[Congressional Record Volume 161, Number 11 (Thursday, January 22, 2015)]
[Senate]
[Page S422]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
By Mr. WYDEN (for himself, Mr. Crapo, Ms. Cantwell, Mr. Risch,
Mr. Bennet, Mr. Gardner, Ms. Baldwin, and Mr. Daines):
S. 235. A bill to provide for wildfire suppression operations, and
for other purposes; to the Committee on the Budget.
Mr. WYDEN. Mr. President, today I am reintroducing the Wildfire
Disaster Funding Act of 2015 with a bipartisan group of my colleagues,
to ensure that Federal agencies have the resources and funding they
need to not only fight the wildfires that erupt yearly in our Nation's
forests, but to effectively manage forests to prevent future infernos.
For decades, our country has experienced tragic and costly wildfire
seasons. Year after year, communities are displaced, natural treasures
are destroyed, and the brave men and women who fight these fires risk
their lives, and some don't come home. Due to climate change, drought,
and overstocked and under-managed forests, the risks from these
infernos continues to grow.
As the Forest Service needs to direct more and more resources to
fighting fires, and less to managing the forests, it is transforming
itself into the ``Fire Service.'' Over the past 20 years, substantial
spending on Federal wildfire suppression activities has grown. In 2013,
the Forest Service devoted 41 percent of its total budget to wildfire
management, compared to just 13 percent of its total budget in 1991. In
8 of the past 10 years, the Forest Service has exceeded its budget for
wildfire suppression, requiring the Agency to conduct what's known as
``fire borrowing'' to cover wildfire suppression costs. The funds being
borrowed come from accounts that should be used for hazardous fuels
treatment and other forest management activities, and are unfortunately
rarely, if ever, paid back.
This ``fire robbery'' is disruptive, unproductive, and undermines the
core mission of the Forest Service, particularly as forest management
program budgets continue to get slashed. Hazardous fuels treatments
have been proven to reduce fire risk, yet Federal agencies don't even
have the opportunity or the funding to conduct these treatments when
fires are breaking out and threatening lives and property for months on
end.
Today I am reintroducing the Wildfire Disaster Funding Act, to help
our Nation find a better way to manage our forests, prevent future
wildfires, and fund wildfire fighting activities, both small and
catastrophic. Major wildfire events should be treated as the natural
disasters that they are, and should be funded as such. This bill
establishes parity for wildfire funding, putting it on equal footing
with other natural disasters like floods and hurricanes. Whether it's
water, wind, earth, or fire, the earth's natural disasters can all
cause devastation and should be addressed equally.
A Department of the Interior and Department of Agriculture analysis
shows that 1 percent of wildfires represent 30 percent of agency costs.
To ensure that fighting the largest infernos doesn't cripple agency
budgets, the bill would fund the largest fire even under disaster
programs, leaving funds available for routine wildfire fighting and
forest management activities. It does this by moving any spending above
70 percent of the 10-year rolling average for fire suppression outside
of the agencies' baseline budget and makes these additional costs
eligible to be funded under a separate disaster account. This should
free up discretionary funds that can now go toward hazardous fuels
projects that will improve the health of our forests and ultimately
prevent future wildfires.
I am pleased to be joined again by Senator Crapo in introducing the
bill today, as well as Senators Cantwell, Risch, Bennet, Gardner,
Baldwin, and Daines. I look forward to working with my colleagues
toward enactment of the Wildfire Disaster Funding Act in the 114th
Congress.
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