Read Part One
As mentioned in Part One, the San Juan Headwaters Forest Health Partnership (SJHFHP) meets regularly to discuss projects, funding opportunities and ideas for keeping the forests at the headwaters of the San Juan River as ‘healthy’ as possible. From the SJHFHP website:
All of the projects that the SJHFHP participates in are decided using the principles identified in our strategic plan. The Partnership brings together community members, land managers, environmental groups, community organizers and local decision makers to:
- Prioritize and work at a landscape-scale across jurisdictional boundaries
- Implement on-the-ground projects that address values at risk
- Enhance local forest products industry
- Utilize diverse forest management tools when and where appropriate
- Consensus-based decision making and multi-stakeholder input
- Educate and involve the community
At the February 16 meeting, much of the discussion was related to a presentation by Curtis Hartenstine, Wildfire Mitigation and Compliance Coordinator for Tri-State Generation and Transmission, the electric co-op that generates and delivers wholesale electricity to various smaller rural electric co-ops — including La Plata Electric Association (LPEA) — through 5,000 miles of high-voltage transmission lines.
Many of those high-voltage lines run through flammable forests, and as such, are subject to two particular risks: the risk that a meeting between a tree and a transmission line could cause a wildfire… and the risk that a wildfire, started elsewhere, could sweep through and damage transmission lines.
Reportedly, the second-largest wildfire in California history was sparked when power lines owned by Pacific Gas and Electric (PG&E) came into contact with a tree.
The Dixie Fire started July 13, 2021, and burned across 963,000 acres in Northern California, destroying 1,329 structures, including much of the small community of Greenville, about 170 miles north of Sacramento. Several firefighters were injured while working to contain the fire.
PG&E, in a statement last year, said the tree was one of more than 8 million within striking distance of its power lines.
“Taking a bold step forward, PG&E has committed to burying 10,000 miles of lines in addition to the mitigations included in PG&E’s 2021 Wildfire Mitigation Plan,” the utility said.
We didn’t hear any suggestions at the SJHFHP meeting, last week, that Tri-State intends to bury any of its 5,000 miles of transmission lines in Colorado, New Mexico, Wyoming and Nebraska. We did hear, however, ideas thrown around for ways Tri-State and the U.S. Forest Service might work together in the future, to thin the forests near the transmission lines.
But this lengthy discussion took place later in the meeting, after an equally long conversation about how the process of growing a community like Pagosa Springs, in the midst of a forest — a potentially flammable forest — is resulting, now, in skyrocketing insurance rates for homeowners.
Archuleta County Commissioner Medina had summarized her recent conversations in Washington DC, noting that Archuleta County experienced 10 wildfires, of various sizes, during 2023.
I asked Commissioner Medina if she could imagine the County government getting involved, somehow, in helping to drive insurance rates down. Perhaps working with a local non-profit?
“My own personal opinion,” she responded, “I think it would be great to work with a local non-profit, to address the insurance issue. Absolutely.”
We then heard from Dana Guinn, Southwest Partnership Manager with the Forest Stewards Guild, where she helps coordinate the 2-3-2 Partnership and the Rio Chama Collaborative Forest Landscape Restoration Program.
“I’m on a ‘conservation finance’ team, where we’re learning about different ways to, like, capture private financing for forest and watershed projects. And in California, they created this California Wildfire Innovation Fund, and they partnered with Blue Forest, which is a conservation finance organization and broker, and with AAA Insurance.
“They found a way to create this fund, that is proactively supporting wildfire protection and preparedness. So that could be something interesting to think about. On a smaller scale. Obviously, California is a very different place than Colorado…
“But I will just throw this out there into the universe. It’s so disheartening for me to hear… like, I know it’s a disincentive, and it’s like, a short term loss… but if we do not have fire in our forests, it will eventually be catastrophically worse.
“So, to hear there were 10 fires in our community, and therefore insurance companies are, like, ‘This is problematic.’ What they should be looking at is: Where were those fires? How did it reduce fuel loads? And how did those fires actually help protect our community?
“I can’t change that, single-handedly, but when I hear that, it just makes my blood boil…
“If we have these fires in our community, the insurance rates should decrease.”
La Plata County Commissioner Clyde Church offered a few thoughts.
“I just want to go off of Commissioner Medina’s comments. La Plata County is in the same situation. When you sell your house, you can’t find an insurer over here. You get shuttled through just a few people who still do some underwriting. Some of the smaller companies are dropping homeowners, to reduce their risk.
“It’s across the whole region…”
Here’s a bit more info on the California Wildfire Innovation Fund, from the AAA Insurance website:
“The California Wildfire Innovation Fund is strategically aligned with our support of the Forest Resilience Bond, which reduces risk by accelerating the pace and scale of forest management,” said Jeff Huebner, chief risk officer for CSAA Insurance Group. “We are confident that this new fund will deliver meaningful outcomes for our customers, our communities, and anyone that recognizes the importance of protecting California from the threat of wildfire and climate change.”
The California Wildfire Innovation Fund is managed by Blue Forest Asset Management, and targets emerging investment opportunities in forest restoration, wood utilization, and wildfire mitigation. Emphasis is placed on industries and projects that add system capacity, create value for forest restoration byproducts, and unlock carbon offset revenue through carbon storage and sequestration…
As we all know, trees extract carbon from the air and build their ‘bodies’ with it. As a tree grows larger, it ‘stores’ more and more carbon.
Looked at from that simple perspective — for anyone concerned about ‘greenhouse gases’ — the more trees we have, the better. In California, forestry management is now seen, by some, as part of the battle against climate change.
The carbon continues to be ‘stored’, if the trees are converted into building products. But the carbon is released back into the atmosphere, if the trees burn… in a wood stove… or in a wildfire.
The fewer trees we have on the landscape, the less chance we have of catastrophic wildfire.
All of which makes it complicated… to balance our goals, and priorities. And to balance our checkbooks.