[Congressional Record Volume 149, Number 157 (Monday, November 3, 2003)]
[Senate]
[Page S13794]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                            HEALTHY FORESTS

  Mrs. MURRAY. Mr. President, last week, we passed an amended version 
of H.R. 1904, the Healthy Forests Act.
  While this bill is not everything I hoped it would be, it is an 
improvement over what was proposed by the President and passed by the 
House. The devastating fires in California and throughout the West over 
the past few years have added great urgency to the need to remove 
dangerous fuel loads from many of our forests. We need to treat those 
hazards now, and this bill is really the only relevant legislation that 
can pass Congress and be signed into law by the President this year. 
That is why I voted for the bill on final passage.
  During the floor debate, I offered an amendment to strengthen the 
underlying bill's old-growth protections and I also voted for a number 
of other amendments. It is unfortunate that these amendments were not 
accepted because they would have reassured a greater portion of our 
citizens of the real intent of the legislation and would have made it 
more effective.
  We don't have the funding we need to remove all the dangerous fuel 
loads in our forests. We should have made more funding available and 
ensured more resources were focused on the wildland urban interface 
that presents the greatest risk to property and to the lives of our 
firefighters and citizens.
  While the underlying bill will increase authorization levels for fuel 
reduction activities, it does not guarantee this money will be made 
available. We should have passed Senator Bingaman's amendment that 
would have guaranteed the funding and stopped the raiding of fuel 
reduction accounts to pay for fire suppression.
  Likewise, the Senate bill is an improvement over the House 
legislation in directing at least 50 percent of the work be conducted 
in the wildland urban interface, but we should have strengthened this 
directive by passing Senator Boxer's amendment that would have raised 
wildland/urban interface work to 70 percent.
  Lastly, the underlying bill made an earnest attempt to provide some 
protection for old-growth stands in our national forests. 
Unfortunately, the bill leaves a couple of significant loopholes that, 
if abused by our forest managers, could threaten these ancient trees. 
That is why I offered an amendment to close these loopholes and better 
protect old-growth stands. Unfortunately, my amendment was defeated.
  Now that the Senate has spoken on the overall bill, the House should 
take up this legislation and pass it unaltered. The President should 
drop his opposition to the increased spending associated in the bill 
and urge its quick passage by the House. The President's opposition to 
increased spending presents a real and tangible risk to every community 
looking to treat forests surrounding their homes, schools, and 
businesses.
  If this bill is signed into law, the burden will shift to the Forest 
Service and Bureau of Land Management to implement the programs in the 
most responsible and effective manner possible.
  Again, they will need to focus on protecting communities. It will be 
unacceptable to treat forest stands far from human population while any 
community's wildland/urban interface remains untreated.
  They need to focus on taking out of the forests the materials that 
truly threaten to generate catastrophic wildfires. We should not see 
large, fire resistant trees being removed from our forests under the 
guise of ``healthy forests.'' Any old-growth stands that are treated 
need to be treated in ways that protect their unique ecosystems.
  Finally, in a fiscally responsible manner, the agencies need to 
maximize the positive economic influence these fuel reduction projects 
can have on our rural economies. This means not only hiring local 
workers and companies to conduct the work, but also looking for 
opportunities to use the resulting material for other economic 
enterprises.
  The bill passed by the Senate has the potential to truly work in a 
manner nearly everyone can accept. Alteration by the House or poor 
implementation by the agencies will only threaten our wildfire 
endangered communities.
  I am committed to making this legislation work and stand ready to 
assist the communities in Washington State protect their families and 
homes.

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