SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) – Faced with a shrinking pool of inmates to help fight major wildfires, California is increasingly turning for new recruits to its state Conservation Corps, a program with roots in the Great Depression and a motto that promises “hard work, low pay, miserable conditions … and more!” Prisoners last year made up about 20 percent of California fire crews on several major blazes, where they used chain saws and hand tools to chew through tinder-dry brush and trees to stop the flames. But the number of available inmates is declining because counties now oversee most lower-level felons under a law aimed at easing prison overcrowding. There are also fewer incentives for inmates to risk their lives since a federal court broadened an early release program for firefighters to include other inmates.
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