[Congressional Record Volume 148, Number 85 (Monday, June 24, 2002)]
[Senate]
[Pages S5947-S5948]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                       MANAGEMENT OF OUR FORESTS

  Mr. DOMENICI. Madam President, I know a number of Senators who are in 
the Chamber who could probably speak to this subject better than I. 
Certainly the Senator from Wyoming and the Senator from Colorado know 
plenty about the subject matter. But I thought I might give my own 
assessment, very cursory in nature but, nonetheless, somewhat relevant.
  We here in Washington, DC, are only getting to view the State of 
Arizona, as it burns, on our television sets. We have seen, in the last 
few days, large forests in Colorado burn. They are not under control 
yet. We can only imagine the additional fires that are likely to come 
in the State of New Mexico. New Mexico has already had a number this 
year. We also had a series last year and the year before.
  Senators remember when we came to the floor about Los Alamos, NM. 
There, the forest burned right around the city of Los Alamos. We lost 
almost 400 houses. We have not lost that many this year, but the way 
the fire season looks, there will be plenty of damage.
  I just want to say to the Senate and to those listening, it is this 
Senator's opinion that we have not made an American decision about the 
maintenance of our forests.
  I believe we have made decisions in a haphazard way because of 
litigation and certain people in our country who think they know best 
about forest management. These same people have prevailed in the courts 
over our professional managers. It leaves us wondering tonight how many 
more hundreds of thousands of acres will burn? And we don't know. But 
what many of us think is that our forests are not being managed and 
maintained. They do not have the maximum opportunity to stand, but 
rather are likely to burn down.
  Our forests are so clogged with underbrush that you cannot even walk 
in some of them--but they sure will burn. I submit that we have taken 
for granted too long that forest management is going all right. Now, 
the courts are determining lawsuits, which, in turn, determine forest 
management policies. It seems to this Senator that it is all finally 
catching up.
  When drought and heat are combined with forests clogged with fuel, 
the incendiary nature is so severe. We sit here every year wondering 
what we can do in our committees. We continue to call the land managers 
and they tell us they are making headway. It is hard to see sometimes, 
but pretty soon we must get this done.
  I believe this year--even though we cannot finish it--we ought to 
start with the appropriate committee and get prepared to undertake a 
major senatorial investigation of the forests of the United States, 
including those that are part of the Agriculture Department and those 
that are BLM. We should make some determinations sooner rather than 
later, as to whether we have been maintaining the forests in a manner 
that is most apt to cause them to be burned down, and that either is or 
is not good for our country.
  Some think what I just described is good. I don't think it is. But I 
think we owe it to our people to get the experts of our country and 
make a big, major American decision: Are we to maintain our forests so 
they are filled with underbrush that will burn down, or are we to 
maintain it another way? Which way are we maintaining it? Is it in an 
orderly manner, or is it being determined by court cases pushed and 
pursued by endangered species laws and others that have caused our 
forests to be so mismanaged that they are just ready to burn and burn? 
This isn't the last one today. We are not even in the middle of the 
summer. Imagine. We see forests out there loaded with underbrush, with 
the hot, boiling sun, no rain or clouds in the sky, but no trees on the 
ground either.
  Just in passing, it is amazing because, even when the trees are all 
burned we cannot cut them down. We have to leave them there to rot 
because there are some who win in the courts of law and say that is a 
better way to manage. So there they stand as relics

[[Page S5948]]

to a management plan that, to this Senator, seems to say that our 
forests are not managed, but mismanaged.
  I yield the floor.
  Madam President, I suggest the absence of a quorum.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will call the roll.
  The legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll.
  Mr. REID. Madam President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for 
the quorum call be rescinded.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.

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