In Paradise, Using Greenbelts to Manage Wildfires

Laura Bliss reports on resiliency plans for Paradise, California, where in 2018 the Camp Fire destroyed the town, displaced 27,000 residents, and killed 85 people. Instead of the common managed retreat approach, Paradise is looking to prevention and mitigation strategies that assume people will live in areas vulnerable to wildfires.

The Paradise Recreation and Park District is starting to acquire land and develop a greenbelt that would surround Paradise. "If the nascent plan is fully realized, a moat of green acreage could provide space for respite and play. It would also serve as a fuel break, an unofficial urban growth boundary, and an access point for crews to manage the area with landscaping, prescribed burning, and fire containment for when the next blaze comes," writes Bliss.

The plan still faces many challenges, including a lack of clear leadership and regulations as well as the financial resources needed to acquire and replant the land. Greenbelts are also a less conventional way to address the threat of wildfires.

"That points to the importance of pooling different sources of knowledge for managing fire — including firefighters, planners, residents, and the Indigenous people who originally settled and managed this part of North America — to develop new strategies for living on the front lines of a warming planet," adds Bliss.