Should Wildfires in CA be regulated by state-federal regulations?

 Before diving into the topic of this post, it's important to understand what power the state government holds as well as the local governments powers as well in California. According to the United States Constitution-- "the powers not delegated to the national government by the Constitution 'are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people'." (Sidlow, p.391). Each state has their own state constitution, and the power to create their own amendments and are typically longer and more detailed than the U.S. Constitution itself. Amendments can be proposed to state legislation through the process specified in the state's Constitution; some states allow citizens to propose amendments which is called an initiative. California is one of those states that allows citizens to suggest a state amendment. This is a form of direct democracy and allows voters to have a direct voice in their government. There are three types of initiatives that can be made: legislative initiatives, direct initiatives, and indirect initiatives. Legislative initiatives are used for proposing new statutory laws within a state and uses a petition. Direct initiative goes directly on a ballet white a indirect initiative goes to the state legislature first and if passed goes to the ballot. Referendums are similar to initiatives expected rather than proposed by a citizen, its proposed by a legislature first and then presented to the voters of the state. 

Recently, the wildfires of 2020 have been more notable than previous years. Fires are a common occurrence in California however the amount of fires and size of these fires the past weeks have affected many Californians whether its losing homes, facilities, causing people health issues due to the unusually horrible air quality; to say the least the fires could not be ignored. 

https://www.npr.org/2018/09/27/649649316/fire-ecologists-say-more-fires-should-be-left-to-burn-so-why-arent-they

This article from NPR gives the perspective from ecologists why putting out fires can be detrimental. The truth is, California has always had wildfires (the problem may be the unintentional human started fires). Many of the recent fires started after a lightening storm swept through the west coast. These fires ecologist note are actually normal and healthy for California forests. In recent history the attitude towards fires has been fear and is met with the automatic response to put these fires out as fast as possible. Ecologists note that letting forests overgrow and not organically have fires actually makes them a bigger fire hazard and is unsafe. 

The attitude of fear of fires has not always been the case, furthur back in history natives of the west cost did spiritual rituals where there were controlled burns of the forest to cultivate new growth. 

https://www.npr.org/2020/08/24/899422710/to-manage-wildfire-california-looks-to-what-tribes-have-known-all-along

The new settlers didn't understand the natives reasoning for fire being used as a tool and overtime used state legislation to ban controlled burns of the forest. I believe that the most recent events show that our state's choice to fear fire rather than embrace it as a natural part of our ecosystem is detrimental. I hope that these events and the more outspoken voice of people of color help amplify the voices of the natives and their knowledge of the earth. California should create an amendement to change the approach to wildfires and create more detailed laws that include the use of controlled burns. Local governments only exist because the state government allows them to; therefore if the state created a new amendment around fires, local firestations would have to follow the state laws. I think this would help California's ecosystem, restore back some respect to the natives that have been treated awfully by our laws, and also change our state's cultural attitude towards fire from fear to seeing fire as a tool.