Memorandum
Date: September 1, 2026
To: The Honorable Lake County Board of Supervisors
From: Brad Rasmussen, Chair, District 4 Supervisor
Jessica Pyska, Vice Chair, District 5 Supervisor
Subject: ADDENDUM - Approve the Letter Requesting Governor Newsom Veto AB 2494 and Authorize the Chair to Sign
Executive Summary:
On April 21, 2026, our Board adopted a position of “Oppose Unless Amended” on AB 2494 (Rogers), a bill that would modify the framework governing California's Demonstration State Forests (DSFs). Over the course of this Legislative Session, County Supervisors and staff have advocated for changes that prioritized the science-driven principles cultivated by the careful work of the Governor’s Wildfire and Forest Resilience Task Force (including considerable efforts by Vice Chair Pyska).
While the language of AB 2494 has been modified since our Board adopted its position, concerns remain. As written, the bill is ultimately unclear in its intent, and could therefore impede crucial research and other sustainable forest management practices ongoing at Boggs Mountain Demonstration State Forest. Further, far greater effort to balance statewide forestry-focused and financial interests and build broad-based consensus was put into the Governor’s Wildfire and Forest Resilience Task Force’s principles than has been invested in AB 2494.
Therefore, we recommend that our Board approve the attached Letter, and encourage Governor Newsom to veto AB 2494, and instead encourage a more holistic view be taken, with Demonstration State Forests managed as complements and exemplars of broader, science-driven State policy.
Pending our Board’s approval, submittal of this Letter will occur September 3, 2026.
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