[Congressional Record Volume 148, Number 100 (Monday, July 22, 2002)]
[House]
[Pages H5037-H5038]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
SENSE OF CONGRESS THAT FEDERAL LAND MANAGEMENT AGENCIES IMPLEMENT
WESTERN GOVERNORS ASSOCIATION ``COLLABORATIVE 10-YEAR STRATEGY FOR
REDUCING WILDLAND FIRE RISKS TO COMMUNITIES AND THE ENVIRONMENT''
Mr. POMBO. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and agree to the
concurrent resolution (H. Con. Res. 352) expressing the sense of
Congress that Federal land management agencies should fully implement
the Western Governors Association ``Collaborative 10-year Strategy for
Reducing Wildland Fire Risks to Communities and the Environment'' to
reduce the overabundance of forest fuels that place national resources
at high risk of catastrophic wildfire, and prepare a National
Prescribed Fire Strategy that minimizes risks of escape, as amended.
The Clerk read as follows:
H. Con. Res 352
Resolved by the House of Representatives (the Senate
concurring), That it is the sense of Congress that--
(1) in the interest of protecting the integrity and
posterity of United States forests and wildlands, wildlife
habitats, watersheds, air quality, human health and safety,
and private property, the Forest Service and other Federal
land management agencies should--
(A) fully support the ``Collaborative 10-year Strategy for
Reducing Wildland Fire Risks to Communities and the
Environment'' as prepared by the Western Governors'
Association, the Department of Agriculture, the Department of
the Interior, and other stakeholders, to reduce the
overabundance of forest fuels that place these resources at
high risk of catastrophic wildfire;
(B) use an appropriate mix of fire prevention activities
and management practices, including forest restoration,
thinning of at-risk forest stands, grazing, selective tree
removal, and other measures to control insects and pathogens,
removal of excessive ground fuels, and prescribed burns;
(C) increase the role for private, local, and State
contracts for fuel reduction treatments on Federal forest
lands and adjoining private properties; and
(D) pursue more effective fire suppression on Federal
forest lands through increased funding of mutual aid
agreements with professional State and local public fire
fighting agencies;
(2) in the interest of forest protection and public safety,
the United States Department of Agriculture and the
Department of the Interior should immediately prepare for
public review a national assessment of prescribed burning
practices on public lands to identify alternatives that will
achieve land management objectives to minimize risks
associated with prescribed fire; and
(3) results from the national assessment of prescribed
burning practices on public lands as described in paragraph
(2) should be incorporated into any regulatory land use
planning programs that propose the use of prescribed fire as
a management practice.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from
California (Mr. Pombo) and the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Stenholm) each
will control 20 minutes.
The Chair recognizes the gentleman from California (Mr. Pombo).
Mr. POMBO. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
Mr. Speaker, citizens in the West are bracing this year in fear of
catastrophic fires. The summer is not even over, and we have seen 3.6
million acres burn on State, Federal, and private lands. These
catastrophic fires are so intense the fire literally destroys every
sign of life and can rage for thousands of acres.
But this is not a new phenomenon or a 1-year event. During the
wildfire season, 81,681 fires burned 3.5 million acres that killed 15
firefighters and threatened rural communities nationwide. Congress must
take action. Our current Federal strategy to handle catastrophic
wildfire is not adequately addressing a looming crisis. The Federal
Government must take action to prevent loss of wildlife habitat and to
protect rural communities.
This is why I am here today offering H. Con. Res. 352 before the
House of Representatives. This wildfire resolution expresses the sense
of the U.S. Congress to fully implement the Western Governors
Association collaborative 10-year strategy for reducing wild land fire
risk to communities and the environment and to prepare a national
prescribed fire strategy to minimize risk of escape.
America needs to know Congress understands the forest health crisis
is causing these fires and that Congress is taking action. It is
important to keep in mind our forests are in constant transformation. A
particular forest now will look much different in 10 years and in about
50 years will not look like the same forest. Sometimes a forest can get
overpopulated with trees. Some of these trees become diseased, creating
enormous amounts of dry timber fuel to spur a catastrophic fire.
Reducing forest density and improving the ability of healthy forests to
survive expansive wildfires must become the number one priority of
Federal forest managers. It is time for Members of Congress to make the
tough decisions necessary to end catastrophic losses of wildlife
habitat, forest resources, and, most importantly, human lives on all
Federal forest lands.
Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
Mr. STENHOLM. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of H. Con. Res. 352, a resolution
expressing the sense of Congress that Federal land management agencies
should fully support the collaborative 10-year strategy for reducing
wild land fire risk to communities and the environment as prepared by
the Western Governors Association, the Department of Agriculture, and
the Department of Interior and other stakeholders.
Mr. Speaker, the risk of wild land fires to the 192 million Forest
Service acres is higher today than ever before. The potential for loss
of life and property is also increased in areas where more people are
building homes within the wild land urban interface.
{time} 1830
The local communities situated near our unmanaged national forests
experience firsthand the ecosystem problems resulting from fires that
cannot be controlled. As we consider H. Con. Res. 352, 29 forest fires
are burning in our Western states and six of these fires are out of
control. Our efforts to extinguish these fires are stretched to the
limit because more than one area in the West is experiencing incidents
that have the potential to exhaust all agency fire resources.
I applaud President Bush for providing the necessary emergency funds
to fight these fires. However, we must continue to think of long-term
solutions with four essential goals in mind: The prevention and
suppression of wildfires, the reduction of hazardous fuels, the
restoration of fire-adapted ecosystem, and the promotion of community
assistance. As we focus on these goals, Mr. Speaker, we must encourage
the Federal agencies involved to work with the governors in their
efforts to deal with the wildland fire and hazardous fuel situation.
The Western Governors 10-year Comprehensive Strategy Implementation
Plan provides Federal land management agencies with a plan to reduce
the overabundance of forest fuels that place national resources at high
risk of catastrophic wildfire. In addition, the plan provides a
national assessment of prescribed burning practices to minimize risks
of escape.
I urge my colleagues to support passage of H. Con. Res. 352.
Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
Mr. POMBO. Mr. Speaker, I yield such time as he may consume to the
gentleman from Virginia (Mr. Goodlatte), chairman of the subcommittee.
(Mr. GOODLATTE asked and was given permission to revise and extend
his remarks.)
Mr. GOODLATTE. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman for yielding and I
commend him for his leadership in
[[Page H5038]]
bringing this important resolution before the House. I strongly support
it and was pleased to cooperate in seeing it move through the Committee
on Agriculture, and I urge my colleagues to adopt it here.
The gentleman is quite correct. We are not facing an ordinary
situation here. These are not natural forest fires, and as a result,
this resolution would clearly establish Congress' commitment and
support for a proactive forest management strategy.
The strategy cannot simply be to let these fires burn. They consume
the entire forest from the ground to the top of the tallest and oldest
and most extensive trees. They leave behind bare mineral soil, dead
trees and vegetation, hot running streams and rivers, and the threat of
more devastation from massive mudslides. The historic efforts of
managing fire suppression will only lead to an increase in the forest
health crises and the probability of more catastrophic wildfires like
the ones we are experiencing today. We must actively manage by focusing
on forest health and if we want to protect our firefighters, our
communities, or forests, we must work to create healthy, sustainable
ecosystems through good stewardship. Healthy forests burn more
predictably and can be more easily controlled when necessary.
The Western Governors Association comprehensive strategy does this
very thing. It calls for moving quickly to plan programs that will
reduce hazardous fuels and implementing restoration efforts on fire-
ravaged landscapes.
Therefore, I strongly urge my colleagues to support House Concurrent
Resolution 352, to reinforce Congress' commitment to the health of our
forests.
Mr. POMBO. Mr. Speaker, I yield as much time as he may consume to the
gentleman from California (Mr. Herger).
Mr. HERGER. Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong support of this resolution.
We are in the midst of what could be the most costly and destructive
fire season for which records have been kept. More than 3\1/2\ million
acres have burned so far this year, almost 2\1/2\ times the 10-year
average, and close to a million acres more than at this time in 2000
which was then the worst fire season in 50 years.
It is an ominous glimpse of what the future holds if Congress and the
administration do not make a dramatic commitment and take immediate
steps to manage our forests aggressively to protect public health and
safety. Our forests are incredibly unhealthy and literally choking from
an unnatural accumulation of forest fuels. Some areas are up to 10
times denser than historically. Because of this dangerous buildup of
trees, instead of the healthy fires that clean up the forest floor, we
are now seeing wildfires of catastrophic size and intensity that cannot
be controlled, threatening entire communities, lives and property, and
leaving charred forests that will not recover for a century or more.
These fires are not natural. They are not inevitable. They are not
environmentally healthy. They are a very serious threat to public
health and safety.
According to the Forest Service's own estimates, the number of acres
at risk for such catastrophic fire events has grown to alarming
proportions. Today close to 80 million acres of our Federal forest
lands are threatened and, Mr. Speaker, this devastating fire season is
further proof that time is quickly running out.
The 1999 GAO, Government Accounting Office, report that provided the
first insight into the extent of our forest health crises also
predicted that the window for taking effective action is quickly
closing. They indicated that we have only 10 to 25 years within which
to take action before these fires become widespread. We are not going
to prevent forest fires, but by implementing a fire protection and fuel
reduction strategy, setting aggressive goals, and giving land managers
the tools and flexibility they need, we can reduce their size and
intensity and give our firefighters a fighting chance. Congress
approved such a plan in 1998. The Herger-Feinstein Quincy Library Group
Forest Recovery Act, which this House passed by the overwhelming margin
of 429 to 1, requires implementation of a locally developed bipartisan
pilot project based on a system of environmentally sensitive fuel
breaks and thinning that would reduce the risk of fire and protect
communities. It would protect wildlife and enhance their habitat. With
a $3 return for every $1 expended and $2.1 billion in economic benefit
for rural communities, it is proof that there are win-win, cost-
effective fire protection solutions out there that are ripe for
immediate implementation.
Mr. Speaker, this resolution is a critical step toward giving this
emergency and the need for solutions the urgency and the serious
attention they deserve. I urge my colleagues to support it.
Mr. STENHOLM. Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.
Mr. FLAKE. Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of this resolution. Fires
continue to blaze through the western portion of our country. Aided by
drought the damage stretches into a million acres and billions of
dollars.
More than 22,000 communities across the country and over 211 million
acres of federal lands are currently at risk to these severe wildfires.
In Arizona alone, over a half a million acres of land burned with more
than 400 homes and other structures. Nearly 33,000 people were
evacuated.
The key to reducing risk of these catastrophic wildfires is to
actively manage forests not just in the interface but landscape wide to
ensure forests can withstand drought, insects and disease. Reaching the
appropriate tree density and promoting native mixes of species ensures
less severe burns than what we have seen ravage the west already this
year.
This is not a commercial logging or timber issue. This is an issue of
keeping the forests healthy and well maintained through thinning,
logging and prescribed burns. Policies that slow down this process
coupled with appeals that further halt necessary treatments must be
stopped. Without these changes, we will see more years similar to this
one where the fire year is shaping up as the most devastating on
record. Some 2.7 million acres have already burned, nearly three times
the average acreage for this time of year.
We still have time. The fire season is in its early stages. Thinning
and forest management practices necessary to ensure our forests are
able to survive future catastrophic wildfires must begin without
further delay.
In a 1999 report, the General Accounting Office report to the U.S.
House of Representatives, entitled ``Western Forests: A Cohesive
Strategy Is Needed To Address Catastrophic Wildfire Threats,'' was
published in 1999. The GAO reported that ``the most extensive and
serious problem related to the health of national forests in the
interior West is the overaccumulation of vegetation, which has caused
an increasing number of large, intense, uncontrolled and
catastrophically destructive wildfires. According to the U.S. Forest
Service, 39 million areas on national forests in the interior West are
at high risk of catastrophic wildfire.''
The Western Governors Association (WGA) signed it ``Collaborative 10-
year Strategy for Reducing Wild Fire Risks to Communities and the
Environment'' in 2001. The plan emphasizes preventing catastrophic
blazes instead of just fighting them.
I encourage Congress to support the plans of the 10-year strategy. I
encourage the immediate implementation of practices we know will aide
in preventing future fires that burn thousands of acres of land and
homes.
Mr. POMBO. Mr. Speaker, I have no further requests for time, and I
yield back the balance of my time.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. The question is on the motion offered by the
gentleman from California (Mr. Pombo) that the House suspend the rules
and agree to the concurrent resolution, H. Con. Res. 352, as amended.
The question was taken; and (two-thirds having voted in favor
thereof) the rules were suspended and the concurrent resolution, as
amended, was agreed to.
The title of the bill was amended so as to read:
``Concurrent resolution expressing the sense of Congress
that Federal land management agencies should fully support
the ``Collaborative 10-year Strategy for Reducing Wildland
Fire Risks to Communities and the Environment'' as prepared
by the Western Governors' Association, the Department of
Agriculture, the Department of the Interior, and other
stakeholders, to reduce the overabundance of forest fuels
that place national resources at high risk of catastrophic
wildfire, and prepare a national assessment of prescribed
burning practices to minimize risks of escape.''.
A motion to reconsider was laid on the table.
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