Filmmaker James Thebaut Shines Light on California Watershed and Forests

​RANCHO PALOS VERDES, Calif. – It might have been overshadowed by the dramatic wildfires and images of smoke-choked cities that have dominated the headlines, but last month, Gov. Newsom and the U.S. Forest Service announced a new joint initiative called “The Agreement for Shared Stewardship for California’s Forest and Rangelands.” 

The initiative brings state and federal government together to address watershed and forestry management at a crisis point, a crisis that ecological filmmaker James Thebaut, has been shining a light on for years.

Thebaut explained that the intensifying wildfires we see now are in part the result of years of poor planning, bad policy and blame shifting.

“It goes all the way back to the Gold Rush period,” said Thebaut. “[California] had a fire suppression policy. Well, fires are part of the ecological system. And, consequently, what we have now is thousands and thousands and thousands of dead trees. We have to start cleaning. We have to actually redesign the forest.”

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