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| California Today: Fighting Fire With Fire | California Today: Fighting Fire With Fire |
| (about 1 hour later) | |
| Good morning. | Good morning. |
| Welcome to California Today, a morning update on the stories that matter to Californians (and anyone else interested in the state). | Welcome to California Today, a morning update on the stories that matter to Californians (and anyone else interested in the state). |
| Tell us about the issues that matter to you — and what you’d like to see: CAtoday@nytimes.com. | Tell us about the issues that matter to you — and what you’d like to see: CAtoday@nytimes.com. |
| Want to receive California Today by email? Sign up. | Want to receive California Today by email? Sign up. |
| If you think it’s been a fiery year, we’re only just getting started. | If you think it’s been a fiery year, we’re only just getting started. |
| Since January, the number of fires threatening areas guarded by California’s Department of Forestry and Fire Protection has jumped roughly 23 percent compared to the five-year average. Their size has grown, too, by nearly 90 percent, according to data released by the agency. | Since January, the number of fires threatening areas guarded by California’s Department of Forestry and Fire Protection has jumped roughly 23 percent compared to the five-year average. Their size has grown, too, by nearly 90 percent, according to data released by the agency. |
| In their wake, at least seven people have died, according to reports, and hundreds of homes have been vanquished. | In their wake, at least seven people have died, according to reports, and hundreds of homes have been vanquished. |
| On Monday, five big blazes were raging across the state. The biggest, the Soberanes Fire, has now been crawling across the Big Sur area for more than seven weeks. | On Monday, five big blazes were raging across the state. The biggest, the Soberanes Fire, has now been crawling across the Big Sur area for more than seven weeks. |
| Fire specialists expect the situation to worsen, fueled by a warming climate and development too close to forests that are dried and overgrown after years of aggressive fire suppression and drought. | Fire specialists expect the situation to worsen, fueled by a warming climate and development too close to forests that are dried and overgrown after years of aggressive fire suppression and drought. |
| That prognosis has added urgency to discussions in firefighting circles over how to better approach the crisis. | That prognosis has added urgency to discussions in firefighting circles over how to better approach the crisis. |
| Many fire experts want California to start emulating Florida, where fire departments have for decades set small forest fires, or allowed controlled fires to burn, as a way to use up fuels and prevent monster ones from erupting later. | Many fire experts want California to start emulating Florida, where fire departments have for decades set small forest fires, or allowed controlled fires to burn, as a way to use up fuels and prevent monster ones from erupting later. |
| “They are a place that’s kind of figured this out,” said Scott L. Stephens, a professor of fire science at the University of California, Berkeley. | “They are a place that’s kind of figured this out,” said Scott L. Stephens, a professor of fire science at the University of California, Berkeley. |
| California, on the other hand, has taken fewer preventive steps and put out too many of its fires over the last hundred years, leaving forests choked with fire-loving brush, many experts say. | California, on the other hand, has taken fewer preventive steps and put out too many of its fires over the last hundred years, leaving forests choked with fire-loving brush, many experts say. |
| Stephen Pyne, a fire historian at Arizona State University, said “a culture of suppression” took hold in California that dated to the Gold Rush, when foresters adopted the view that all fire is bad. | Stephen Pyne, a fire historian at Arizona State University, said “a culture of suppression” took hold in California that dated to the Gold Rush, when foresters adopted the view that all fire is bad. |
| While prescribed burning has since crept into the mix of strategies used in California, it has remained relatively rare. | While prescribed burning has since crept into the mix of strategies used in California, it has remained relatively rare. |
| But that may be changing. Attuned to the rising threat, California forest officials have been embracing new policies, Dr. Stephens said. | |
| Right now, three national forests in California — the Inyo, Sequoia and Sierra — are updating their land management plans for the first time since the 1980s to include more prescribed burns. | Right now, three national forests in California — the Inyo, Sequoia and Sierra — are updating their land management plans for the first time since the 1980s to include more prescribed burns. |
| “I think the plans are really forward-looking,” Dr. Stephens said. “I really am hopeful that this could begin to change.” | “I think the plans are really forward-looking,” Dr. Stephens said. “I really am hopeful that this could begin to change.” |
| Still, fire is a many-headed beast in California, and prescribed burning offers no solution for the shrub lands of Southern California. | Still, fire is a many-headed beast in California, and prescribed burning offers no solution for the shrub lands of Southern California. |
| There, developers simply need to stop building homes in fire-prone areas, Dr. Stephens said. | There, developers simply need to stop building homes in fire-prone areas, Dr. Stephens said. |
| That prescription may be a harder sell. | That prescription may be a harder sell. |
| • Gov. Jerry Brown signed legislation that would gradually grant farmworkers the same right to overtime pay as other Californians. [Los Angeles Times] | • Gov. Jerry Brown signed legislation that would gradually grant farmworkers the same right to overtime pay as other Californians. [Los Angeles Times] |
| • Tom Calderon, a former assemblyman, was sentenced to a year in federal custody for laundering bribes taken by his brother. [Sacramento Bee] | • Tom Calderon, a former assemblyman, was sentenced to a year in federal custody for laundering bribes taken by his brother. [Sacramento Bee] |
| • California community colleges are encouraging students of the now-defunct ITT Technical Institute to apply. [Long Beach Press-Telegram] | • California community colleges are encouraging students of the now-defunct ITT Technical Institute to apply. [Long Beach Press-Telegram] |
| • Documents found by a U.C. San Francisco researcher show that the sugar industry paid scientists to shape the debate around heart disease, sugar and fat. [The New York Times] | • Documents found by a U.C. San Francisco researcher show that the sugar industry paid scientists to shape the debate around heart disease, sugar and fat. [The New York Times] |
| • The San Diego Zoo receives a yearly subsidy from taxpayers even as it took in almost $30 million in profit last year. [San Diego Union-Tribune] | • The San Diego Zoo receives a yearly subsidy from taxpayers even as it took in almost $30 million in profit last year. [San Diego Union-Tribune] |
| • California is now home to the nation’s first large-scale program to help transgender people find jobs. [KPCC Radio] | • California is now home to the nation’s first large-scale program to help transgender people find jobs. [KPCC Radio] |
| • A U.C. Berkeley professor is trying to persuade his students that theology matters to a liberal education. [The New York Times | Opinion] | • A U.C. Berkeley professor is trying to persuade his students that theology matters to a liberal education. [The New York Times | Opinion] |
| • A father-daughter camping trip in Joshua Tree led to moments of profundity — and some loud-as-you-want shouting. [The New York Times] | • A father-daughter camping trip in Joshua Tree led to moments of profundity — and some loud-as-you-want shouting. [The New York Times] |
| • Inside the gentrification of Los Angeles’s Grand Central Market. [Los Angeles magazine] | • Inside the gentrification of Los Angeles’s Grand Central Market. [Los Angeles magazine] |
| • An architect has made cabins in Mendocino County that are simultaneously substantial and ephemeral. [The New York Times] | • An architect has made cabins in Mendocino County that are simultaneously substantial and ephemeral. [The New York Times] |
| Most of the grape harvest workers, weary and eager to get home, turned him down. | Most of the grape harvest workers, weary and eager to get home, turned him down. |
| For more than a year Erik Castro, a photographer in Santa Rosa, has been showing up at vineyards in Sonoma County and asking the workers at the end of their shifts: Can I take your picture? | For more than a year Erik Castro, a photographer in Santa Rosa, has been showing up at vineyards in Sonoma County and asking the workers at the end of their shifts: Can I take your picture? |
| For those who were game, if puzzled, Mr. Castro had them stand in front of a backdrop of white paper hanging between two stands. | For those who were game, if puzzled, Mr. Castro had them stand in front of a backdrop of white paper hanging between two stands. |
| The results were stark — laborers whose eyes, calloused skin and grape-stained fingers conveyed the toil of a life in the field. | The results were stark — laborers whose eyes, calloused skin and grape-stained fingers conveyed the toil of a life in the field. |
| The project, a work in progress titled “Harvester,” captures the faces of a group that operates at the margins of Northern California society while playing an essential role in its multibillion dollar wine industry. | The project, a work in progress titled “Harvester,” captures the faces of a group that operates at the margins of Northern California society while playing an essential role in its multibillion dollar wine industry. |
| Labor advocates on Monday celebrated the signing of a new overtime pay measure that they said afforded greater dignity to farmworkers. | Labor advocates on Monday celebrated the signing of a new overtime pay measure that they said afforded greater dignity to farmworkers. |
| Mr. Castro only includes a few details in the captions accompanying the images, wanting the faces to stand for themselves. Of the 70 who agreed to be photographed, three were women and all were born in Mexico, he said. | Mr. Castro only includes a few details in the captions accompanying the images, wanting the faces to stand for themselves. Of the 70 who agreed to be photographed, three were women and all were born in Mexico, he said. |
| Mr. Castro did not ask the workers about their immigration status, but the government has reported that more than half of U.S. farmworkers are in the country illegally. | |
| “Some people get kind of frustrated with the project. They’re like: ‘What are the back stories? Who are these people?’” Mr. Castro said. “And to me, I’m like, ‘Just look at their face for five minutes and you tell me you don’t learn something.’” | “Some people get kind of frustrated with the project. They’re like: ‘What are the back stories? Who are these people?’” Mr. Castro said. “And to me, I’m like, ‘Just look at their face for five minutes and you tell me you don’t learn something.’” |
| Images from Mr. Castro’s “Harvester” series are on display at Christie Marks Fine Art in Santa Rosa through Saturday. | Images from Mr. Castro’s “Harvester” series are on display at Christie Marks Fine Art in Santa Rosa through Saturday. |
| California Today goes live at 6 a.m. Pacific time weekdays. Tell us what you want to see: CAtoday@nytimes.com. | California Today goes live at 6 a.m. Pacific time weekdays. Tell us what you want to see: CAtoday@nytimes.com. |
| The California Today columnist, Mike McPhate, is a third-generation Californian — born outside Sacramento and raised in San Juan Capistrano. He lives in Davis. Follow him on Twitter. | The California Today columnist, Mike McPhate, is a third-generation Californian — born outside Sacramento and raised in San Juan Capistrano. He lives in Davis. Follow him on Twitter. |
| California Today is edited by Julie Bloom, who grew up in Los Angeles and attended U.C. Berkeley. | California Today is edited by Julie Bloom, who grew up in Los Angeles and attended U.C. Berkeley. |