[Congressional Record Volume 151, Number 154 (Friday, November 18, 2005)]
[Senate]
[Pages S13393-S13394]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

      By Mr. SMITH (for himself, Mr. Thune, Mr. Allard, Mr. Burns, and 
        Mr. Thomas):
  S. 2079. A bill to improve the ability of the Secretary of 
Agriculture and the Secretary of the Interior to promptly implement 
recovery treatments in response to catastrophic events affecting the 
natural resources of Forest Service land and Bureau of Land Management 
Land, respectively, to support the recovery of non-Federal land damaged 
by catastrophic events, to assist impacted communities, to revitalize 
Forest Service experimental forests, and for other purposes; to the 
Committee on Energy and Natural Resources.
  Mr. BURNS. Mr. President, I rise today in support of the Forests for 
Future Generations Act, because it addresses a very serious problem in 
our National Forests. I am not sure how many people in this body have 
witnessed the devastation of a catastrophic wildfire, but I recommend 
that everyone tour a burned over forest. It is a sobering reality, 
often resembling a moonscape.
  The worst fire year in recent Montana history was the summer of 2000, 
when we burned 945,000 acres of productive Montana land. After months 
of smoke-filled air, we were left with decimated wildlife habitat, 
charred hillsides, sediment-filled streams, and millions of board feet 
of dead, standing timber. Active forest management would require that 
restoration of these fragile soils and ecosystems begin as soon as 
possible, but that is almost never the case on national forest land. 
Instead, we spend millions of dollars and thousands of hours writing a 
plan to restore the burned area, which is inevitably appealed, 
challenged, and litigated by an environmental group. We end up arguing 
in the courtroom when we should be working in the forest.
  I have seen side-by-side sections of land where private landowners or 
even the State of Montana has taken quick action and removed some dead 
or dying timber then replanted the forest. News are growing on the 
private land before any of the Federal timber is even harvested. It is 
amazing to me, and it makes absolutely no sense. For that

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reason I am happy to cosponsor this bill, because it is time to 
reintroduce some common sense into a system that has gone far off the 
tracks.

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