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https://www.propublica.org/article/they-know-how-to-prevent-megafires-why-wont-anybody-listen https://www.propublica.org/article/they-know-how-to-prevent-... "

https://www.propublica.org/article/they-know-how-to-prevent-megafires-why-wont-anybody-listen https://www.propublica.org/article/they-know-how-to-prevent-... "In February 2020, Nature Sustainability published this terrifying conclusion: California would need to burn 20 million acres — an area about the size of Maine — to restabilize in terms of fire."

0_____0 6y ago
Cost estimates I'm seeing say the cost/acre for prescribed burns is ~$100/acre. A very large works project but So maybe more achievable than it sounds, and it could be spread over a decade. Naïve calculation thus puts the cost at 2 billion dollars, or about 1/3rd of the final cost of the east span of the Bay Bridge. :)
- shoyer 6y ago
  Well, the Camp Fire in 2018 caused $16.5B in damages: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Camp_Fire_(2018) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Camp_Fire_(2018) And more than $1.6B has been spent on fire suppression in California this year alone: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2020_California_wildfires#cite_note-Large_Incident_Report-2 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2020_California_wildfires#cite... So when you think about the alternatives, $2B to clear California's fire debt sounds pretty reasonable.