[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 159 (2013), Part 7]
[House]
[Pages 10411-10412]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                          WILDFIRE RESOLUTION

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair recognizes the gentleman from 
Colorado (Mr. Tipton) for 5 minutes.
  Mr. TIPTON. Mr. Speaker, the West Fork Complex Fire--acreage burning 
now in Colorado--is more than 141 square miles and counting. The East 
Peak Fire--over 13,000 acres and counting. These are just two of the 
fires that are burning in my district now, and it is still early 
summer. Tens of thousands of acres of forests are already gone and 
entire communities are being threatened.
  Brave men and women are working around-the-clock to be able to stop 
this devastation. They are truly incredible, and I want to thank all of 
them for all they are doing to be able to protect property, save lives, 
and to be able to contain these wildfires.
  Just like the wildfires that have ravaged our State over the last 
decade, these fires have destroyed property and are doing irreversible 
damage to the environment--to the fragile ecologies and watersheds on 
which we rely.
  The incident commanders in charge of the suppression efforts on the 
West Fork Fire--the Nation's highest priority--told me this week that 
the behavior of the fire is unprecedented. Because of all of the 
beetle-killed timber, unnaturally dense forest, and dry conditions, the 
fire has acted in a way that defies computer models and has been 
incredibly devastating.
  The most tragic part of all of this is the occurrence of these forest 
fires could be reduced, if not outright prevented, with commonsense 
healthy forest management.
  With this in mind, I have put forward the following resolution:

       Expressing the sense of the House of Representatives that 
     allocating the appropriate resources to wildland fire 
     management is needed to protect the environment, the economy 
     and the people of the United States, and for other purposes.
       Whereas, the thoughts and prayers of the Members of the 
     House of Representatives go out to the individuals and 
     families who have lost loved ones and their homes to 
     wildlife;
       Whereas, the Members of the House of Representatives 
     express the utmost gratitude to wildland firefighters and 
     first responders who bravely protect life and property;
       Whereas, nearly 10 million acres of land burned in the 
     United States in 2012;

[[Page 10412]]

       Whereas, the acreage burned by wildfires has steadily 
     increased over the past decade;
       Whereas, the most destructive fire in the history of the 
     State of Colorado and the largest fire in the history of the 
     State of New Mexico destroyed hundreds of homes and hundreds 
     of thousands of acres of wildlife habitat in 2012;
       Whereas, Federal forest and land management officials 
     continue to request fewer funds to fight wildfires;
       Whereas, the funding available for wildland fire 
     suppression in the Wildland Fire Management Account of the 
     Forest Service was cut by $461 million from fiscal year 2011 
     to fiscal year 2013;
       Whereas, the Wildland Fire Hazardous Fuels Reduction 
     Account of the Forest Service was cut by $22 million from 
     fiscal year 2011 to fiscal year 2013, and the latest budget 
     request asks for another $116 million decrease;
       Whereas, the Collaborative Forest Restoration Program, a 
     program that benefits local economies and improves the 
     overall health of the landscape, has taken a 20 percent cut 
     in funding over the past 2 years;
       Whereas, senior Forest Service officials have described a 
     Federal land management system hamstrung by ``analysis 
     paralysis;''
       Whereas, decades of Federal mismanagement have increased 
     fuel loads on Federal forest land and led to increased risk 
     of catastrophic wildlife;
       Whereas, the U.S. Forest Service has replaced responsible, 
     environmentally sound timber thinning with allowing forests 
     to burn through overcrowded forests;
       Whereas, the bark beetle epidemic has destroyed 40 million 
     acres of forest in North America; and
       Whereas, academic studies indicate that bark beetle-
     infected trees can still be salvaged for timber to be used in 
     mills and contribute to small businesses and local economies.
       Now, therefore, be it
       Resolved, that it is the sense of the House of 
     Representatives that--
       Allocating the appropriate resources to wildland fire 
     management is needed to protect the environment, the economy, 
     and the people of the United States;
       The bravery of the men and women who risk their lives to 
     extinguish these conflagrations can never be questioned;
       A healthy forest policy must include prescribed thinning;
       Funding to fight and prevent wildfires is essential to 
     public safety, environmental protection, and economic growth;
       People who live in or near our national forests have a 
     right to expect the greatest possible protection for their 
     homes and properties;
       The government should not continue to acquire more land 
     when the hundreds of millions of acres already controlled by 
     the government are mismanaged; and
       The Forest Service should proactively manage Federal forest 
     lands in a manner that protects life and property, prevents 
     catastrophic wildfire, promotes forest and watershed health, 
     and creates jobs and economic development in the forest 
     products industry.

  I invite all of my colleagues on both sides of the aisle to join me 
in standing with the people of Colorado, standing with all in the West 
who have been impacted by catastrophic wildfire. Join me in thanking 
the firefighters who are risking their lives to protect others. Join me 
in the action to prevent future devastation and restore our forests to 
health.

                          ____________________