[Senate Hearing 117-]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]




 
     DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR, ENVIRONMENT, AND RELATED AGENCIES 
                  APPROPRIATIONS FOR FISCAL YEAR 2023

                              ----------                              


                         WEDNESDAY, MAY 4, 2022

                                       U.S. Senate,
           Subcommittee of the Committee on Appropriations,
                                                    Washington, DC.
    The subcommittee met at 10:00 a.m. in room SD-124, Dirksen 
Senate Office Building, Hon. Jeff Merkley (chairman) presiding.
    Present: Senators Merkley, Tester, Van Hollen, Murkowski, 
and Hagerty.

                      UNITED STATES FOREST SERVICE

STATEMENT OF HON. RANDY MOORE, CHIEF

               OPENING STATEMENT OF SENATOR JEFF MERKLEY

    Senator Merkley. Thank you, Ranking Member Murkowski, Chief 
Moore, and our other colleagues and constituents, welcome to 
this Appropriations Hearing on the fiscal year 2023 President's 
Budget for the U.S. Forest Service.
    Much has changed since we met here a year ago to discuss 
the Forest Service Budget, an incredible impact, the management 
of our country's forested lands have for the environment, for 
the economy, for outdoor recreation, and for contributing to 
the regional identities in forests in Alaska, Oregon, and 
across this country.
    A big change is that you are here, Chief Moore, in your 
first appearance before the Senate Appropriations Committee, as 
Chief of the Forest Service. Congratulations. I am looking 
forward to talking with you about your vision for the agency.
    In 2021 we experienced the most expensive wildfire season 
in U.S. history, exacerbated by a continuing drought across the 
west that shows no signs of ending. Oregon alone suffered our 
third most devastating fire in Oregon's recorded history, with 
the Bootleg Fire.
    That fire became so large that it created its own weather, 
and scorched over 400,000 acres. It cost $100 million to 
suppress. And this came on the heels of a gut-wrenching fire 
season the year before. The Labor Day Fires of 2020, in which 
multiple towns across Oregon were burned to the ground.
    I remember when I heard about Paradise in California, 
thinking, thank goodness have had no devastating fire of that 
nature burning an entire town to the ground. And then the Labor 
Day Fires of 2020, town, after town, after town; so many 
families lost everything, and I will never forget driving over 
600 miles across the state, back and forth, and never getting 
clear of the smoke, and seeing the ruins of towns that looked 
that they had been firebombed in war.
    Everything gone, with a few pipes, or a few bathtubs left, 
cars completely burned out, with the wheels, the magnesium 
wheels had melted and the magnesium had run across the ground, 
just the charred remains representing so much devastation to 
thousands of families.
    This trend is not only affecting Oregon, it is being felt 
across the country. New Mexico is suffering right now, in the 
national news, from massive fires causing evacuations, loss of 
homes, the loss of habitat, destruction in the watersheds that 
provide drinking water throughout the state, and deadly levels 
of smoke-filled air. And this is only the first week of May.
    Last year major fires lasted for weeks leading to the 
record-breaking length of high staffing and preparedness levels 
of over 3 months without respite. Taken together the evidence 
of the last several years portends a very problematic future as 
we face the new normal of climate chaos.
    At the same time, the Bootleg Fire this past year also 
demonstrated the value of community and tribally-led efforts to 
reduce fuels as a way to manage the intensity of wildfires. I 
looked at areas that had been treated in advance with thinning, 
and with prescribed burns, and they looked very different than 
the areas that had not been treated.
    We have to think about how we can do that kind of 
preparation on scale. I look forward to discussing how we work 
together on forest resiliency and restoration in the face of 
continuing climate chaos and catastrophic fire impacting our 
communities.
    Last year we also saw the implementation of several major 
pieces of legislation that provide an influx of funding for the 
Forest Service. Through the Great American Outdoors Act, the 
Forest Service will receive another tranche of the 1.4 billion 
provided over 5 years, to make significant investments in 
deferred maintenance projects; from trail building, to bridge 
replacements, to campground and visitor facility renovations.
    Additionally, the bill created a permanent funding stream 
for the Land and Water Conservation Fund, providing $900 
million for fiscal year 2022, of which the Forest Service 129 
million for land acquisition, and $95 million for Forest Legacy 
projects.
    Through the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, the Forest 
Service will receive $5.4 billion over 10 years to invest in 
wildfire risk reduction and ecosystem restoration, including 
funds for fuel breaks and hazardous fuels projects, prescribed 
fire, burned area restoration, state and local grants for 
community wildfire defense, youth conservation core projects, 
collaborative forest restoration projects, and fish passage 
restoration.
    And through the fiscal year 2022 Appropriations Bill, this 
committee provided $7.8 billion, a $400 million increase, in 
the agency's annual funding. These increases were provided to 
radically improve forest restoration and fire risk reduction.
    We increased Hazardous Fuels Reduction Funding to treat 
more of highest risk acres to protect lives and communities, 
restored the Legacy Roads and Trails Program to prioritize fish 
passage improvements, and repurposing unnecessary roads as 
trails, increased grants to states for fire protection and 
forest stewardship, and boosted the funds for research into 
fire behavior, invasive pests and disease, like sudden oak 
death, which is ravaging Southern Oregon.
    That is a lot of change, and a lot of funding from a lot of 
different directions. I am especially proud that we doubled 
funding for the Collaborative Forest Restoration Program. This 
game-changing increase will fund more projects that bring 
together diverse local stakeholders to improve forest 
landscapes. I am pleased that with this new increase and 
project flexibility, all the existing projects in Oregon were 
extended, and a new collaborative in Southern Oregon will soon 
be underway.
    Over the last few decades, and one of the most promising 
things that has happened in terms of bringing a productive 
strategy out of the timber wars of the past, is the 
Collaborative Forest Landscape Restoration Program, because 
when all those stakeholders are in the room working out a 
prescription, they share their ideas, they create 
relationships, they go out in the woods and do tours, they talk 
about specific stands under different conditions.
    They reach agreement, and it is phenomenal how different it 
is between having warring parties that are not talking, and 
parties that are committed to working out a common plan, and 
then succeed in doing so.
    More importantly, we have provided $2.9 billion for 
staffing capacity to build up year-round staffing, and return 
the Forest Service to personnel levels that are necessary to 
carry out this work.
    This funding is also available to fulfill the President's 
commitment to improve compensation for Federal Firefighters, 
including providing at least $15 an hour in pay, and to begin 
the process to convert firefighter staff from seasonal to 
permanent employment, an important upgrade in view of the 
reality of longer and more devastating fire seasons.
    I might also note that the idea of fighting fires when the 
fires are burning, and doing forest restoration work when they 
are not, seem to go well together. Given the importance of 
Forest Service employees, and a positive workplace environment, 
to the success of these many programs, I look forward to 
hearing your plans for workforce development, and workplace 
improvements.
    Finally, I want to commend you for releasing the new ten-
year strategy to confront the wildfire crisis. This strategy 
focused on high-risk landscapes, now identified as fire sheds; 
that need to be addressed to reduce communities' exposure to 
potential catastrophic fire. I think this is a critical shift 
and focus, given the threat of ever-increasing, catastrophic 
fire.
    So collectively we have put significant investments into 
changing the forest landscape, and we really need to know how 
all this work together, and how this committee can support you 
in implementing a dramatic turnaround in management of our 
forested lands.
    All that to say, there is much to discuss, and I look 
forward to our conversation.
    And with that, I turn to Ranking Member Lisa Murkowski, for 
any comments she would like to make.

                  STATEMENT OF SENATOR LISA MURKOWSKI

    Senator Murkowski. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
    And good morning Chief. I, too, want to welcome you to your 
first opportunity to testify before the subcommittee. I 
appreciate you being here, and the opportunity to discuss the 
President's Budget Request, and the active role that the Forest 
Service plays around the county, certainly, a very key role in 
my State of Alaska.
    I want to start with just an observation on how the 
political definitions of ``forest health'' and responsible 
forestry practices, appears to swing on a pendulum, 
unfortunately dependent on the occupant of the White House.
    In reality what actually makes for a healthy, productive 
forest, it doesn't change with the politics. This is one of the 
reasons that I have been unhappy, as you know, with the 
decisions as they relate to one of our two national forests in 
Alaska, and that is the Tongass.
    I know, Chief, that you are very aware of the outsized role 
of the Forest Service in Southeast Alaska, along with the 
complexities that are associated with management decisions 
within the Tongass. In recent years, a lot of good people have 
done a lot of good work to craft an Alaska-specific Roadless 
Rule.
    That Roadless Rule exemption finalized in 2020 should 
stand, but instead, we see an administration that is rolling it 
back, and once again, forcing unnecessary, sweeping 
restrictions upon millions of acres in the Tongass. And at the 
same time it seems to me that the Forest Service is just hell 
bent on killing what is left of a very small timber industry, 
starving them of timber supply. There is basically no timber 
program whatsoever in the Tongass anymore. And that is just a 
reality.
    During the Obama administration Secretary Vilsack, through 
a Secretarial Memo, and a subsequent Forest Plan Amendment 
finalized in 2016 placed the Timber Program on a fast-track 
transition from harvesting, primarily, old growth, to primarily 
young growth in 16 years.
    This was not an easy thing. This was not an easy thing for 
many to accept, especially without the full benefit of the 
science to support it, but the secretary told us, he told the 
people of Southeast Alaska that it would ensure that a viable 
timber industry would continue to exist.
    But now, during the Biden administration those hopeful that 
Secretary Vilsack would keep his promise, implement the plan, 
using the inventory science that has been gathered, they are 
losing hope.
    The old growth bridge that was promised has failed to 
materialize, standards and guides meant to apply to old-growth 
harvesting are applied to young-growth stands, causing the loss 
of millions of board feet, if any sales are planned at all. And 
it is especially bitter for those who took an early leap of 
faith, collaborated with the agency, collaborated with the 
environmental groups and the tribes, and invested in that 
promised transition.
    The Tongass exemption to the Roadless Rule has never been 
only about timber. It has been about the entire economy of 
southeast. It is the single-largest impediment to economic 
access in the region, and it affects all sectors across the 
economy. It impacts transportation, mining, renewable energy, 
tourism.
    When I look at the map of the nearly 17 million acres that 
make up the Tongass, I can't accept that we have to choose 
between having a healthy forest and having a healthy economy. 
We can and we should be allowed to do both.
    And Chief, I am counting on you to work with me, work with 
the people of Southeast to provide just that opportunity; and 
that Southeast Alaska Sustainable Strategy may result in some 
projects, but what I am hearing from folks back home, is that 
it is not sufficient to support a year-round economy.
    The chairman has mentioned the issues related to fire, and 
I know that we are going to have a lot of discussion about that 
this morning, but really, regardless of the issues, whether it 
is wildland firefighting, hazardous fuels management, special-
use permitting, and beyond, issues surrounding agency capacity 
are often cited as barriers to access.
    The Forest Service has repeatedly committed to making human 
capital planning a priority. In many cases, lack of capacity is 
directly linked to funding, we get that. In others, it is a 
function of problematic priority. We hear a lot about the need 
to hire more full-time, permanent wildland firefighters across 
the country. In Alaska we need increased capacity to facilitate 
our recreation industry, support for critical minerals, mining 
projects, broadband access, and of course as I mentioned 
previously, timber supply for our withering timbering industry.
    Each of my colleagues that interact with the Forest 
Service, I am sure, are going to be able to identify agency 
needs within their states, and that is why I am interested in 
hearing today, not only how the budget request proposes to 
address capacity issues, but more importantly what Forest 
Service is actually doing right now, because people are going 
to want to hear clearly, what is happening on the ground right 
now to address capacity.
    Again, I know that fire is top of the list of worries for 
so many of us, and again, we will continue to hear that, this 
year, fire season in Alaska is expected to get a late start 
because we had a pretty good snowpack, but we have already had 
the first wildland fire at an area of Southwest Alaska, outside 
of Kwethluk, and it burned significant acreage for that region 
at this time of year, in April. And my understanding is that 
fire has finally abated, and not because it was addressed with 
any form of management, Mother Nature managed it because, 
ultimately, that fire went further north and ran into the 
existing snow that was still on the ground.
    But it is not just fire, but yet it is also that tinder for 
the fire that we all worry about, we continue to see areas in 
Alaska where the impacts, the devastation from the spruce bark 
beetle, you drive through and the difference in the trees, the 
colors, whether you are on the ground or in the air, you can 
see the impact, driving through the Mat-Su Valley, through the 
Kenai Peninsula.
    And when you see that immediately you think, what is this 
doing to contribute to further threat of a fire? I know my 
colleagues in the Lower 48 are dealing with drought and similar 
tree mortality issues, so I am hoping that this morning we will 
also get an understanding of what Forest Service wildfire 
planning looks like for this year.
    I also hope to hear about how the Forest Service is 
spending the funding received from the Bipartisan 
Infrastructure Bill, as the chairman mentioned, and how efforts 
are made possible by the funding.
    We will work together with regular discretionary 
appropriations to improve the health and resilience of our 
Nation's forests.
    So again, Chief, I appreciate that you are here today. And 
I look forward to the opportunity, to not only engage with you 
and some questions today, but ongoing throughout the course of 
this year. Thank you.
    Senator Merkley. You have heard from us as is the Senate 
tradition, but we are really here to hear from you. So we look 
forward to your testimony. Please proceed.

                 SUMMARY STATEMENT OF HON. RANDY MOORE

    Chief Moore. Okay. So Chair Merkley, Ranking Member 
Murkowski, and members of the subcommittee, thank you for 
inviting me to testify before you today.
    As I close in on my first year, and actually my first 10 
months as Chief, I appreciate the opportunity to provide an 
overview of the benefits that the Forest Service deliver to the 
American people.
    The outcomes we plan to achieve with the resources provided 
in this proposed fiscal year 2023 Budget: The bottom line for 
the Forest Service is in our motto, ``Caring for the land and 
serving people.'' It is what we really are all about. Our job 
is to sustain healthy, resilient landscapes for current and 
future generations. That is underneath that motto.
    The National Forest and Grasslands cover about 193 million 
acres across 43 states and Puerto Rico. They are the source of 
drinking water for more than 60 million people living across 
3,400 communities in 36 states. In 2020 the National Forest 
System supported more than 370,000 jobs, and contributed more 
than $35 billion to the GDP.
    But the benefits that Americans get from their forests and 
grasslands are now at risk. These risks include the wildfire 
crisis facing the nation, and the impacts of our changing 
climate. The Forest Service is squarely facing these risks. 
Improving conditions we are seeing will require some science, 
sustained resources, the use of tools in our toolbox, and a 
robust workforce, as well as work in collaboration with our 
partners.
    I appreciate the confidence that Congress has demonstrated 
in the Forest Service with the Infrastructure Investment and 
Jobs Act. These funds, coupled with the fiscal year 2023 budget 
request, will help restore the long-term health and resilience 
of the Nation's forests and grasslands.
    The Forest Service's fiscal year 2023 discretionary budget 
request is $9 billion. Working with our partners we will 
improve the resilience of landscapes across watershed 
boundaries, we will look to reduce wildfire risk by treating 
the right acres at the right scale. We will be looking to 
restore infrastructure, support our recreation, invest in 
reforesting landscapes that have been ravished by wildfires, 
storms, and other events.
    The wildfire crisis has been building for decades, but we 
now have the science and tools to implement projects that would 
truly make a difference. The budget dedicates about $321 
million for hazardous fuel. Now, this work will support 3.8 
million acres of hazardous fuel reduction treatment projects. 
This investment supports the agency's ten year strategy to 
confront the Nation's wildfire crisis.
    At the same time, we are preparing for another long and 
arduous year, made worse by a continuing severe drought across 
the west, and particularly in the southwest, which we are 
seeing on TV today.
    Also in the Central and Southern Plains, our priority is to 
protect the health, safety, and well-being of the fire 
management community, and the public we serve. Our forces are 
mobilizing to address these significant wildfire situations 
right now across the Southwest.
    Currently, the Forest Service is at about 90 percent 
planned hiring of 11,300 firefighters, for the year as of this 
past April, last week actually. We are putting several things 
in place to address this shortage. The fiscal year 2023 budget 
dedicates about $1 billion to Wildland Fire Management salaries 
and expenses.
    This investment will enable us to pay all firefighters at 
least $15 an hour, it will fund an additional 300 firefighters, 
and support resilience, and mental health programs. But we need 
to find a permanent solution to increase our firefighters' pay, 
and make other system changes to ensure that firefighting is a 
career, and that others will pursue it in the future, so that 
we have the resources to address the challenges we face. And I 
would like to work with you on that.
    Climate change is altering ecosystems nationwide. It has 
amplified impacts of fire, insects, disease, and invasive 
species shrinking habitat for our native plants and wildlife. 
The fiscal year 2023 budget builds on the climate change 
investments contained in the fiscal year 2022 budget.
    Our 2023 budget request of $318 million for forest and 
rangeland research will continue our work in addressing climate 
change and other critical research needs. Our infrastructure 
needs are pressing, as are economic needs of Americans.
    The fiscal year 2023 budget request stimulates construction 
and maintenance activities in national, regional, and local 
economies. We are grateful for the Great American Outdoor Act 
funds that have stabilized our $6.3 billion maintenance 
backlog.
    The National Forests and Grasslands belong to every 
American, they encompass ancestral lands of tribal territories. 
Every person should feel a personal invitation in connection to 
these lands. The Forest Service is addressing equity by 
ensuring that historically underserved groups can more fully 
access and participate in agency programs and services.
    We have taken significant steps to improve policies, 
accountability, training, and to ensure that the work 
environment is equitable, is respectful, and free of harassment 
from any kind.
    We know what is at stake if we don't address the wildfire 
crisis. The health of our communities, the clean water, the 
camping trips, the wood products, jobs that Americans depend 
on, and the national forests and grasslands that provide them.
    The risks facing these lands are significant and growing, 
that is why we need to act now, we need to act together, and we 
need to act with dedication to meet the challenges before us, 
with sound science as our guide.
    We are all in, and we are ready to serve as we have been 
since 1905. Thank you, and again I am grateful to you all for 
your interest and support, and I look forward to any questions 
that you might have.
    [This statement follows:]
                 Prepared Statement of Hon. Randy Moore
    Chair Merkley, Ranking Member Murkowski, and members of the 
Subcommittee, thank you for inviting me here today to testify on the 
President's fiscal year 2023 Budget request for the U.S. Department of 
Agriculture (USDA), Forest Service.
    The fiscal year 2023 President's Budget for the USDA Forest Service 
discretionary appropriations totals $9 billion, including $2.21 billion 
for the wildfire suppression cap adjustment (in the Wildfire 
Suppression Operations Reserve Fund). In addition to discretionary 
appropriations, the request includes $743 million in mandatory funding 
for Permanent and Trust funds. To address the wildfire crisis we are 
facing, the fiscal year 2023 request focuses on risk-based wildland 
fire management; compensation for wildland firefighters; tackling the 
climate crisis; improving infrastructure, providing economic relief and 
supporting jobs; and advancing racial equity. To improve the conditions 
we are seeing on the ground, it will take use of the best available 
science; hard work shoulder to shoulder with partners; use of all the 
tools in our toolbox; and a robust workforce.
    Since 1905, the Forest Service has served the American people 
through conservation. Our mission is to sustain the health, diversity, 
and productivity of the Nation's forests and grasslands to meet the 
needs of present and future generations. We work with partners through 
our Research and Development and State and Private Forestry mission 
areas to sustain all of the Nation's forests, about 766 million acres 
in multiple ownerships. Overall, that is about a third of the Nation's 
land area. We directly manage the national forests and grasslands, 
including about 19 percent of the Nation's forests. The national 
forests and grasslands cover about 193 million acres on 154 national 
forests and 20 national grasslands in 43 states and Puerto Rico. We 
also work with countries around the globe to support sustainable 
forestry and the conservation of the natural resources that billions of 
people depend on for their livelihoods.
    Our purpose is to sustain healthy, resilient landscapes for all the 
benefits that people get from them, both now and for generations to 
come. We meet the needs of our citizens by conserving the values, 
benefits, goods, and services from the Nation's forests and grasslands. 
People depend on the Nation's forests and grasslands for their social, 
economic, and ecological well-being. The Forest Service meets those 
needs in myriad ways.
    Water is the source of all life, and about 53 percent of the 
Nation's total runoff from rivers and streams comes from forests. 
Almost 18 percent comes from the National Forest System alone, even 
though it occupies only about 8 percent of the Nation's land area. In 
the West, more than half of the total regional runoff comes from the 
national forests and grasslands. Nationwide, more than 60 million 
people depend on the national forests and grasslands for their drinking 
water. More than 3,400 communities in 36 states depend on the National 
Forest System for their municipal water supplies, including cities like 
Portland, Denver, and Atlanta.
    Climate change is causing historic droughts in the West and placing 
water supplies and other natural resources at risk. Carbon 
sequestration is vital for combating climate change. Forests take up 
vast quantities of carbon in trees and soils--in fact, forests are 
America's largest terrestrial carbon sink. Our forests, plus harvested 
wood products and urban forests, offset almost 15 percent of the 
Nation's total carbon dioxide emissions and almost 12 percent of all 
greenhouse gas emissions. The National Forest System alone stores 
almost 14 billion metric tons of carbon, or about a quarter of the 
Nation's carbon storage in forests. Each year, the National Forest 
System adds about 31 million metric tons of carbon of net gain.
    The National Forest System is a tremendous source of jobs and 
economic opportunities for Americans. Many rural communities depend on 
the National Forest System for roads and other infrastructure as well 
as for employment, goods, and services. In fiscal year 2020, the 
National Forest System supported more than 370,000 jobs and contributed 
more than $35 billion to the national gross domestic product (GDP). 
Outdoor recreation alone accounted for 45 percent of those jobs and 38 
percent of the contribution to the GDP in 2020. Forest landscape 
management and investments, including fuels and forest health 
treatments, accounted for more than a quarter of the jobs and 31 
percent of the contribution to the GDP. Forest products, minerals and 
energy, and livestock grazing also played an important role. In fiscal 
year 2021, the national forests generated 12.9 billion board feet of 
timber--enough timber to build about 180,000 new single-family homes. 
Together, various kinds of resource extraction accounted for about a 
quarter of the jobs and 27 percent of the contribution to GDP. Forest 
products alone supported more than 42,000 jobs and contributed more 
than $3.7 billion to GDP.
    The main way that many Americans use and enjoy their national 
forests and grasslands today is for outdoor recreation. We have 370,000 
miles of road to give people access to their favorite spots. Our 
visitors have 159,000 miles of trail they can use across landscapes of 
all kinds. They can use 220,000 miles of stream across the National 
Forest System, and those are the favorite spots by far; most outdoor 
recreation occurs within half a mile of a stream. In 2020, we had 168 
million visitors. People come to use and enjoy the national forests and 
grasslands together with family and friends, with benefits that include 
physical exercise and all the mental and other health benefits that 
come with it. For local communities, this is where they live, work, and 
play. Outdoor activities and scenery give them a sense of identity and 
place, adding to their quality of life.
    All this is now at risk on forests and grasslands nationwide. Many 
ecosystems nationwide are degrading and losing habitat for our native 
plants and wildlife. Climate change is altering environmental 
conditions nationwide. Drought has contributed to outbreaks of insects 
and disease that have killed tens of millions of acres of forest across 
the West. Changing environmental conditions have lengthened fire 
seasons into fire years and worsened wildfires across the West. At the 
same time our forests are becoming more overgrown and unhealthy. 
Expanding development into the wildland urban interface puts more homes 
into fire-prone landscapes. One American home in three is now in the 
wildland/urban interface, increasing wildfire risk to these 
communities, because 80-90 percent of all wildfires are human-caused.
    The growing wildfire risk is due to accumulating fuels, a warming 
climate, and expanding development in the wildland/urban interface. But 
we know what to do based on decades of science and experience. To 
protect communities and natural resources, we need to restore healthy, 
resilient fire-adapted forests.
    For decades, we have been putting fuels and forest health 
treatments into place, but it has been a challenge to coordinate 
funding and capacity across landownership boundaries at the needed 
scale. We have tended to place our treatments where we can rather than 
where we should. The result is that the scale of our work on the ground 
has not matched the place and scale of highest risk; therefore, the 
risk has continued to grow.
    In the right places at the right scale, our science-based thinning 
and burning treatments work to protect communities, infrastructure, and 
natural resources while helping wildland firefighters respond to 
wildfires safely and effectively. We now have the science and tools we 
need to size and place treatments in a way that will truly make a 
difference for confronting the wildfire crisis. Science tells us that 
less than 10 percent of the fire-prone areas in the West are 
responsible for 80 percent of the exposure. That is where our focus 
will be: on the landscapes where the risk to lives, homes, communities, 
and natural resources is greatest.
    The Forest Service cannot succeed in this alone. The wildfire 
crisis facing the nation confronts us across ownerships. This is not 
just about the National Forest System. The highest risk firesheds are 
typically in multiple ownerships, with wildfire ignitions potentially 
coming from multiple directions across boundary lines. Fortunately, we 
have decades of experience working through partnerships and 
collaboration based on common values and shared goals across shared 
landscapes.
    Delivering water, wood, wildlife, and all the other values and 
benefits that our citizens want and need from the Nation's forests and 
grasslands depends on success in confronting the wildfire crisis 
through sustained investments over multiple years. It also depends on 
the hard work of motivated employees who feel valued, safe, and 
respected in a workplace free of harassment that reflects the diversity 
of the people we serve. Understanding the challenges many people have 
faced particularly during the pandemic, we have redesigned services to 
maintain the mental health and resilience of our employees, 
particularly our wildland firefighters. We are working across 
government to enhance the work experiences of firefighters and to 
provide the pay and benefits they deserve.
    The investments highlighted below reflect services the Forest 
Service delivers through our National Forest System, State and Private 
Forestry, and Research and Development mission areas. These investments 
enable the Forest Service, together with our partners, to restore the 
long-term forest health and resiliency across landscapes the American 
people cherish. The citizens we serve deserve nothing less.
  highlights from the president's fiscal year 2023 budget request for 
                          specific priorities
    Each of the requested investments detailed below showcase the 
agency's priorities:

  --$321 million for hazardous fuels reduction, which will allow the 
        agency to mitigate wildfire risk on 3.8 million acres in high 
        priority and high-risk areas. This investment builds on the 
        hazardous fuels funding the Forest Service will receive through 
        the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act in 2023 and supports 
        the objectives of the agency's 10-year wildfire crisis 
        strategy.

  --$1.15 billion for Wildland Fire Management Salaries and Expenses to 
        fund additional firefighters and firefighting support personnel 
        and support this Administration's direction that all 
        firefighters receive a minimum wage of $15 per hour. This 
        increased workforce capacity will enhance year-round fire 
        response and hazardous fuels reduction activity and allow the 
        Forest Service to continue important investments that support 
        the health, well- being, and resilience of the agency's 
        wildland firefighting force.

  --$1.68 billion for National Forest System Salaries and Expenses. 
        Funding will strengthen areas needed to support the 
        Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, the agency's 10-year 
        wildfire crisis strategy, and the Great American Outdoors Act. 
        This funding will also help the agency bolster capacity in 
        critical non-fire programs, which have lost staffing in recent 
        years, and thereby enhance social and economic benefits to the 
        American public.

  --$110 million for Recreation, Heritage and Wilderness to increase 
        capacity for critical recreation operations, planning, 
        services, and improvements, with particular emphasis on 
        creating welcoming, sustainable, and equitable recreation 
        opportunities for all Americans with a focus towards 
        underserved and Tribal communities.

  --$98 million for Vegetation and Watershed Management to support 
        healthy and resilient watersheds and landscapes, sustain the 
        production of clean and abundant air and water, assist with 
        meeting the Administration's climate goals, support post-fire 
        restoration work, and contribute to healthy and productive 
        rural communities and Tribal Nations.

  --$45 million for Minerals and Geology Management, which will support 
        efforts to locate and prioritize orphaned oil and gas wells for 
        remediation and the inventory, environmental analysis, and 
        clean-up of mine reclamation sites.

  --$26 million for Grazing Management to support post-fire 
        restoration, provide for strategic incentives to grazing 
        permittees, and build vibrant rural economies.

  --$59 million for Forest Health Management to ensure healthy forests 
        and functional landscapes and to address the effects of climate 
        change on public lands in support of the conservation 
        priorities of the Administration.

    The fiscal year 2023 Budget request also builds on the approach to 
climate change articulated in the fiscal year 2022 Budget and leverages 
the historic investments enacted in the Infrastructure Investment and 
Jobs Act to implement the Administration's climate agenda. The request 
supports the expansion of the scope and scale of research and science 
delivery related to reforestation, carbon sequestration, carbon 
accounting, mitigating forest pests, and post-fire restoration, and 
invests $6 million to support the USDA Climate Hubs in fiscal year 
2023.
    Through Great American Outdoors Act (GAOA) (Public Law 116-152) 
funding, the Forest Service continues to repair and upgrade vital 
infrastructure and facilities in the national forests and grasslands 
through the National Parks and Public Land Legacy Restoration Fund. 
GAOA also permanently funds the Land and Water Conservation Fund 
(LWCF), investing in conservation and recreation opportunities in 
public and private lands through the Forest Legacy Program and Federal 
Land Acquisition.
    According to the agency's 2020 economic analysis, Forest Service 
GAOA projects are projected to support approximately 4,400 jobs and 
contribute $420 million to the Gross Domestic Product on an average 
annual basis over the 5-year authorization of the National Parks and 
Public Land Legacy Restoration Fund. In fiscal year 2023, the Forest 
Service proposes $94.3 million for the Forest Legacy Program, $123.9 
million for Federal Land Acquisition, and $285 million for the National 
Parks and Public Land Legacy Restoration Fund. The fiscal year 2023 
project lists are included in the fiscal year 2023 Budget request.
      legislative proposals and administrative/general provisions
    The fiscal year 2023 President's Budget proposes several key 
legislative changes to improve our effectiveness in delivering programs 
and services:

  --Interest Bearing Account: This legislative proposal would allow the 
        Forest Service to establish an interest-bearing Treasury 
        account for funds received in settlements and other legal 
        actions. This proposal is based on a USDA Office of Inspector 
        General audit recommendation.

  --An addition to the Administrative Provisions that would provide 
        authority to Job Corps staffs to continue to effectively 
        operate in the new budget structure. The Enterprise Program, 
        Geospatial Technology and Applications Center, remnant Natural 
        Resource Managers, and National Technology and Development 
        Program are already covered under this provision.

  --A new General Provision that would provide legislative relief from 
        the Forest Resources Conservation and Shortage Relief Act of 
        1997. This proposal is in response to a Government 
        Accountability Office audit on timber exports.

  --The Budget also requests 1 year extensions of the following 
        authorities: Mining Applications; Contract Support Costs; 
        Forest Botanical Products; Grazing Permits; Puerto Rico 
        Schooling; Federal Lands Recreation Enhancement Act 
        Reauthorization; Forest Service Facility Realignment and 
        Enhancement Authorization; Shasta-Trinity Marina Fee; 
        Interpretive Association Authority; Forest Botanical Products; 
        Forest Ecosystem Health and Recovery Fund; and Local 
        Contractors.

    The Forest Service is committed to the values of equity, inclusion, 
and equal opportunities for its employees and the public it serves. We 
are actively recognizing opportunities within the agency that ensure 
historically underserved groups, including Tribes, more fully access 
and participate in Forest Service programs and services. We are also 
embracing diversity, equity, and inclusion in the workplace and 
ensuring a safe, resilient, and harassment-free work culture where 
employees are treated with respect and dignity. The Forest Service has 
taken significant steps to improve policies, raise accountability, 
upgrade reporting systems, and conduct ongoing training focused on 
workplace environment to stop harassment, bullying, and retaliation. We 
are also creating welcoming, sustainable, and equitable recreation 
opportunities for all Americans. This work is essential and will 
continue in fiscal year 2023.
    In closing, the President's fiscal year 2023 Budget request for the 
Forest Service prioritizes investments to improve the resilience of 
landscapes and watersheds across boundaries and reduce wildfire risk by 
treating the right acres at the right scale; and by restoring 
infrastructure, supporting outdoor recreation, investing in 
reforestation of impacted landscapes, and removing barriers to access. 
We look forward to working with this Subcommittee to fulfill the 
President's goals and our key responsibilities for the long-term 
benefit of the Nation's forests and grasslands, and for all Americans. 
I will be glad to answer your questions.

    Senator Merkley. Well, I thank you very much for your 
testimony. I wanted to, first, ask you about, in your written 
testimony, I don't think you addressed this just now, but notes 
that the National Forest System adds 31 million metric tons of 
carbon net gain, you know, as we have seen the amount of fires 
devastating across the country, and the trees that are dying, 
like the Red Zone in Oregon, where we have massive pine beetle 
infestations.
    And I remember flying in a small plane, and just like, as 
far as I could see, the forest in every direction it was just 
red, red and dying. And now all those needles have dropped. And 
I have hiked through those same areas, just desolated trees.
    So does that 31 million, is that an average over a certain 
number of years? Is that an analysis of 1 year past? Does it 
take into account the loss from disease and from fire?
    Chief Moore. Yes. That encompasses all of that; in fact, 
when our science are telling us that if you look at the 
National Forest in total, it is a carbon sink of about 450 
billion metric tons of carbon. Now, when you look at the 31 
million tons that we have as at a capacity on an annual basis, 
that is inclusive of some of the new growth that take place on 
in our National Forest, but it also minuses some of the things 
like you mentioned, disease and insects, which we know is not 
absorbing carbon when it is dead.
    I think the bigger question might be, you know, how do we 
take advantage of this carbon market? And how should we be 
discussing some of the potential opportunities to manage the 
National Forest, as it relates to carbon sequestration, and 
some of those related things?
    So I think that that is a good question on the table, it is 
something that the agency is starting to discuss, but we have 
to educate ourselves, greatly, from where we are now in that 
issue.
    Senator Merkley. Well, I will come back and follow up 
later. But if it is 30 million tons, and then the entire sink 
is 450 billion, we are talking about one-ten-thousandth of 
increase in carbon storage. That is, you know, less than 10 
percent of 1 percent, or 1 percent of 1 percent. I mean that is 
a very small fluctuation.
    Anyway, it is interesting, and I hadn't seen those numbers 
before, I can come back to that. I want to turn to the 
Collaborative Forest Landscape Restoration Program which I 
mentioned in my remarks, because I have seen the value of 
bringing what were formerly warring stakeholders together, 
creating a strategy, implementing a strategy, keeping it out of 
the courts, providing multi-year plans that result in 
harvesting of logs for the mill, more logs, more jobs in the 
forest, on the trucks, in the mill, making sure that the mill 
knows that there will be a supply. It has been a win-win all 
the way around.
    The Infrastructure Bill provided $100 million for these 
projects over 5 years, but these projects are generally 
authorized for 10 years and then are extended. How do we--how 
are you going to square the investments over 5 years with the 
general structure of these collaboratives? And essentially in 5 
years will we be facing a cliff that committee will need to 
address in trying to extend the collaboratives that are 
developed under the Infrastructure Bill?
    Chief Moore. Yes, Senator. So if we were to continue to 
receive that amount of discretionary funding, additional 
funding would be needed in years six through ten. The hope 
would be to use some of the appropriated dollars to carry those 
collaboratives forward after the 5 years.
    I agree with you 100 percent the collaboratives have been 
great. It has been an outstanding way of bringing the community 
of people together to have more decision space, and what goes 
on out in their forest.
    So we have seen just huge gains in support and 
collaboration by taking that approach. And I know that both you 
and Senator Murkowski have been very instrumental in looking at 
shared stewardship, and really leaning the agency into working 
in that mode. And I think that collaboratives is one of the 
benefits of that method of operating.
    Senator Merkley. Okay. Well, we have to be very aware that 
that is on the horizon, a few years to come. And you mentioned 
that you are at about 90 percent of your hiring goals for this 
season. In terms of thousands of jobs, is that 30- or 40,000 
jobs that are vacant?
    Chief Moore. No. Let me back up just to provide a little 
context on that. So you know, what has been happening with this 
whole fire issue, is that over the past 15 years the Forest 
Service has lost about 40 percent of its non-fire workforce. 
And so now with the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, what we are 
looking to do is bring back some of that capacity that we have 
lost over time.
    We have lost--that 40 percent is about 8,000 employees. 
Those are the employees that really work to do the work that we 
are discussing here today. Our hope is to fill about half of 
that, and leverage the other half working with partners, 
nonprofits, and of that nature.
    And so we feel like we have gained some efficiency in the 
work that we do. We feel like we have huge opportunities to 
leverage our ability to get more work done, by working with 
partners. And that is being demonstrated now, whether it is 
through collaborative, or whether it is through other 
opportunities as we look at trying to get a handle on forest 
management.
    Senator Merkley. Okay. Well, let me zero in specifically on 
the positions for fighting fires. How big is the shortfall 
there?
    Chief Moore. So the goal was to hire about 11,300 
firefighters, this is within the Forest Service. We are 
currently at about 10,200, so that is about the 90 percent 
there.
    Now, that number is a national number. There is a lot of 
complexity in that, depending on how you look at it 
geographically. You know, for example, if I were to look at 
Region 5 and Region 6, let us say, Oregon, and Washington, 
California; you know, you have a lot of firefighters there, and 
so what is happening is that we are making offers, there is a 
lot of declinations in those offers. There is a lot of 
competition in the labor market for these skills, because when 
you have counties, states and private firefighters offering 
sometimes double the salary that the Forest Service 
firefighters are making, it is very hard to compete with that.
    And so that is part of the challenge that we are seeing 
now, and why we are only at 90 percent. But that 90 percent it 
is a lot less than that in certain geographic locations, it is 
as low as 50 percent in some areas.
    Senator Merkley. All right, well that 50 percent sounds a 
little scary, thinking about the fires that we will be facing 
in our various states.
    Is it the case then that we should publicize that you are 
hiring, and if folks want to be in the woods on a really 
important public job, with a lot of responsibility. You are 
looking for their applications?
    Chief Moore. Yeah. Well, certainly. And you know, we look 
for certain quals as well. You know, I might add too, you know, 
I say 90 percent, and we have a lot of declinations in some 
areas. You know, we have a plan to shore that out, we are going 
to be hiring all the ways in through July, to fill in some of 
those vacant positions.
    We also have the ability to do contract hiring, what we 
call AD, administratively determined firefighters. We also have 
the opportunity to look at bringing on additional workforce as 
needed. And so we feel like we can make up for that, but how 
that, ultimately, looks is yet to be determined.
    We just finished up our April spring hiring, and those 
statistics are being looked at now, so we will know how 
successful we are with this last hiring round.
    Senator Merkley. Okay.
    Chief Moore. But we do have a plan in place to make up for 
the shortfall that we are currently seeing.
    Senator Merkley. Thank you. Senator Murkowski.
    Senator Murkowski. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. And just adding 
to what you have outlined there, Chief, in your exchange with 
the Chairman, I am very cognizant that Alaska's fire season 
begins earlier than most of the country, and typically that has 
actually worked to our benefit, because when we have the big 
fires, and we need that surge of fire crews, they are able to 
come up from other parts.
    And then conversely, as our season winds down, some of the 
expertise that we have in Alaska is able to be shared in the 
Lower 48. But I also want to mention the extreme 
opportunities--or I don't want to say extreme--but just the 
real opportunities that we have with our village fire crews. 
And the expertise that they have developed over the course of 
years, I continue to hear that there are challenges in ensuring 
that those fire crews have the training that they need, the 
ability to move up.
    But if there was ever a ready, and a capable, and an eager-
to-work demographic, it is certainly there. So I would commend 
that to you.
    I wanted to start off my questions this morning with 
regards to the Bipartisan Infrastructure Bill. As you know I 
was very involved in helping to shape that. I am really quite 
proud of what we were able to put in, the 5.4 billion over 5 
years, the Forest Service receives through the Infrastructure 
Bill. I think these are going to make some real progress 
towards putting our forest on a healthy and resilient path.
    Can you tell me when and how communities will be able to 
take advantage of funding provided for state and private 
forestry, for activities like the early detection, the rapid 
response, against invasives, and then Wildfire Community 
Defense Grants, what are you looking at in terms of your 
timing?
    Chief Moore. So we have already issued the budgets to the 
regions, so they have those moneys now. And where we are, you 
know, where agreements are required, we have program leaders 
and program managers now putting together those agreements and 
contracts to be issued. So they will hit the ground as soon as 
the contract components and the agreement components are put in 
place, but they already have the funding, and they are already 
moving out and implementing those goals.
    Senator Murkowski. Okay. We had a grant symposium in 
Anchorage a couple weeks back, and it was extraordinary to me 
to see the level of interest from Alaskans all over the state, 
who flew into Anchorage to hear just exactly what the details 
are on some of these grants, and the opportunities and the 
timing. So we want to be able to share that information, and 
again, get that out in time of what we know to be just an 
earlier fire season.
    Can you outline how the large investments in thinning, and 
the fuel breaks, and the prescribed fires, and in all of these 
activities that we have funded through the Infrastructure Bill 
how these--I guess how these funds will impact what we are 
trying to do here, with for instance, the efforts to put in 
place fuel breaks. Tell me how we are going to work this?
    Chief Moore. So part of what we were trying to achieve, and 
what we are achieving through the Bipartisan Infrastructure 
Bill is, first of all, bringing the community of people 
together to make some decisions on where they wanted to invest 
initially.
    Now, we have had our scientists map the different fire 
sheds all across the country. And those firesheds are an 
acreage of about 250,000 acres. And so when you look at the 
number of fire sheds in a landscape then we are relying on the 
local community to weigh in on how and where we initially take 
action.
    This first year that we wanted to start activity, you know 
we wanted to kind of hit the ground running, so to speak. You 
know, we wanted to demonstrate that we can make this work. And 
so where we already had NEPA completed, where we already have 
support, whether it is through the collaboratives or other 
places, then we have funded those activities first.
    We are going to fund more than that, but they are the first 
ones in this first year. And you know, the Secretary and I had 
made a trip to Colorado earlier this year to announce the 
beginning of that. So we do have projects that we are looking 
to implement as of this year.
    In fact, you know, I want to recognize that we have been 
moving really quick, because we have not only developed a ten-
year strategy within 5 months, but we have also looked at 
working with the different regions across the country, and 
their collaboratives to look at where we would do these 
projects.
    And so we are there, we have already issued the funding to 
start the work on the first group of projects under the BIL, 
and it is on its way now.
    Senator Murkowski. So if you have outlined your strategy, 
and you know where you are going, have you identified any 
barriers that you are looking at, and saying, okay, this is 
going to make this a little more challenging, and are those 
barriers in the area of just capacity to execute? Can you 
describe whether or not you have the capacity that you need to 
do everything that you are mapping out here for the 
Infrastructure Bill?
    Chief Moore. Yes, Senator. No. We do not have the capacity 
currently. That is what we are to add, is capacity in that. We 
do have the ability to begin the work on these first initial 
projects that I mentioned. In the first ones we looked at about 
ten different Landscapes across eight states, as our initial 
look, and so we--and I will give you an example of how we are 
trying to get this done, and how we trying to build capacity.
    We know that a lot of this work is going to be done with 
and through partners, and in order for that work to be done 
with and through partners we need to make sure that we have our 
agreements in place, and where contracts need to be let, to 
have that workforce in shape.
    So we have begun to hire to higher capacity in our grants 
and agreements staff, as well as our contracting staff, so that 
we are prepared to implement the instruments that it would take 
to get this work done.
    We have also looked at hiring a number of engineers as 
well, because that is a lot of infrastructure work, a lot of 
the road work, trail work. And so now, as we speak, we are in 
the process of hiring foresters, and recreation, special-use 
people, to bring that capacity to the forefront.
    So we are moving out on a lot of different fronts so that 
we can have the best chances of success as possible, as we 
implement the projects, and the works underneath the Bipartisan 
Infrastructure Law.
    Senator Murkowski. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
    Senator Merkley. Thank you. Senator Van Hollen.
    Senator Van Hollen. Thank you, Mr. Chairman; Ranking Member 
Murkowski. Chief Moore, good to see you.
    Chief Moore. Thank you.
    Senator Van Hollen. I want to talk a little about the 
Chesapeake Bay.
    Chief Moore. Yes.
    Senator Van Hollen. As you know, the Chesapeake Bay 
Watershed comprises six states, plus the District of Columbia. 
If you look at the land mass that drains into the Bay, the 
ratio of that land mass to the water body is the greatest in 
the country certainly.
    So it is a big challenge, as more and more people move into 
that watershed, and the forestry piece of this is important to 
preventing the ultimate runoff of pollution into the bay. And 
we have a Chesapeake Forest Restoration Strategy. As you know, 
it was most recently updated in 2020, to rebuild riparian 
forest buffers, tree canopy habitat, and urban and community 
forestry as we work to improve stormwater management.
    And the Forest Service has shown great leadership as a part 
of the program's Forestry Workgroup. But we also know that back 
in 2019 we, collectively, set a goal to restore an additional 
900 miles of forest buffers each year, until at least 70 
percent of the riparian areas in the watershed were forested, 
and we are way short. We are not even close; even as we work to 
meet the 2025 goals of the Chesapeake Bay Agreement.
    So my question to you is, you know can we do? And what role 
can you play in our effort to get back on track and meet those 
goals?
    Chief Moore. So thank you, Senator. And as you know, that 
is more of a state and private issue. So specifically as we 
relate, or as we talk about Chesapeake Bay, we are working with 
the state issuing grants, as well as providing technical 
assistance, to not only the state, but through the EPA as well. 
Particularly as it relates to having forested buffer zone 
there, I think we had about 900 miles or so, of buffer zone, 
forest buffer zone.
    And so we are honoring that by working with EPA and the 
state, and we do provide quite a bit of technical assistance on 
that, as it relates to forestry.
    Senator Van Hollen. So many years ago, as part of an 
earlier version of the Farm Bill, I worked to include in the 
House, provisions that specifically gave the Forest Service a 
more direct role within the Chesapeake Bay cleanup effort. That 
then got folded into a broader national effort, but assuming 
that if we provided through legislation or through 
appropriations a more direct role for the Forest Service, that 
you could put those resources to good use. Is that right?
    Chief Moore. Well, we will honor whatever Congress wants us 
to, and we would do it with delight.
    Senator Van Hollen. Well, I am glad to hear that. I will be 
working with my colleagues here, because we are falling short. 
We are also working to reinstate, we, Senator Cardin, and 
myself, and the congressional delegation, not just from 
Maryland but from others, to reinstate what we call the 
Chesapeake Bay Czar. This was a position that was established 
during the Obama administration, as you know, to oversee all 
the agencies.
    And I am confident that we will have that position filled. 
And I just ask you here to make sure that you and your team, 
you know, are fully plugged into that effort.
    Chief Moore. Sure.
    Senator Van Hollen. If I can have your commitment there.
    Chief Moore. You do.
    Senator Van Hollen. So do you--but you are a member right 
now of the overall sort of Advisory Committee.
    Chief Moore. Right.
    Senator Van Hollen. And as you point out, you are dealing 
with a lot of state forests and private forests, but what is 
your assessment as part of that team as to why we are falling 
so short of the goals?
    Chief Moore. I can't answer that from a Forest Service 
perspective as yet, Senator. But I will certainly look into it 
with staff and get back with you on that.
    Senator Van Hollen. I would appreciate that.
    Chief Moore. Okay.
    Senator Van Hollen. If you can get back to it. That is all 
I have. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
    Senator Merkley. Thank you. Chief Moore, one of the 
conversations in my home state is about the best strategies for 
making forests more resilient, more resistant to fire, and we 
have a--really a consensus around, let us say, the Ponderosa 
Pine Forest, where we have seen extensive thinning, mowing, 
prescribed burns, a huge impact on slowing fires down, and 
allowing firefighters to get through the forest to the front of 
the fire, and always a real success.
    And the Milli Fire was bearing down on Sisters, Oregon, and 
when the fire ran into an area that had been thinned and gone 
through several prescribed burns, it really came to a stop. I 
mean, it was really impressive. But we have a significant 
amount of different opinions over other types of forest, and 
some of the Douglas-fir forests. On the one side there is an 
argument that on the second-growth forest where all the 
canopies are the same level, thinning really makes a 
difference, slows down the fire, et cetera.
    And others who bringing to bear and saying, actually when 
you are opening up the canopy you end up with more oxygen 
driving the fire, and it actually doesn't make the forest more 
fire resilient. I just have a request that you will bring your 
best scientists to bear to help us understand how, in different 
types of forests, the strategies work--what strategies work 
best for making the forest more fire resilient. It would be a 
shame if we do things that actually don't work. And can I have 
your commitment to have your scientific teams help us 
understand this issue?
    Chief Moore. Yes. You sure do.
    Senator Merkley. Thank you. Thank you. In fiscal year 2022, 
for the first time in a decade we included Congressionally 
Directed Spending Projects. I don't call them ``congressionally 
directed'', I call them ``community-initiated'', because they 
are community initiated.
    Chief Moore. Yeah.
    Senator Merkley. And it is not about us making decisions, 
we do that all the time. It is about communities making 
decisions, and then us lobbying for what those communities say 
they need. So I was really glad to see that be part of this 
bill.
    One example in Oregon was $500,000 that went to Lomakatsi 
Restoration Project in Southern Oregon, and it will support 
community-driven fuels reduction. We are receiving questions 
now about what is the timeline for when these different 
community-initiated project grants will actually--when they 
will see a check. And any insight on that?
    Chief Moore. Well, as I mentioned earlier, the budget has 
already been allocated out to the regions, and so now it is 
just a matter. I don't know that particular project, that 
specific one, but in general, where we are now is making sure 
that we have the agreements in place, and the teams should be 
working at it as we speak, and as soon as that has been 
checked, then we should start seeing contracts let, or 
agreements begin to be implemented.
    Senator Merkley. Great. If your team in Oregon is running 
into any significant hurdles, I would just ask that they let me 
know.
    Chief Moore. Sure.
    Senator Merkley. So we can try to, collectively, overcome 
those and get these projects underway, because people are very 
excited about getting funding for these various efforts.
    I want to turn to the issue of H-2B workers, and Senator 
Wyden and I pushed really hard for funding back in 2009 and 
2010 for a lot of money to thin forests, produce saw logs, more 
jobs, so on, and so forth, and it turned out that a lot of the 
contracts were not given during a time of high unemployment to 
folks who were hiring in America.
    We had 5,000 people on a waiting list for forest jobs in 
Oregon. They weren't even consulted or notified about these 
jobs, and the contractors who were hiring from out of country 
were undercutting the bids of people who were hiring in-
country.
    Right now, we are at a lower level of unemployment, so it 
is not quite the same situation, but I keep pushing the Forest 
Service to develop regulations to make sure that contractors 
who are working to hire people, who want these jobs, Americans 
who want these jobs.
    I come from Douglas County it is like the David Douglas 
Tree Forest of the country, and people are born with a chainsaw 
in their hand. They love to work in the woods. And the fact 
that they are being completely bypassed by the procedures, 
totally unacceptable, it was a scandal then, it will be a 
scandal again, if we don't have rules and guidelines in place.
    So what is the Forest Service doing to ensure that American 
workers who want to take these jobs are getting fully notified, 
and the contractors who are working to hire them have a full 
chance to get these contracts before we turn to H-2B workers?
    Chief Moore. So Senator, we do have a process where we do--
whenever we have contracts out, we send it out to a list of 
contractors--who is on that list. Now if we are missing some 
companies, or even some individuals in this, we would like to 
know who they are, so we can add them to that--the list that we 
send mailing list out on our contracts. So here again, the 
specifics I am not sure of, but in general, that would be our 
process for how we award contracts.
    Senator Merkley. Well, I will give you an example for the 
types of things that were going on. Contractors were self-
certifying that they had looked for American workers, Self-
certification wasn't working because they were advertising in 
California for jobs; in Oregon they were advertising saying you 
need to speak two languages, which obviously, not very many 
Americans are fluent in two specific languages; all sorts of 
strategies to not--and absolutely no contact with the people 
who are on the state list who wanted these jobs, no 
consultation.
    You all have a report due to us on June 15th to analyze 
this situation, I hope it is a really good report, and it is 
very important that we get it on June 15th. So I wanted to 
raise that. I know that it is a million things you are doing 
right now, but can you make sure we get a comprehensive report 
of how the Forest Service is going to address this problem?
    Chief Moore. Yes, sir, Senator. In fact, I am aware of the 
report, and we are working on it, and the goal is to of course, 
complete it on time.
    Senator Merkley. Great. Thank you. Thank you very much. 
Senator Hagerty.
    Senator Hagerty. Thank you, Chairman; and Ranking Member 
Murkowski. I appreciate you holding the hearing today.
    Chief Moore, good to see you.
    Chief Moore. Thank you, Senator.
    Senator Hagerty. Chief Moore, early in the morning of 
Tuesday, April 26, Tennesseans awoke to the very sad news, that 
the Ocoee WhiteWater facility had been engulfed in flames. 
Fortunately, first responders were there to get the fire under 
control, and no one was injured. Unfortunately, the building 
that hosted the first-ever Olympics kayak and canoe events 
during the 1996 Olympics, and hosts now more than 300,000 
visitors a year, has been deemed a total loss.
    Officials with the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation and 
the U.S. Forest Service are now investigating the cause of the 
fire. The Ocoee WhiteWater Center means so much to my 
constituents. The Polk County Chamber of Commerce calls it 
``The Crown Jewel of Polk County.'' Local officials tell me 
that the beautiful mighty Ocoee River is the tourism hub that 
Polk County depends on.
    Chief Moore, my first question is: Can you provide me with 
an update as to where we stand, specifically, if you could 
discuss the partnership that you have with state and local 
officials in Tennessee?
    Chief Moore. Yes. So let me first say, too, it is so 
unfortunate that that happened to that facility. It was one of 
the crown jewels across the country anywhere. So we are very 
saddened by that as well.
    Right now, our law enforcement personnel are investigating 
this with state personnel. So you know, until that is complete, 
we won't really know how to proceed forward with that. We do 
know that our expectation is to, for the time being, seal that 
off, at some point look at opening parts of it back up to the 
public. How and when we do that, we will be discussing that 
with a lot of our local constituents and partners out there.
    Senator Hagerty. And I appreciate your working closely with 
our local partners, as we enter the busiest season for outdoor 
recreation in my Home State of Tennessee the local businesses 
there in Polk County really depend on the tourism that the 
Ocoee River attracts.
    And Chief Moore, I want to ask you, if I can tell my 
constituents, that despite the center being closed--and I 
understand the reasons--that the river is open for business?
    Chief Moore. Yes. We will look at. And that is part I want 
to look at. We are not going to make this decision independent 
of a lot of our involvement from the locals down there. So we 
want to look at, when is it, the appropriate time to open the 
river back up. The intent is to certainly open it back up, but 
when, there is a lot of, you know, things that need to take 
place that I am not at liberty to discuss, but we fully intend 
to open it back up. And we will be engaging locals in there, in 
that decision.
    Senator Hagerty. Well, anything you can do to expedite 
that, Chief Moore, is going to be deeply appreciated by me, and 
by everyone in the State of Tennessee, and by the many people 
around the country that want to use that facility. Again, it 
has a dramatic economic impact for Polk County. And Polk County 
has had, as many counties have, has had a rough go. So anything 
that you can do to expedite that and to keep us informed of 
what you need, if it is resources from us, et cetera.
    Chief Moore. Certainly.
    Senator Hagerty. I am going to be tracking this very 
closely. In the longer term, do you have a sense of whether you 
are going to construct a new building there, you know, where 
the old facility was?
    Chief Moore. You know, I would certainly like to tell you 
that we would like to replace that. That is perhaps a 
conversation that we can have with you.
    Senator Hagerty. Mm-hmm. Well, perhaps what we could do is 
have another meeting. We don't have to do it today, but 
offline. But to really lay out what the timeline will be. The 
first, get the river open, I think that is the most critical 
thing, again because of its economic impact, and the longer-
term where you would see on this timeline, a rebuilding of the 
facility.
    But I appreciate your commitment to work with me and my 
constituents as well to give regular update on this.
    Chief Moore. Absolutely.
    Senator Hagerty. If you could do that. I would like to turn 
to another topic, the Land Between the Lakes; that is a one-of-
a-kind recreation area that sits across Kentucky and Tennessee, 
and attracts millions of tourists a year, to fish, to boat, to 
camp, to hike. I was there as a kid, as a Boy Scout, it means a 
lot to the area as well.
    And I want to say that thanks to the leadership of this 
committee Congress has provided additional resources, above the 
regular regional allotment, for the national recreation area 
there, including the Land Between the Lakes.
    There is more work to be done there though. And I co-
sponsored an important bill, led by Leader McConnell that will 
help the Land Between the Lakes secure the Federal resources 
that are necessary to improve recreation, maintenance, safety, 
and to preserve the natural heritage there.
    I am going to continue to work with state, and local, and 
Federal leaders in Kentucky and Tennessee to ensure that the 
Land Between the Lakes is maintained and preserved for 
generations to come, just like it was there for me when I was a 
boy.
    Chief Moore, can you tell me how the additional resources 
that have been provided by this committee, how are you going to 
prioritize those?
    Chief Moore. Yes. So thank you. So we started with the law 
enforcement presence. You know, at one point, probably when you 
were a kid growing up, we had a number of law enforcement 
personnel, and of course the Forest Service was not managing it 
at that time. We had gone down to about three law enforcement 
personnel there to patrol that entire area.
    Senator Hagerty. The area.
    Chief Moore. And so we heard a lot from the local 
community, about needing to get that addressed, even the law 
enforcement community in that area as well. So I had sent down 
our director for law enforcement to meet with law enforcement 
personnel there, to talk about the long-range plan for that 
area; and so since we have hired three additional LEOs, law 
enforcement officers, there so now it is up to six from three.
    Senator Hagerty. Okay.
    Chief Moore. And so we are looking at replacing and adding 
additional personnel there, because it is one-of-a-kind type 
recreation opportunity there. And I think to hear you talk 
about that is one thing, but to be able to visit that area it 
is just a--you know, we talk about jewels here this morning, 
but it is a fantastic recreation place, facility.
    So our intent is to make sure that that is operating, and 
that it is open to the public, and it is an enjoyable 
experience.
    Senator Hagerty. I appreciate that. And I appreciate you 
working closely with Tennessee and Kentucky local officials to 
make that happen.
    Chief Moore. Yes.
    Senator Hagerty. One last question. If you could discuss, 
Chief, how recent changes in the Forest Service budget 
structure have increased transparency, and how that provides 
local leaders with more information about how the management of 
the Land Between the Lakes will be undertaken?
    Chief Moore. Yes. So, if you look historically at the 
budget, and how it came down in the different buckets across 
the agency, and as we had started losing capacity, it was a lot 
of confusion in how employees were going to be funded. I think 
with this new budget process we have here, we know that we have 
a salary and expense bucket.
    Senator Hagerty. Mm-hmm. Yeah.
    Chief Moore. So employees are not trying to chase jobs to 
pay for their salaries. And so I think that that is a really 
good thing. The other thing is that, you know, over time, I 
feel like we needed to do what we are doing now, with budget 
modernization. I have never been one to think that every unit 
needed an entire budget structure, and so we have moved away 
from every unit then having their own budget to have it, you 
know, managed from a broader geographic area.
    And we think that there is a lot of efficiencies, as well 
as transparency in that process. And we are beginning to see a 
lot of, not only salary savings, but efficiencies in how we 
manage the budget. And so now, we are looking at project work 
on the ground, that is what really matters, and we are not 
trying to look at the different pools of salaries where you may 
be working somewhere that it is not a priority.
    Now, it gives us the ability to be more flexible, it gives 
ability to focus on really on project-level work, and to be 
able to communicate our accomplishments in the different 
project-level work.
    Senator Hagerty. No, anything you can do to target 
resources better and prioritize them better, I applaud. Thank 
you for your time here today, Chief.
    Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
    Senator Merkley. Thank you, Senator Hagerty. And Senator 
Tester, we are going to go with one question with the Ranking 
Member before she has to run to Homeland Security, and then she 
will return; and we will come to you.
    Senator Murkowski. Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. And 
thank you Senator Tester.
    Chief, I had mentioned in my opening statement a discussion 
about special-use permits and where we are with capacity to 
issue all that. As you know, in Southeastern Alaska, the Forest 
Service permits, as they come in for whether it is our small 
air carriers who are taking people for over flights, or touch 
and go in places, like Misty Fjords. Everybody has got to get 
their permit. And we have had a lot of tension with that over 
the years, as these have not been able to be issued and in a 
timely manner.
    We are really hopeful that we are going to have a strong 
tourist season this year, bringing a lot of folks back to 
Alaska, and they want to get around within the Tongass there. 
In recent years, Forest Service has used an enterprise approach 
to bringing expertise to regions with the high special-use 
permit demand. I mean, we are poster child for that.
    Last I heard, this effort helped Region 10 clear more than 
40 percent of the special-use permit backlog. What I am--while 
I recognize, okay, that is good progress there, my concern is 
that a surge approach is not going to allow us to both catch up 
on the remaining 60 percent, and then stay current going 
forward.
    So can you tell me what you are doing to put Region 10 on a 
sustainable path for special-use permitting, and if you have 
the capacity to do that?
    Chief Moore. So thank you, Senator. So we are building 
capacity, is the short answer on that. And you know, with the 
bipartisan infrastructure law, it has given us the ability to 
add that. One of the biggest challenges we have had across the 
agency is being responsive in a timely manner to special-use 
requests and permits.
    And so our approach has been to really look at that 
enterprise approach where we would bring in, what we would 
consider a strike team to really get at a lot of the backlog of 
special uses, because, you know, that is the walk-in-the-door 
kind of business.
    And when people are not satisfied with how responsive we 
are, you know, it creates just kind of a bad environment for 
the agency.
    Senator Murkowski. Mm-hmm.
    Chief Moore. And so we have tried to put extra focus on 
that by having these strike teams to get at these backlogs, but 
the requests are huge. But we are determined to work through 
them. And I know cabins may come up later, but we are 
determined to work through that. And I think we are making a 
lot of good progress, and we will just need to continue to 
build on that progress. And I am hopeful, looking at the BIL 
funding, to help us do that, or sustain it.
    Senator Murkowski. Well, I hope that you are right. Again, 
we appreciate the fact that we have got attention to it, and we 
are starting to deal with some of that backlog. But again, how 
do we do this on a sustainable basis?
    Chief Moore. Yes.
    Senator Murkowski. So if you don't think that you have got 
what you need within the Infrastructure Bill, you know, please 
let us know how we can help facilitate. Before we get to 
special-use, to the Forest Service cabins, and you anticipated 
that question, I appreciate that. I wanted to talk about the 
Chugach Region Land Study.
    As you know, under the Dingell Act, the Department of 
Interior, in cooperation with Forest Service, was required to 
complete a study on this within 18 months of enactment of that 
bill. That bill was enacted into law in March of 2019, and we 
are still waiting for the results of the study.
    This is one of those situations where we have to have 
Forest Service and BLM working together, and each time that I 
ask for both of the agencies for an update I get fingers 
pointing one to the other.
    And in fairness I am not interested in assigning blame 
here, but I am interested in knowing when this very important 
study is going to be completed. These land exchanges are super 
critical to our economic health and development in the region. 
And I need to know if you can give me some definitive answer in 
terms of when we can expect to see this study delivered to 
Congress.
    Chief Moore. So you know, I personally followed up with the 
Regional Forester there to get some specifics of where we are, 
particularly with what we are being requested to do. So I have 
been assured by the Regional Forester that as of January, that 
we have given BLM everything that they need to move forward in 
this decision.
    And so Senator, if you are hearing something different, may 
I suggest that both the Forest Service and BLM get in the same 
room with you, so that we can maybe get to the bottom of where 
we are with it.
    Senator Murkowski. I would like to do that. I had hoped 
that you might have an answer for us. This was raised several 
weeks ago in Anchorage directly with the Regional Supervisor 
there. And so I am a little discouraged that we don't have a 
better answer than everybody sit down in the same room here, 
because again, it just seems like both sides are pointing the 
finger at one another.
    And in the meantime, we have a situation where nothing is 
moving, despite the very clear advisory that was contained--it 
wasn't an advisory, it was the law, to say that this report is 
out there. So I will share with you that what I am hearing on 
the ground is that BLM has done everything that they need to 
do, and that it is with the Forest Service at this point in 
time.
    So we have got conflicting information. And again, if you 
are the folks that are waiting for this land exchange, you 
don't care which agency is at fault. All you know is the 
government is the one that is denying the completion of this 
very important conveyance.
    So let us get together and resolve this finally, because it 
is not just the study that we are waiting for, then we have to 
get the exchanges completed, and that in and of itself is yet 
another exercise in time. So we will follow up with you, Chief, 
on that.
    Chief Moore. Well, Senator, let me say you do deserve a 
better answer than perhaps what you are getting. And so I will 
commit to working with my counterpart to see if we can't get a 
better answer than what you are receiving.
    Senator Murkowski. I appreciate that. Thank you, Mr. 
Chairman. I will be back.
    Senator Merkley. Senator Tester.
    Senator Tester. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
    Chief, it is good to have you here; rather than to see you 
on Zoom. So it is good to see you in person. Any of those three 
people in the back do your bio, they are responsible for it?
    Chief Moore. Well, they have input for sure.
    Senator Tester. Do they? Well, so if you look at the third 
paragraph, ``Moore began his 43-year career in 1978 with USDA-
NRCS.'' That is 44 years. Okay. And I just want to say thank 
you very much for your service to this country.
    Chief Moore. Thank you.
    Senator Tester. Thank you very much for the job you are 
doing. Although sometimes we argue and fight, that is how 
democracies work, right?
    Chief Moore. Right.
    Senator Tester. And we find common ground. I want to come 
back to an issue called the Crazy Mountains for a minute. We 
have talked about this on Zoom before.
    Chief Moore. Mm-hmm.
    Senator Tester. Senator Heinrich and I have been talking 
about this access issue for months. And so the question is, can 
you explain how the Forest Service decides where and how it is 
going to defend prescriptive easements?
    Chief Moore. So a process, and it is in our directives, is 
to really involve our publics. And so we try to work through 
any kind of land disputes with the private landowner, as well 
as just the publics in general. And you know, in the simplest 
form, Senator that is our process of working through the 
disputes, particularly as it relates to access.
    Senator Tester. So is there a formal opportunity for public 
input from public comment in review during the process?
    Chief Moore. Are we talking specifically about the 
``Crazies''?
    Senator Tester. Yeah. And then after you are done with the 
``Crazies'' specifically, generally, for all of them, they all 
should be the same. There shouldn't be much difference, right?
    Chief Moore. But yeah. We always involve the public, I 
mean, as a Federal agency, we can always engage the public and 
involve the publics in particular things.
    Senator Tester. But there is a difference between 
engagement of the public, and public comment opportunities?
    Chief Moore. Yes.
    Senator Tester. Is there a public comment opportunity?
    Chief Moore. Well, that is why I was wanting to know if you 
were speaking in reference to the ``Crazies''.
    Senator Tester. Well, in the ``Crazies''--it is the public 
comment, yeah.
    Chief Moore. In this particular case, there has not been a 
public involvement, public comment period.
    Senator Tester. Okay. So I think it is important. I mean, 
transparency in government is good, and nobody is perfect. Even 
I make a mistake, rarely, but occasionally. And I would tell 
you, you know hunting, you know habitat, you know the great 
outdoors.
    Chief Moore. Yes.
    Senator Tester. The best habitat in the world is not worth 
much unless you can get access to it.
    Chief Moore. Right.
    Senator Tester. Really, if you are looking at it from the 
hunting side of things. So if there hasn't been public comment, 
what recourse do forest users have if a trail that they have 
used for decades is closed?
    Chief Moore. Well, you know, here again, that is part of 
that public process. If our public is concerned about a trail 
that is closed, you know, they would talk and----
    Senator Tester. Oh. They have been chirping, and in fact, 
they even went to the courts. I mean, and I am not advocating 
for any of that, but they have been talking.
    Chief Moore. Yeah. We are talking about prescriptive rights 
though; is that correct?
    Senator Tester. Yeah. I mean, we are talking about 
prescriptive easements, correct.
    Chief Moore. Yeah. So Senator, you know, we have been 
working on this for a while.
    Senator Tester. Yeah.
    Chief Moore. And, you know, we are still trying to find the 
best option for working through access.
    Senator Tester. Okay. So let us approach it from the 
service standpoint. Does access or reduced access, which I 
think can be claimed in the ``Crazies'' example, impact your 
ability, as the Forest Service Chief, to manage this landscape 
for logging, grazing, and other activities?
    Chief Moore. Well, I think you can certainly say that there 
are some potential for that to happen, and when it does happen 
and we try to work through that. And sometimes it is more of an 
issue with litigation that we work through, other times it is 
not. It is through sitting down, and through a public 
involvement, engagement process that we can come to an 
agreement.
    Senator Tester. All right. I am going to get back to 
litigation in a second here. But does the Forest Service have a 
statutory, a statutory responsibility to protect public access 
to public lands?
    Chief Moore. Yes. That is a very tricky question of course. 
So the answer is, we don't have a statutory requirement, but 
yet we do have a requirement to maintain access for public.
    Senator Tester. So I hope we can continue to work on this 
issue together. I think it is really important. I can't tell 
you how important it is.
    Chief Moore. Yes.
    Senator Tester. As you know, I always tell folks, you don't 
have to be a millionaire to be a hunter in Montana, because we 
all own those public lands. But if you don't have access to 
them, and it is sealed off because of whatever reason it might 
be, I won't throw anybody under the bus, then the public really 
doesn't own those lands anymore.
    It is a fact. And as far as litigation goes, and look, I 
have been sued a number of times, in different capacities on 
Boards that I have been on; and these guys aren't crazy, they 
are not. They just want to make sure that--they want to make 
sure that they still have the ability to get in there and enjoy 
the great outdoors.
    I want to talk a little bit about Butte Basin Creek 
Watershed. And I don't anticipate that you know anything about 
it. What this area is, is the water supply for some would 
argue, the greatest city in America, Butte.
    Chief Moore. Okay.
    Senator Tester. Butte, Montana. There, because of climate 
change and beetle kill, there is a ton of dead trees there in 
this drainage that supplies this town, city with water. Okay?
    Chief Moore. Yes.
    Senator Tester. Forest Service land. It is in the back 
country. I mean, during the winter you can skate some miles 
across the lake, but the bottom line is, is that it is going to 
take some work and some planning. These logs have been down so 
long that they are not dimension lumber anymore. They probably 
could be used for something called biochar.
    Chief Moore. Right.
    Senator Tester. And which, by the way, it has got some 
benefits, and something that we should be probably taking a 
harder look at and pushing. But what I want from you today as 
the Chief of the Forest Service, I talked to the Chief 
Executive of Butte-Silver Bow last weekend, last Friday. And he 
said, I need somebody out here from the Forest Service so we 
can look at this, and so I can explain to them what needs to be 
done, so that we can get this cleaned up.
    This is one of those deals, Chief, that if we don't get--
and this ain't going to put logs on trucks, so nobody is going 
to get a promotion for doing a bunch of logging. This is going 
to be cleaning up a watershed that is really, really important 
for this region.
    And if I could get somebody that is of consequence, 
somebody that you trust could actually make a difference, I 
would be very grateful for that.
    Chief Moore. Okay.
    Senator Tester. And so, that would be something that would 
be good. It is very parochial, but I wouldn't be here talking 
to you about it in Washington, D.C., in front of a committee 
that I could beat the hell out of you on a budget, if it wasn't 
important. Okay?
    Chief Moore. Yeah. Well, Senator Tester, I will tell you. I 
know a little bit about that project. In fact, it is one of the 
projects that we are going to be funding this year. And so you 
should be seeing some activity out there taking place this year 
on that particular project.
    Senator Tester. Well, just so you know, and I know you know 
this, I had a debate in Butte in 2006, and this issue was 
brought up. This is 15 years old, and we need to really get on 
it. We do. Thank you.
    Chief Moore. You bet.
    Senator Merkley. Thank you, Senator.
    I want to turn to, the ten-year strategy, and there is not 
a lot of detailed discussion in it on how the Forest Service 
will work with the tribes on fuels management. That is a 
significant issue in my part of the country. The Klamath Tribe 
was involved in the work that helped do fuels treatment in an 
area that was burned by the Bootleg Fire, and it certainly 
helped.
    The Klamath Tribe wants to be a partner with the Forest 
Service on some of the restoration work on the Bootleg. The 
Warm Springs Tribe is pursuing a co-management arrangement on 
Mount Hood National Forest, which abuts our reservation.
    What is your sense or vision for tribal participation in 
forest management, particularly in resilience and restoration?
    Chief Moore. So Senator Merkley, I think the tribes have a 
tremendous opportunity as we look at trying to address the ten-
year strategy. As a matter of fact, if we look at the landscape 
that we made some initial investments in, and I mentioned 
earlier about the different fire sheds, within those 
landscapes, where we have also created a layer, that looks at 
all the disadvantaged communities across the country, 
particularly in the west.
    And so as we look at making decisions on how we want to 
prioritize working in, that is one of the layers for 
consideration of a decision, is that, does it engage 
disadvantaged communities? And if so, then that could be one of 
our decision points.
    So there are a lot of opportunities. The other thing that 
we are trying to really emphasize is that traditional 
ecological knowledge which the tribes have. And they have been 
doing this for many years. We want to continue to take 
advantage of the opportunity that we have to engage them in how 
we make decisions on those landscapes.
    Senator Merkley. So tribes that are interested in 
partnering with the Forest Service will, under your leadership, 
the Forest Service will hold government-to-government meetings 
with them to try to work out arrangements?
    Chief Moore. Yes. In fact, about a-week-and-a-half ago I 
had a tribal roundtable, and the whole idea was to engage them 
as partners into how we make decisions, particularly as it 
affects them. And so the roundtable was very revealing in terms 
of information, and we were really pleased with the outcome. So 
we will follow up with that. And if you are interested in 
knowing more about that, Senator, we can certainly make sure 
that you are----
    Senator Merkley. Thank you, great. No, we will follow up on 
that. There was a program, the Community Capacity and Land 
Stewardship Program that was a partnership with the National 
Forest Foundation, and local organizations that were working on 
smaller scale restoration projects that weren't large enough, 
or in the right geographic areas, to qualify for CFLR, the 
Collaborative Forest Landscape Restoration Program.
    And there was a challenge as to whether those projects had 
the right authorization. So we included a requirement in this 
year's Omnibus to, essentially, provide that framework. And for 
you all to report back to us on June 15th, how you would resume 
those smaller scale projects that have been really so important 
in just a whole number of communities.
    And I want to make sure that----I know that you have got a 
million things on your mind, that you are familiar with this, 
and that these smaller projects--smaller grants have your 
support.
    Chief Moore. Well, they certainly do have our support, in 
fact, as we look at implementing the Bipartisan Infrastructure 
Law, a lot of those smaller ones are included in some of the 
project work that we are doing.
    Senator Merkley. Great. Great. Thank you. And I will look 
forward to that June report. The Job Corps Civilian 
Conservation Centers have been, for a long time, part of the 
Forest Service portfolio. There was an effort under a previous 
administration to close the 24 residential Job Corps Centers on 
Forest Service lands, and remodel the program.
    It was a huge outcry, because in my part of the country, 
the folks coming out of these programs who are youth who are 
trying to get back on their feet, often from a troubled or 
difficult past. So it has been a real win, win; a win for these 
youths who find their course in life, and get back on their 
feet, and for the Forest Service that needs their skills and 
training.
    Can you assure me as to whether these programs have your 
support?
    Chief Moore. Yeah, absolutely. And they also have the 
Secretary's support as well. You know, this is one of the 
programs that we are really proud of. And I could tell that you 
are too. We still have the 24 Job Corps Centers. And, you know, 
the Job Corps Center really builds on just a long, proud 
tradition of the Civilian Conservation Corps. So that is 
continuing.
    One of the ways that we are modernizing, or at least 
broadening out the Job Corps, is to look at some of the needs 
that we have on the National Forest. One is the Advanced Fire 
Academy, looking at creating a curriculum within Job Corps that 
gives us the opportunity to train a lot of our Job Corps 
students so they can become future employees working in that, 
as well as in forestry sector.
    And so we are really excited about that. We had two centers 
that offered the advanced fire training. We now have five. And 
so it is building. We feel like there is an opportunity to 
continue to increase how we engage, and interact with Job 
Corps. And so that is a very important component and priority 
for us, Senator.
    Senator Merkley. When can we get the first one of those in 
Oregon?
    Chief Moore. I believe one is in Oregon, but I will double 
check that.
    Senator Merkley. The Advanced Wildfire Training Center? I 
will check, but I am certainly interested in seeing that 
program. I teamed up with Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, to 
save those 24 centers when they were proposed for elimination. 
But we would like--so certainly I am an advocate, and I will 
follow up on the Advanced Wildfire Training Centers.
    Chief Moore. Yeah. My information is that one of the new 
ones is in Oregon.
    Senator Merkley. I am glad to hear that. I will be checking 
on it immediately. Only a few seconds left, so I am going to 
not ask you a question, because I know my colleague has--but I 
will come back for a few more after the Ranking Member goes 
through her third round.
    Senator Murkowski. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
    So as promised, Forest Service cabins; I don't know that 
you and I have had a chance to speak directly about it, 
certainly with your predecessor, and others, they know of my 
interest, particularly in the southeastern part of the state 
where these cabins are not only used by families for 
recreation, but they are also oftentimes just a real safe 
haven. If somebody is lost, or injured, or just needs a place 
out of the cold.
    And I have been concerned over the years because we had 
seen these, many of these cabins that had either aged out a 
little bit, or just were in areas where there wasn't high use. 
The Forest Service was basically embarking on a plan to destroy 
or remove the cabins.
    I did work within the Infrastructure Bill to secure funding 
for the operation, repair, reconstruction and construction of 
these cabins. And I just want to make sure that we are clear 
that these are not just priorities for Lisa Murkowski because I 
was raised in that area, and know of the use, but these are 
priorities for Alaskans up and down.
    And again, something that really has enhanced the region, 
and really enhances that relationship that the Forest Service 
has with the locals in the area; so my concern is, is that I 
have heard some rumors that there are still plans to remove 
some cabins rather than to reconstruct, or to repair.
    I have also heard that the plan is for a no-net loss of 
cabin, which in other words, you take off one and you put in 
another, which is not the same thing.
    So if you have an update for me on the status of these 
cabins and the region's plan going forward, if you have that 
now that is super great. I would appreciate it. But would want 
to know how the district and--excuse me--the region is 
intending to use the funding that we provided within the 
Infrastructure Bill.
    Chief Moore. Okay. So Senator, I will look into the 
removing and the no-net loss. But I will tell you that, you 
know, an announcement is forthcoming where we are looking at 
putting a substantial amount of BIL funding into the cabins, 
looking at restoration, and reconstructing on some of them. And 
so that is forthcoming.
    But in terms of the no-net loss, and some of the language 
that you might be hearing, I will look into that.
    Senator Murkowski. Okay.
    Chief Moore. I have not heard that.
    Senator Murkowski. Good, good. Sometimes rumors are just 
nothing more than that. So we will chase them down. I mentioned 
the spruce bark beetle, and what we are seeing in parts of 
Matanuska Valley, and pushing up further into Talkeetna area, 
but also down on the Kenai Peninsula, a real concern, certainly 
for wildland fire.
    And we have, you, the Forest Service through their Western 
Bark Beetle Initiative, been a key partner working with the 
Alaska Division of Forestry. I think that that has been 
important, focusing on the monitoring, some limited tree 
removal, and education assistance.
    And while the education and monitoring are important, I 
think we both know that they are not enough to restore forest 
to a more resilient state. And so that is why we put more 
funding to mitigate wildfire in Alaska, in both the fiscal year 
2022 Interior Bill, and through the Bipartisan Infrastructure 
Bill.
    So can you give me an update this morning in terms of how 
you are planning, how the Forest Service is planning to help 
get this money to communities where the beetle kill really does 
pose that significant wildfire threat?
    Chief Moore. So Senator, first, thank you, for all the work 
that you did and given us the money to do this type of work, so 
much appreciation to you, and your colleagues here, and the 
committee.
    I, you know, like most of our projects or--and like most of 
the work that we do, our intent is to engage with the 
communities out there where the work is to occur, to make sure 
that, you know, they are engaged in this, but also our 
partners. I think one of the questions that we have not talked 
about that I would like to, at least, put on the table is that, 
you know, not just in Alaska, but all across the country, you 
know, we have disease and insect problems.
    And we have other types of small diameter, or low value 
kind of kind of material. And there is a huge opportunity to 
talk about wood innovation.
    Senator Murkowski. Yes.
    Chief Moore. And looking at applying grants to, really look 
at different uses of wood. The cross-laminated timber, the CLT 
is one of those, biochar, which was mentioned earlier, is 
another one of those opportunities. And so I think that as we 
are working with the communities out there, we really want to 
engage them, because we know that trying to create jobs, 
particularly, in our small rural communities is really 
important.
    And we have so much material out there that there is no 
reason that we could not create job opportunities in these 
smaller communities. But in order to do that, we need to really 
jump into this wood innovation. We are really optimistic about 
what we are seeing from our scientists in this area, and I 
think it is one of the frontiers that we could really utilize 
there in Alaska, particularly with the problems you have there 
with the spruce worm.
    Senator Murkowski. Well, I am glad that you have raised 
that. I can't tell you the number of people who have said to 
me, you know, I am driving down the highway to go down to the 
Kenai, and it is just all this dead standing stuff, and there 
must be some use for it. Obviously, if it is right by the 
roadside, it is easier to access. If there is no road access, 
it is really difficult, it is challenging and costly.
    But there, when you think about our ability to be creative, 
let us create some value out of what is a dead commodity that 
will just eventually topple, and be nothing more than fodder 
for fires coming through. So I am interested in knowing what 
the Forest Service is learning, and not only what technologies 
might be out there, but the commercialization of it, and how we 
actually make that real.
    One more question for you. And this relates to pre-
commercial thinning, working to improve young-growth stands, 
whether it is in the Tongass or elsewhere. I think we all 
recognize that pre-commercial thinning is useful, it is 
necessary for healthy forests, and as well as for the wildlife 
habitat.
    There is also a recognition that you have got a limited 
time where thinning is actually effective. And then you get to 
a point, there is a point there where it is really not a viable 
strategy anymore. It is my understanding that to address the 
PCT backlog, the Forest Service needs to treat roughly 6- to 
8,000 acres a year in Alaska.
    This is one of those areas where we do have broad support 
amongst the stakeholders there in Southeast to do the work. Can 
you give me any update there on what Forest Service is doing to 
address the backlog on PCT? And what do you need to--what do 
you need to do to make it happen, again recognizing that you 
have got a window here?
    Chief Moore. Yeah. So first of all, we agree on the 
importance and the significance of this issue. And I will also 
share with you that the region is receiving really a 
significant amount of funding this year to address that issue. 
So we are looking for them to, here again, work with some of 
the locals there in Alaska to decide how best to do that.
    But we are funding that effort, and we are funding it with 
a significant amount to get some of this work done, because it 
is critical.
    Senator Murkowski. Well, critical and time is important. So 
I appreciate that. The last thing I am going to raise, is just 
putting something on your radar--I don't know if you have heard 
of our effort on the Alaska Long Trail?
    Chief Moore. Yeah.
    Senator Murkowski. This is something that a lot of people 
know about the historic Iditarod Trail, but what we would like 
to do is understand the feasibility of whether we could add 
this Alaska Long Trail to the list of national scenic trails. 
This would include a portion of the Iditarod, but it would 
effectively go from Tidewater all the way up to Fairbanks.
    It is something that there is a great deal of interest. We 
actually included in an Energy Bill, out of the committee 
yesterday, a review or a study to determine the feasibility of 
adding the Long Trail. So I just kind of put that out on your 
radar there. We did include funding within the fiscal year 2022 
bill to work on the Southern Trek of the Iditarod Trail, which 
would, again, be part of it.
    So just hoping that you would work with us as, we try to 
provide further recreation opportunities on portions of the 
trail that move through Forest Service lands.
    Chief Moore. Sure. We would.
    Senator Murkowski. Good. Thank you. Thank you, Mr. 
Chairman.
    Senator Merkley. So a couple more questions. And one 
development is that Oregon had 14 timber companies, and 14 
environmental groups that produced a Private Forest Accord, and 
this Private Forest Accord was then enacted by the State 
Legislature to modify our Forest Practices Act. One of the 
issues that they are wrestling with is the implementation in 
regard to stream buffers, and how those stream buffers affect 
sedimentation and other impacts on the streams in terms of both 
the trout and the salmon.
    And they would like to get a lot of help from the Pacific 
Northwest Research Station to understand how to implement this 
in a most effective fashion. This is a place where the Forest 
Service's research efforts could be--get real significant 
results at a time when people are looking for answers. Can we 
get the help of the Forest Service in figuring out how to--I 
realize it is a state law--but how to implement this in an 
effective fashion?
    Chief Moore. Yeah, yeah, it is a state law, and I would be 
interested to know what type of help would be most useful from 
PNW.
    Senator Merkley. Great. Great. We will follow up with you 
in that regard. And then, while we are on the topic of 
research, there is a lot that the Forest Service is doing on 
mass timber, which is important to our state, and 
nanotechnology and wood strength, the ability to develop the, 
you know, 4- to 18-storey buildings with mass timber.
    Not until recently, we were talking about 4 to 12, and 4 to 
14, and 4 to 18, as we understand the technology better. But 
the main point I want to make is that the work that the Forest 
Service is doing in these areas, including the work on sudden 
oak disease, suppression, improving carbon sinks, documenting 
lifecycle carbon impacts. Identifying the best forest 
management strategies for wildfire resiliency, as I mentioned 
before, is to be able to translate that research into products 
that Congress, members of Congress, and members of the House 
and Senate can say, okay that helps inform us about the 
conversations we are having here.
    I am basically encouraging you, and just to get your 
response that your team doing all this excellent work can help 
translate it into products to help inform the debate and 
discussion up here on Capitol Hill.
    Chief Moore. Yeah. I think we would certainly love to be a 
part of that. As you may know the Forest Product Lab in 
Madison, Wisconsin, is one of the premier labs anywhere in the 
world. And so I think when we talk about new technologies and 
wood innovations, we would love to be a part of that 
discussion. So we would be happy to work with you.
    Senator Merkley. I just went to the Mass Timber Conference, 
and it has developed into an industry that has an annual event, 
that has so many companies doing so many fascinating things, 
and numerous different strategies of cross-laminated timber, 
and mass plywood. And we have got a lot of research done, 
through the Oregon State Center, on charring, on how to design 
the joints. It is just a continuous evolution. How to make it 
more beautiful than it already is, et cetera, more earthquake 
resistant than it already is. And so it is an exciting 
development. We hope to really produce and manufacture mass 
timber products to export to the world. And so it is an 
exciting development.
    Thank you very much. Let me turn to my colleague to see if 
she has any final questions.
    Senator Murkowski. Mr. Chairman, I have nothing further. I 
have got some follow-ons that I think we will do with the Chief 
and his team. But just, thank you for being here, and giving us 
your time this morning. And the follow up that we know will 
come.
    I think we both have talked about a lot of the resources 
that are coming as a consequence of the Infrastructure Bill, 
and I think there is opportunity and promise, but we still are 
talking an awful lot about how we build the capacity.
    And Chief, I hope you are right that you think we are going 
to be able to get the necessary folks in time for what we fear 
will be a tough fire season. I recognize that it is really hard 
to find anybody for any jobs right now. And these are tough 
jobs. We recognize that. So just thank you for your efforts.
    Chief Moore. Thank you.
    Senator Merkley. Thank you for your insights, we both come 
from states where forests are a very big deal to us. And so we 
are delighted to have your partnership as we wrestle with these 
issues.

                     ADDITIONAL COMMITTEE QUESTIONS

    And if there are no other statements; hearing record will 
be open until the close of business on May 11th, 2022. Thank 
you.
            Questions Submitted by Senator Patrick J. Leahy
    Question. The Northeastern States Research Cooperative (NSRC) 
awards competitive grants for Northern Forest Research, directed 
through the Northern Research Station, the Forest Service, the Hubbard 
Brook Research Foundation, and institutions in each of the four 
Northern Forest states, including the University of Vermont's 
Rubenstein School of Environment and Natural Resources. The program 
supports cross-disciplinary, collaborative research across the 26 
million acres of forests, and it focuses research that directly 
supports rural communities and forest-based economies in this 
economically-stressed region. I have been a strong advocate for this 
program since it grew out of the Northern Forest Land Council and was 
authorized through the 1998 Farm Bill.
    The Forest Ecosystem Monitoring Cooperative (FEMC) serves as a hub 
to facilitate collaboration among Federal, state, nonprofit, 
professional, and academic institutions for monitoring of forested 
ecosystems, maintaining long-term data, and facilitating its use by 
researchers. The states of Vermont, New York, New Hampshire, 
Connecticut, Massachusetts and Maine all actively participate in the 
cooperative. The program is a critical resource for the study of 
ecological trends over time, such as climate change. The FEMC and its 
predecessor, the Vermont Monitoring Cooperative, have, with my support, 
been included in each budget for the U.S. Forest Service since 1990.
    Will the Forest Service continue supporting the Northeastern States 
Research Cooperative and the Forest Ecosystem Monitoring Cooperative?
    Answer. The Forest Service supports the mission and goals of the 
Northeastern States Research Cooperative (NSRC) and appreciates our 
many past and present collaborations with the universities and 
institutions that participate in the Cooperative. Since the Cooperative 
was founded in 2001, it has led more than 300 research projects at 45 
institutions. The agency values mutually beneficial partnerships with 
universities, non-profits, and State cooperators to leverage agency 
resources to deliver reliable and actionable science to inform forest 
management. Resources available for strategic partnerships depend on 
the overall funding level for Forest and Rangeland Research. Language 
directing funding above the fiscal year 2022 enacted level to NSRC 
without a commensurate increase in overall funding to Forest Service 
Research and Development would reduce resources available to address 
critical science needs identified by land managers and other 
stakeholders outside the four-state collaborative across the Eastern 
Region. The increasing percentage of the R&D budget committed to 
spending directives like NSRC (50 percent of the R&D budget in fiscal 
year 2022, up substantially from approximately 20 percent in fiscal 
year 2020 and 25 percent in fiscal year 2021) increasingly constrains 
the agency's ability to support ongoing research and science delivery 
addressing other high priority forest science needs. Collaborative 
research partnerships are essential to achieving the agency's mission, 
and these partnerships are most productive and cost effective when the 
agency has discretion to engage with the broadest range of partners 
possible.
    The Forest Service has a long-standing relationship with the Forest 
Ecosystem Monitoring Cooperative (FEMC) and has provided financial 
assistance through State and Private Forestry for several decades. We 
are pleased with the direction the organization has taken to develop a 
strategic plan for broadened regional engagement and cooperation and 
its focus on priority issues. This work supports the production of 
information resources and data that enable science to inform resource 
management in the region. We will continue to participate with the FEMC 
and support its efforts.
    Question. Will the Forest Service include these long-standing 
regional programs in its fiscal year 2024 budget request?
    Answer. In planning its outyear program of work, the Forest Service 
anticipates continuing support for NSRC and FEMC as collaborative 
partners to address priority work across the region. This approach 
prepares the agency to meet the expectations Congress provided in the 
report language for the upcoming year. Because we do not have plans to 
have NSRC and FEMC become independent Forest Service programs, funding 
requests for NSRC and FEMC would not be called out explicitly in the 
Agency's fiscal year 2024 budget request. These programs would continue 
to be supported through Forest and Rangeland Research and State and 
Private Forestry.
    Question. One of my greatest achievements while serving Vermont in 
the United States Senate has been supporting the U.S. Forest Service in 
adding well over 100,000,000 acres--more than 25 percent--to the Green 
Mountain National Forest. Vermonters treasure open space and generally 
see the Forest Service as a good steward of the land. In fiscal year 
2022, I secured funds through Congressionally Directed Spending for the 
pending Roaring Branch project. Meanwhile, the Big Spruce/Taconic 
Gateway--another significant potential acquisition--is currently 
unfunded.
    How and on what timeline are you planning to address permanent 
protection of the Big Spruce/Taconic Gateway project?
    Answer. The Forest Service considered the Big Spruce--Taconic 
Gateway project for fiscal year 2023 Land and Water Conservation Fund 
(LWCF) funding; however, the project did not rank high enough under the 
nomination criteria for inclusion in the fiscal year 2023 President's 
Budget. We will be reviewing the project again for fiscal year 2024 
funding and will work with the local unit and partners to strengthen 
the project's nomination package.

                                 ______
                                 

             Questions Submitted by Senator Lisa Murkowski
    Question. Alaska, and many of the western states, have numerous 
historical fuel and fire breaks on Federal and non-Federal lands that 
are in need of maintenance to remain effective. The ability to utilize 
Federal funding to strengthen historical breaks would provide for both 
firefighter safety and protection of communities.
    How will funding provided through the Infrastructure Investment and 
Jobs Act and fiscal year 2022 discretionary funded be allocated and 
applied to the maintenance/preservation of these valuable investments?
    Answer. Maintaining investments in existing fuel and fire breaks is 
essential as we move forward in implementing the 10-year Wildfire 
Strategy, and at the national level, a significant portion of our 
regular hazardous fuels appropriations will be allocated to this 
maintenance work. The Alaska Region, however, has not allocated funds 
specifically to maintaining historical fuel breaks in fiscal year 2022 
because of the need to respond to the ongoing spruce bark beetle 
outbreak. In the last 2 years, the Alaska Region has focused most 
fuels-related work on addressing the outbreak and we anticipate the 
same emphasis will be necessary over the next 3 to 5 years. Notably, we 
estimate that 15 percent of the acres identified for beetle-related 
treatment overlap or are adjacent to previously treated areas. Treating 
these acres to address the beetle epidemic will also strengthen the 
existing fuel and fire breaks. In addition, under State and Private 
Forestry, the Forest Service is working on cooperative agreements to 
obligate Congressionally directed spending to the City of Kenai, Mat-Su 
Borough, and the State of Alaska Division of Forestry. This funding 
will be geared toward fuel breaks and to deal with a significant number 
of dead white spruce.

                                 ______
                                 

             Questions Submitted by Senator Mitch McConnell
    Question. I recently introduced a bill, the Land Between the Lakes 
Recreation and Heritage Act (S.3997), to ensure the U.S. Forest Service 
devotes the appropriate and necessary funds for recreation and 
maintenance purposes at Land Between the Lakes (LBL). This was 
necessary due to ostensive neglect towards this unit from the Forest 
Service (USFS). In fact, while appropriations to USFS as a whole had 
increased by 36 percent over 10 years, allocations to LBL had actually 
decreased. As a result, LBL has had to dip into their reserve funds to 
cover costs that should be provided through the region's allocations.
    Will you commit to working with the unit and regional office to 
devote the appropriate funds and resources to LBL in fiscal year 23 and 
beyond?
    Answer. We commit to working with the unit and regional office as 
resources are allocated to the field. Further, we commit to working 
with your office to ensure your questions regarding allocations are 
answered.
    Question. Diminished funding has forced LBL to restructure their 
budget to meet salaries and expenses. It has also rendered it unable to 
devote resources to improving the unit through maintenance and 
recreational activities. It appears LBL is being punished for 
performing well.
    Does the Forest Service view the LBL reserve account, funded by 
collected fees, as a reason to allocate less to the unit?
    Answer. No, the reserve account is not viewed as a reason to 
allocate less to the unit. In fact, the Forest Service has made a 
significant and sustained investment in the Land Between the Lakes 
National Recreation Area (LBL) through annual appropriations and other 
sources of funding authorized for LBL. LBL receives 10.04 percent of 
the base recreation allocation to the units (not including 
Congressional Directives to LBL). That is the second highest in the 
region behind National Forests in NC at 11.25 percent. The 
Congressional Directive funds received by LBL in fiscal year 2021 
($666,668) and fiscal year 2022 ($1 million) increased the LBL 
allocation for recreation to the highest in the Southern Region. In 
fiscal year 2022, LBL received 52 percent of the base recreation 
allocation to the units due to the $1 million Congressional Directive. 
As a result, the recreation allocation to LBL increased by 67 percent 
while all other units across the Southern Region decreased by 28 
percent. LBL ranks 11th in the Southern Region in visitation with 
958,000 visits or 4 percent of the visits in the region. LBL is ranked 
14th in national forest acres in the region with 171,000 or 1 percent 
of the total acres.
    Additionally, as expenses have increased, reliance on the reserve 
account has also increased. The Forest Service is committed to being 
the best stewards of the dollars we are provided and will continue to 
look for new ways to maximize our existing funding.
    Question. Should the LBL Recreation and Heritage Act become law, 
will you commit to carrying it out exactly as the language intends?
    Answer. The Forest Service recognizes the significance of the Land 
Between the Lakes Protection Recreation and Heritage Act and the 
uniqueness of this treasured piece of public land within the National 
Forest System. We share the commitment to ensure the LBL is a safe and 
enjoyable place for visitors to recreate. The Forest Service would like 
to work with the Minority Leader and Congress to address our concerns 
with the LBL Recreation and Heritage Act to ensure we continue to be 
good stewards of the LBL.
    Question. It has been stated that the main purpose of a National 
Recreation Area is to preserve and enhance recreational opportunities, 
rather than natural resource utilization.
    With this in mind, how do you intend to administer the fiscal year 
23 Budget for LBL?
    Answer. The LBL intends to use fiscal year 2023 funding in the 
following order of priority:

    1. Road and facility maintenance.

    2. Infrastructure improvement.

    3. Additional fencing on the Elk and Bison Prairie to protect the 
elk herd and manage chronic wasting disease

    Question. Will you also commit to better transparency and 
collaboration with local officials and residents to ensure the unit is 
managed in a way that is suitable for those who use it most?
    Answer. LBL leadership has spent several years working diligently 
and purposefully to develop open discourse between the unit and local 
leaders, including engagement and education on the unit's finances. The 
Forest Service intends to continue its investment in LBL through our 
people, funding, and the strong partnerships we have developed with 
local organizations and the communities we serve. We continue to work 
closely with local leaders and staff from the Kentucky and Tennessee 
Congressional Delegations to be transparent with financial data. For 
example, Chief Moore committed to sending the National Law Enforcement 
Director to the LBL to meet with cooperators regarding law enforcement 
on the LBL. This meeting occurred on April 13, 2022, and additional 
meetings will follow. We are committed to continuing local dialogue 
with county officials and Congressional offices around strategic 
investments and opportunities at LBL, and we will continue working with 
our cooperators to support law enforcement needs at LBL.

                                 ______
                                 

               Question Submitted by Senator Marco Rubio
    Question. In January, the U.S. Forest Service announced a 10-year 
``Wildfire Crisis Strategy'' to comply with the provisions of the 
Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA), which appropriated $5.5 
billion to the Forest Service for land management on National Forest 
Service lands, including for active land management and hazardous fuels 
reduction. The Strategy focuses primarily on wildfire risk in western 
states, and does not mention Florida once, despite Florida being home 
to three national forests. Additionally, the Forest Service announced 
$131 million in funding from IIJA in April, with none for Florida.
    How will the Forest Service make equitable allocations of IIJA 
monies moving forward to ensure that wildfire risk can be mitigated 
across all of our National Forests?
    Answer. The Bipartisan Infrastructure Law provided the Forest 
Service a down payment on the work the agency intends to accomplish 
under the Wildfire Crisis Strategy. The 10 priority landscapes 
announced in April 2022 in support of the Wildfire Crisis Strategy 
focus on the West because of the fire history there over the past 
several years. The agency has been working with external partners, 
using science and fire history as an underpinning for determining where 
to prioritize investments. Most of the exposure to communities from 
wildfire exists in the west, and specifically, 80 percent of that 
exposure exists in 10 percent of the landscape within a mixed conifer 
vegetation type.
    Our focus with the Wildfire Crisis Strategy is to mitigate exposure 
as much as we can to high-risk communities, while also maintaining and 
creating resilient landscapes. In addition to this approach, we have 
also looked at other funding sources like disaster relief funds and 
regular appropriation funds to invest in areas like Florida that are 
not priority areas within the Strategy but still need fuels work done 
both on and off national forests.
    The National Forests in Florida received a $720,698 hazardous fuels 
allocation from base appropriations for fiscal year 2022. Additionally, 
of the $6 million the Southern Region received in disaster supplemental 
hazardous fuels funds enacted in the 2022 Continuing Resolution, $1.03 
million was sent to the Ocala National Forest in Florida.

                          SUBCOMMITTEE RECESS

    Senator Merkley. This hearing is adjourned.
    [Whereupon, at 11:38 a.m., Wednesday, May 4, the 
subcommittee was recessed, to reconvene subject to the call of 
the Chair.]