The environmentalists are not scapegoats, but real culprits. Where the logging industry was involved with the forests that have burned, there were traditionally few fires. When there was a fire, they were spotted and dealt with quickly because there were logging personal always in the forests. The leftist, Sierra Club, just couldn't stand the idea that someone could make a buck off of the "publics trees". With the Democrats help, they have literally banned all logging in California. Lumber mill towns in Northern California are now ghost towns. The people that worked in these forests are gone. If they stayed, they are on welfare.
In short, the Sierra Club, in order to save California's forest, had to destroy them.