[Congressional Record Volume 168, Number 38 (Wednesday, March 2, 2022)]
[House]
[Page H1258]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




               CALIFORNIA'S DEVASTATING 2021 FIRE SEASON

  (Mr. LaMALFA asked and was given permission to address the House for 
1 minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. LaMALFA. Madam Speaker, I would like to point out to the Members 
here tonight once again that California had a very devastating fire 
season last year. The whole Western States of America have.
  The Dixie fire alone was nearly 1 million acres in my district. 
Several other fires add up into the six-digit figures.
  What we really need to do is have the United States Forest Service 
identify a fire within the first 24 hours of when a fire occurs and 
then pounce on it and put the fire out--no more monitoring fire.
  Some other colleagues and I will be looking at legislation to put 
that in place. We were promised by the Forest Service that would be 
their policy. We need to enforce that. We need to have that be the 
dedication they have toward taking care of these Federal lands.
  Indeed, there are multi-uses for people, for timber, for 
preservation. But when they go up in smoke, it just becomes a horrific 
environmental problem: first, air quality, and then the ash, the silt 
that is going to wash into our streams and oceans and water storage.
  The Forest Service needs to get on the job.

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