[Congressional Record Volume 161, Number 165 (Thursday, November 5, 2015)]
[House]
[Page H7746]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                          SALVAGE TIMBER BURN

  (Mr. LaMALFA asked and was given permission to address the House for 
1 minute.)
  Mr. LaMALFA. Mr. Speaker, California and the West continue to be 
ravaged by wildfires each summer and fall, which is especially 
devastating to our forests in a time of record drought. Much is done on 
suppressing fires as they happen, to the tune of hundreds of millions 
of dollars of sometimes unplanned emergency funds, as well as hundreds 
of millions in loss of the people's assets: the forestland and trees 
are in that inventory and, with it, the habitat, all of value not 
frequently accounted for on public lands.
  What I am immediately frustrated by is the lack of mobilization after 
a fire for the important salvage work needed on public land and how 
important it is that it be timely. Large trees after a fire, many of 
them can be salvaged within a year, and their value, sold to help 
recover costs for needed reforestation.
  This is important for many reasons, such as: habitat; the renewal of 
the forest; and the critical prevention of massive erosion into our 
streams, rivers, lakes, and other waterways after a fire, which 
replantings help mitigate. Indeed, with the EPA's waters of the United 
States emphasis, they should be looking at their own timely treatment 
of their own jurisdictional public lands first.
  We need timely issuance now of the permitting that the Forest Service 
and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service are holding in their hands for 
even modest work still pending on 2014 fires. I urge these permitting 
entities to expedite the paperwork now to salvage what we can of 2014 
timber burn that has little time left to salvage at a value that will 
help taxpayers, instead of cost them.

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