CalFire evicting amateur repeaters from mountaintop sites statewide

California's Department of Forestry and Fire Protection (CalFire) transferred management of its communications sites to its property management department, which began evaluating all tenants and demanding commercial rental rates ($500-2,000+/month) from amateur radio repeater operators who had occupied vault space for decades, often for free or nominal cost. Who has this problem? Amateur repeater trustees and the communities they serve across California, where CalFire manages hundreds of mountaintop communications sites. So what? Repeater clubs that operate on volunteer donations of $10-15/year per member cannot afford commercial site rents. So what? Repeaters that go dark eliminate VHF/UHF coverage across entire valleys and mountain corridors. So what? These repeaters are the backbone of ARES/RACES emergency communications — during wildfires, exactly when CalFire itself needs all communications assets, the amateur infrastructure that supplements their own systems is being dismantled. So what? Communities lose a proven, zero-cost-to-government backup communications layer during the exact emergencies (California wildfires) that have been increasing in severity. Why does this persist? CalFire's property management division is incentivized to maximize revenue from sites and has no mandate to consider public safety value of amateur repeaters. There is no statewide policy recognizing amateur radio infrastructure as a public safety asset.