[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 150 (2004), Part 13]
[Senate]
[Page 17037]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                            ALASKA WILDFIRES

  Ms. MURKOWSKI. Mr. President, I rise today to speak about the fires 
that are burning in my State of Alaska. To date, there are 117 active 
fires in Alaska that have burned over 3.8 million acres. That is larger 
than the entire State of Connecticut, and 11 of these fires started 
yesterday. This year is the 3rd most active fire season in Alaska since 
records have been kept, 1955.
  Alaskans have been living with these fires since early June. All told 
there have been 479 of them since the start of fire season.
  On Monday July 5, I visited the fire camp of the Boundary Fire, which 
was threatening residences north of Fairbanks, AK.
  It rained while I was visiting the camp. Rain and changes in the 
winds can bring an abrupt end to fire season. I was hopeful that the 
change in weather would allow firefighters to put down the Boundary 
Fire in short order.
  Unfortunately, it was not to be. Shortly after I left the fire camp, 
residents of the Haystack subdivision were told it was safe to return 
home. Just a few days ago, the Haystack subdivision was evacuated for 
the second time this summer. This evacuation affects 150 residents and 
80 homes.
  A total of 34 structures have been lost to the fires now burning in 
the State. Haze from the fires in the interior of Alaska is being 
experienced as far south as Juneau--that is a distance of about 800 
miles.
  The heroes of this fire season are the 2,711 firefighters: many from 
Alaska Native villages and others from the lower 48 who are working 
night and day to protect homes, private property, and subsistence 
resources. I am grateful to the coordinated efforts of the Alaska Fire 
Service and the State Division of Forestry for their tireless work in 
combating these fires. This week, the community of Fairbanks is 
celebrating ``Golden Days''--their annual summer carnival. I don't know 
if any of the firefighters will be able to break away from their duties 
to attend the parade on Saturday, but I can promise you that they will 
be warmly received by the residents of our Golden Heart City.
  I want to commend the Federal fire managers for getting our Nation's 
aerial firefighting resources back in the air. We may have some 
differences of opinion about how long it took to accomplish this or how 
many planes are certified to fly, but I am prepared to leave this 
discussion for a future time.
  The total aerial resources in Alaska include one federally certified 
heavy air tanker, two heavy air tankers under contract to the State of 
Alaska, three single-engine air tankers, and three CL 215's. These 
resources are prepositioned around the State to be used, when needed.
  Thus far, the brave men and women on our fire lines have been 
successful in holding the fire away from primary residences--not only 
in and around Fairbanks, but also in rural communities like Chicken, 
Circle, Central, Eagle, Evansville, Tanacross, Galena, and Venetie.
  The firefighters remind me that the proximity of the fires to 
people's homes creates a ``teachable moment.'' The operative words are 
``be firewise.'' We need to all remember building defensible space 
around structures not only increases the likelihood that a building 
will survive a fire. It also increases safety to residents and our 
firefighters.
  I want to reemphasize my strong support for the fuels reduction 
provisions of the President's Healthy Forest Initiative. This 
initiative is needed more than ever now. Our Nation's forestry policy 
has to allow for responsible forest management that includes the 
ability to remove, when appropriate, wildfire fuel from forests. 
Deteriorating forest and rangeland health now affects more than 190 
million acres nationwide, an area twice the size of California.
  In Alaska, the damage caused by the spruce bark beetle, especially 
along the Kenai Peninsula has been devastating. Over 5 million acres of 
trees in south central and interior Alaska have been lost to insects 
over the last 10 years. Expedited fuel reduction treatment on Federal 
land on which the existence of disease or insect infestation is a 
critical provision in this new law.
  In addition to treating our Federal lands, treating State and private 
lands is also important. Such lands benefit from the U.S. Forest 
Service's State and Private Forestry Program. As we know, wildland 
fires do not discriminate among land ownership patterns. On the Kenai 
Peninsula alone, State, native corporation, and private lands have 
beetle kill in addition to Federal lands on the Chugach and Kenai 
National Wildlife Refuge. There are still over 200,000 acres of 
untreated hazardous fuels within the Wildland-Urban Interface, leaving 
many Alaskan communities at risk.
  Another critical program is the Forest Land Enhancement Program 
(FLEP), which is part of the Farm Bill. This program helps communities 
and individuals to obtain grants for reforestation and thinning of 
lands impacted by beetle kill.
  In Alaska alone, a total of 478 private landowners, along with 19 
native corporations are eligible for FLEP funds for wildfire fuels 
reduction and timber stand improvements. Without this funding, eligible 
Alaskan landowners have no opportunity to make needed forest health 
improvements on their lands. The farm bill in 2002 authorized $100 
million from the Commodity Credit Corporation over a 5-year period 
ending in fiscal year 2007. Only a total of $20 million was used for 
landowner cost-share and technical assistance in fiscal year 2003 with 
$50 million transferred from FLEP to cover Forest Service wildfire 
suppression costs. While supporting wildfire suppression, we must and 
should utilize funding for those State and private forestry programs 
that aid communities in fuel reduction work to reduce these 
catastrophic wildfires we witness each year.
  We must work across party lines to get the needed resources, 
recognizing fiscal responsibility, to all landowners to reduce fuel 
load. This is a responsibility for all of us in Congress.

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