Webinar Replay: Strategies for Effective Wildfire Management

November 2, 2023

On Tuesday, October 31, ConservAmerica and the Property and Environment Research Center (PERC) held a webinar on Strategies for Effective Wildfire Management. The expert panel was comprised of Hannah Downey, Policy Director, PERC; Patrick Brown, Co-Director for Climate and Energy, Breakthrough Institute; Todd Myers, Director of Center for the Environment, Washington Policy Center; and Chris Villarreal, Associate Fellow, Energy & Environment, R Street. The replay also includes messages from Senator Steve Daines (R-MT) and Congressman Doug Lamborn (R-CO).

The Summer of 2023 will be remembered as one of the worst wildfire seasons in recent history, with devastating fires in Hawaii to hundreds of wildfires burning across the West and Canada. Catastrophic wildfires, in contrast to controlled fires which are healthy for forest ecosystems, not only have widespread public health and environmental impacts, but also cost hundreds of billions of dollars annually. Hamstrung by overlapping regulations, litigation, and inadequate funding, there is a compelling need for better practices, new policies, and more funding that will lead to healthier forests and a reduction of catastrophic wildfires.

To watch the webinar replay, click the screen below.

Panelists

Hannah Downey is the policy director at PERC, leading policy strategy and government affairs efforts to implement key policy reforms based on PERC’s groundbreaking research. She has applied her passion for the outdoors to advance lasting conservation wins since joining PERC in 2015. Hannah has testified before Congress and works closely with policymakers at the federal and state levels on conservation issues, and her work has been featured in media outlets including The Wall Street Journal and The Hill.

Patrick Brown is a Co-Director of the Climate and Energy Team at The Breakthrough Institute and is also an adjunct faculty member (lecturer) in the Energy Policy and Climate Program at Johns Hopkins University. He holds a Ph.D. from Duke University in Earth and Climate Sciences, a Master’s degree from San Jose State University in Meteorology & Climate Science, and a Bachelor’s degree from the University of Wisconsin – Madison in Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences. His research has been highlighted on CNN, in The Washington Post, Newsweek, BBC Radio, New York Magazine, The Huffington Post, and The Guardian among other places.

Todd Myers has over two decades of policy experience including work on a range of environmental issues, including climate policy, forest health, old-growth forests, and salmon recovery. A former member of the executive team at the Washington State Department of Natural Resources, he is a member of the Puget Sound Salmon Recovery Council. He is the author of “Time to Think Small: How nimble environmental technologies can solve the planet’s biggest problems,” and “Eco-Fads: How the Rise of Trendy Environmentalism Is Harming the Environment.” His writing has appeared in the Wall Street Journal, National Review, Seattle Times, and USA Today, and he has appeared on numerous news networks including CNBC, Fox News, the BBC, and CNN.

Chris Villarreal is an Associate Fellow, Energy and Environment at R Street, with over 20 years of experience in the electricity industry, including over 10 years working for state utility commissions in California and Minnesota. Chris works on policy and regulatory guidance on matters relating to distributed energy resources, grid modernization, performance-based ratemaking, and distribution system planning. Chris oversaw the development of the National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners (NARUC) “Distributed Energy Resources Rate Design and Compensation” manual. The manual was released to assist utility commissions around the country in considering the impacts of distributed energy resources on rate design and compensation methodologies.

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