Vice President Glenda Humiston and UC ANR colleagues met with California legislators on April 9 at the Capitol to discuss the impact of UC ANR in their districts. They visited with 19 different legislative offices.
Humiston was joined by Kimberly Holmes, statewide 4-H Youth Development Program director; Anne Megaro, interim director of the UC ANR Policy Institute and director of Government and Community Relations; Lenya Quinn-Davidson, director of the UC ANR Fire Network; Hanif Houston, UC ANR Innovate communications associate director; Haris Gilani, UC Cooperative Extension biomass and bioenergy advisor; Cindy Chen, UCCE woody biomass and forest products advisor; and Sheron Violini, associate director of Government and Community Relations.
The group met with legislators and their staff to discuss 4-H youth leadership statewide activities, budget priorities, alternative fuels, contributions to food security and wildfire prevention and recovery.
“Thanks to the hard work of area and county directors, we were able to provide each legislator with county-specific impacts for the communities they represent,” Megaro said. “These two-page reports were key to illustrating program delivery.”
In the afternoon, Quinn-Davidson answered wildfire questions and provided legislative offices with community wildfire preparedness and prescribed fire resources. She offered to have members of the UC ANR Fire Network work with district offices to connect their constituents with resources and tools to harden homes for increased wildfire resilience.
“I want to thank Anne Megaro and Sheron Violini for arranging the day,” Humiston said.
On April 23, Yana Valachovic, UCCE forest advisor and county director for Humboldt and Del Norte counties, testified about community preparedness for wildfire for the California State Assembly Budget Subcommittee No. 4 on Climate Crisis, Resources, Energy and Transportation.
“Change is never easy. No one wants to be the one to change,” said Valachovic, who said her mother saw wildfire preparation as someone else’s problem.
She called out urgency and shared responsibility as missing pieces in wildfire preparation.
“We as residents of this state need to prepare our homes for a situation where under critical fire weather conditions, especially on a red flag warning day, where there’s wind, we understand that fire services are focused on evacuation and helping those in most need, and we can relax because our homes are in good condition and can weather the exposures,” Valachovic said.
She reminded the committee that wildfire is chronic and a statewide issue, not a forest issue, noting that during her visit to Los Angeles after the January conflagrations she saw very few homes that had taken steps to improve wildfire resilience.
Committee Chair Steve Bennett noted Valachovic’s observations about human behavior and said the committee would take that into consideration when implementing policy. See Valachovic’s remarks at the 3-hour mark at https://www.assembly.ca.gov/media/assembly-budget-subcommittee-no-4-climate-crisis-resources-energy-and-transportation-20250423.
On April 24, Valachovic spoke at a joint informational hearing of the California State Senate Natural Resources and Water committee and Senate Budget Subcommittee No. 2 on Resources, Environmental Protection and Energy. She talked about Zone Zero, the defensible space within five feet of structures, and other home hardening recommendations.
On Monday, May 5, 6:30-7:30 p.m., Valachovic and the UC ANR Fire Network will host a webinar to discuss simple, low-cost actions that you can take to protect your house and property from wildfire. Register for the free webinar at https://surveys.ucanr.edu/survey.cfm?surveynumber=46072.