TAHOE CITY, Calif. — On Tuesday, May 23, Placer County Water Agency Board Chairman Robert Dugan testified before the United States House of Representatives Subcommittee on Federal Lands on the catastrophic impacts of megafires and the need to step up progress on managing forest lands in our watersheds.

Specifically, Dugan spoke in support of H.R. 188, the Proven Forest Management Act of 2022 (McClintock), which among other provisions, would expand the 10,000-acre Tahoe Basin Categorical Exclusion throughout the entire National Forest System and Bureau of Land Management. The categorial exclusion has been used to increase the pace and scale of forest treatments in and around the Tahoe Basin; these treatments proved beneficial in protecting a populated area of South Lake Tahoe during the Caldor Fire in 2021. 

In his testimony, Dugan explained how forest fires devastate our watersheds, including damage to natural resources, ecology, public infrastructure, and water supply, and threaten the safety of our communities. He advocated for the provisions of H.R. 188 to improve watershed health and protect communities, like those in Placer County.

“The morass of federal laws and rules we have adopted over the decades to ‘protect the environment’ have yielded exactly the opposite – catastrophic wildfires that wipe out all habitat. Expanding CE’s like the one used in Christmas Valley that helped stop the Caldor Fire and save countless thousands of acres of habitat and the city of South Lake Tahoe, are an effective tool to turn this around and reduce wildfire risk, restore habitat, and save our mountain communities,” said Dugan turning his testimony.

To watch his full testimony, visit https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dy_-FyKTLxY&t=3340s.