• Source: Jessica Morse

      • Jessica Morse (born February 23, 1982) is an American natural resources manager and politician. Morse has spent her career in public service, having worked in the Department of Defense, Department of State, and the Agency for International Development. She was a Deputy Secretary of the California Natural Resources Agency. She twice ran for Congress.


      Early life and education


      Morse is a fifth-generation Californian. She was born in Pacifica, California, grew up in Carmichael, and Gold Run, and lives in Roseville. She graduated from Principia College in 2004 with a Bachelor’s Degree in Economics. In 2010 she earned a master’s degree in Public Affairs from Princeton University, with a focus on nuclear non-proliferation and international security.


      Career




      = National security

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      Morse spent a decade working in national security for the US Defense Department, the US State Department, and the US Agency for International Development. Her assignments included time in India and Myanmar and a year and a half in Iraq at the height of the war.


      = Natural resource management

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      After the Camp Fire in November 2018, Morse spent a month in Paradise, California as a volunteer, finding food, clothing, and shelter for people whose homes and belongings were destroyed in the fire.
      In 2019, Morse was appointed to the California Natural Resources Agency as Deputy Secretary for Forest and Wildland Resilience. David Ackerly of the UC Berkeley Rausser College of Natural Resouces described Morse as the architect of California's wildfire resilience strategy. Morse helped secure $2.7 billion in state funding for wildfire resilience, spread over the years 2021 through 2023. After California increased its wildfire resilience budget, damage to structures and loss of life were reduced. The number of acres burned also fell, but fluctuates considerably from year to year.
      Wildfire resilience requires a three-pronged strategy according to Morse: clearing defensible space around homes, creating strategic fuel breaks between wild areas and communities, and thinning forests, all of which help to protect communities from future wildfires although they do not prevent wildfires from igniting. In March, 2023, in testimony on forest resilience before subcommittees of the California legislature, Morse stated that two fires in 2022 that were modeled to become megafires, the Electra Fire in Amador County and the Oak Fire in Placer County, were successfully contained because they each encountered strategic fuel breaks.
      In August 2022, Morse presented an updated forest management plan for the Jackson Demonstration State Forest, a 50,000-acre state-owned redwood forest in Mendocino County, where protests by environmentalists and tribal leaders had brought commercial logging to a halt. The updated plan features shared state and tribal forest management, an agreement to preserve larger trees from logging, and increased funding for forest restoration.
      In 2023, Morse was appointed to the U.S. Wildland Fire Mitigation and Management Commission, which advises federal agencies on how best to handle wildfires.


      = Political campaigns

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      Morse grew up Republican, but became a Democrat in her 30s because she believes that Republicans engage in culture wars and fail to protect the environment.
      In 2018, Morse ran for Congress as a Democrat in California's 4th congressional district, where she lived before the 2020 United States redistricting cycle, against the Republican incumbent Tom McClintock. The district had been heavily red and was rated as "Solid Republican", before being moved to "Likely Republican". McClintock eventually won, 54% to 46%.
      In 2024, Morse ran for Congress as a Democrat in California's 3rd congressional district, which after redistricting included her home in Roseville. Her Republican opponent, the incumbent Kevin Kiley, won, 55.5% to 45.5%.


      References




      Further reading


      "Managing Megafires: Lessons from California's Natural Resources Agency". My Climate Journey. May 18, 2023.
      "KEYNOTE California's Approach to Wildfire Resilience - Jessica Morse". After the Fire USA.
      Lagos, Marisa; Marzorati, Guy (September 1, 2022). "End of Session Recap and Jessica Morse on Wildfire Resilience". KQED.

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