[Congressional Bills 103th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 5097 Introduced in House (IH)]

103d CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                H. R. 5097

To require the identification of certain high-fire-risk Federal forest 
  lands in the State of Nevada, the clearing of forest fuels in such 
    areas, and the submission of a fire prevention plan and budget.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                           September 23, 1994

   Mrs. Vucanovich introduced the following bill; which was referred 
     jointly to the Committees on Natural Resources and Agriculture

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
To require the identification of certain high-fire-risk Federal forest 
  lands in the State of Nevada, the clearing of forest fuels in such 
    areas, and the submission of a fire prevention plan and budget.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Nevada Forest Protection Act''.

SEC. 2. CONGRESSIONAL FINDINGS.

    The Congress finds that--
            (1) persistent drought and large areas of accumulated fuels 
        in forest lands have caused the 1994 wildfire season to be one 
        of the most severe in history;
            (2) an extreme wildfire danger exists in many of the forest 
        lands in Nevada, including such lands in the Lake Tahoe area, 
        which have suffered years of drought and insect infestation 
        that have resulted in a forest that is overloaded with fuels;
            (3) over 780 wildfires have occurred throughout the State 
        of Nevada in the 1994 wildfire season and have involved more 
        than 215,000 acres, including areas near Caliente, Hallelujah 
        Junction, Panaca, Lone Mountain, Bull Run, Mahogany Springs, 
        Holbrook Junction, and Verdi;
            (4) the risk of intense wildfires that pose a serious 
        threat to the health of forest lands and watersheds can be 
        significantly reduced by the reduction of excessive fuel 
        accumulations, including slash piles and dead trees that become 
        fuel ladders;
            (5) the highest priority for fuel removal should be placed 
        on areas where the population is greatest and the interface 
        between urban and wild land creates a great fire threat to 
        persons and property; and
            (6) timber sales and fuels reduction projects should result 
        in major decreases in fuel loading and emphasis should be 
        placed on handpiling and burning as well as the removal or 
        burning of nonmerchantable, smaller, dead trees that are likely 
        to become fuel ladders.

SEC. 3. IDENTIFICATION OF RISK AREAS AND CLEARING OF FUELS.

    The Secretaries of Agriculture and the Interior shall, in 
cooperation with appropriate State and local agencies--
            (1) identify any area in the State of Nevada, within forest 
        lands under the respective jurisdictions of the Secretaries, 
        that is extremely vulnerable to wildfire due to the 
        accumulation of forest fuels and a combination of fire history, 
        extent of human settlement, weather patterns, topography, 
        accessibility, and visitor intensity; and
            (2) take action to reduce excessive accumulations of fuel, 
        including slash piles and dead trees that become fuel ladders, 
        in such areas.

SEC. 4. FIRE PLAN AND BUDGET.

    The Secretaries of Agriculture and the Interior shall jointly 
prepare, in consultation and coordination with other Federal agencies 
and the State of Nevada, a strategic plan regarding fire prevention for 
forest lands in the State of Nevada under the respective jurisdictions 
of the Secretaries and an annual budget for the plan. The Secretaries 
shall submit the plan and budget to the Congress not later than March 
1, 1995, for inclusion in the 1996 appropriations request.

SEC. 5. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.

    There are authorized to be appropriated such sums as may be 
necessary to carry out this Act.

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