Labor Day weekend is almost here and it could feel more like the Fourth of July. The forecasts say we could see a warm-up into the 90s. Nothing like what we had during the heat waves earlier this summer, but still above normal.
The holiday means lots of people are on the move. Roads will be busy, with AAA saying the peak drive times will likely be Thursday and Monday afternoons. Airports will be crowded too with a potentially record number of fliers, so airlines are urging that you get to the airport early and be prepared for lots of company along the way.
The Park Fire in Butte and surrounding counties is now reported to be 86 percent controlled. Cal Fire says mop-up work continues inside the fire line. The National Interagency Fire Center says there are 54 large wildfires burning state-wide. Together, they have burned over 2 million acres with more than 18,000 firefighters and support personnel involved.
California Tribes could soon have a bigger say in prescribed burns on native land. Lawmakers have approved a bill that would streamline the process for government involvement in the burns, intentionally set to prevent future fires. If Governor Newsom signs the measure the State Secretary of Natural Resources would get the power to agree with tribal leaders to bypass certain requirements related to burns on culturally significant ancestral lands. Senator Bill Dodd, who represents Napa and Sonoma COunties County, says native Americans have been taking part in prescribed burns for centuries and that the bill will give them more say in how they’re carried out. Tribal leaders and the state Farm Bureau are behind the proposal.
National parks in California and around the country are getting a 100 million dollar boost. The National Parks Foundation is getting that money from the Lilly Endowment to benefit the country’s more than 400 parks. It is the biggest donation ever to that nonprofit set up to support parks back in the 1960s. While the specifics are still to come, the head of the foundation says the money will in his words–supercharge–the idea that national parks are for everyone for generations to come.
