Many of forests in California are National Forest land controlled by the federal government. The Californian State Government is not able to go do prescribed burns in the National Forest. A lot of your beef should be with the National Forest Service.
Also, the recent drought is really exacerbating things. A lot of the trees in the forests are dead now and are just waiting to burn. Yes, we should remove some of this dead wood and thin the forests, but this will be a huge task given the large amount of forest.
As far as POAs and local laws... I am sure some of then are overreaching on things. But, some of them also protect areas from legitimate threats. Many people would gladly cut down all the trees on their property around Lake Tahoe so they can have an unobstructed view. Pretty soon we would have no trees around the lake and the landscape would be drastically changed. Some degree of protection is warranted in places.
Also, the recent drought is really exacerbating things. A lot of the trees in the forests are dead now and are just waiting to burn. Yes, we should remove some of this dead wood and thin the forests, but this will be a huge task given the large amount of forest.
As far as POAs and local laws... I am sure some of then are overreaching on things. But, some of them also protect areas from legitimate threats. Many people would gladly cut down all the trees on their property around Lake Tahoe so they can have an unobstructed view. Pretty soon we would have no trees around the lake and the landscape would be drastically changed. Some degree of protection is warranted in places.