Federal officials have taken another tour of the Camp Fire devastation, that also included Nevada County’s Congressman Doug LaMalfa. And Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke and Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue continue to push for better forest thinning, to reduce future massive wildfires in California. But finding common ground on how to do that remains elusive. The House has passed a new version of the farm bill that would give broader leeway for the Forest Service, exempting them from most environmental reviews on projects as big as six-thousand acres. LaMalfa says California’s permitting process can take months and cost tens of thousands of dollars…

click to listen to Doug LaMalfa

Meanwhile, the Senate is not supporting the bill in its present form. And, with Democrats taking control of the House, LaMalfa says the legislation is in limbo…

click to listen to Doug LaMalfa

Perdue has also proposed helping the town of Paradise to rebuild, by using timber from the nearby Plumas National Forest.