions of gallons of precious water to drain into the ocean with minimal attempts to catch and store it for our immediate and future use. Combinations of wind and solar power used in conjunction with terracing, catch-basins, reservoirs, irrigation and drip-irrigation technologies can turn acres of highly combustible chaparral into safe, productive and manageable orchards and cropland.

Even in the heart of the recession, green expenditures on our agricultural infrastructure in California are justified, particularly when opportunities exist for both agri-business and private individuals to develop local cropland acreage in the heart of some of the nation’s largest population centers.

Let’s encourage our government to take the necessary steps to ensure the development of our metro perimeters. This will reduce risks from wildfires, develop valuable agricultural resources and help us to beautify our California landscapes.

Mark Overt Skilbred