Feinstein, Wyden, Merkley Press U.S. Forest Service for Update on Wildfire Prevention and Fuels Treatment Efforts Following Trump Shutdown
Sens.
In addition to Feinstein, Wyden and Merkley, the letter to
The senators highlighted the importance of the agency's hazardous fuels work, as well as the narrow window of opportunity to complete often weather-dependent efforts, in preparing communities for the upcoming fire season.
"While climate change is a significant driver of these severe wildfires, high fuel loads also contribute to their deadliness. Western states count heavily on reducing hazardous fuels to lessen the threat of wildfires to their communities," the senators wrote. "As the largest landowner in many Western states, the federal government has a duty to ensure that this essential forest work gets done."
"
In addition to requesting that the
A full copy of the letter is below and available here (https://www.feinstein.senate.gov/public/index.cfm?a=files.serve&File_id=FE90D337-5CA6-4C0F-B189-4F9041216F76).
Chief
Dear Chief Christiansen:
We write regarding the recent government shutdown and the impact it had on the
As you know, Western states have been dealing with increasingly severe wildfires. For weeks at a time during the last several summers, families in
While climate change is a significant driver of these severe wildfires, high fuel loads also contribute to their deadliness. Western states count heavily on reducing hazardous fuels to lessen the threat of wildfires to their communities. As the largest landowner in many Western states, the federal government has a duty to ensure that this essential forest work gets done.
While certain activities continued during the shutdown, given the short time window available to prepare communities for the next year of wildfires, we respectfully request that you respond to the following questions within 30 days:
1. Which previously planned, if any, hazardous fuels treatments was the
2. Now that the shutdown has concluded, how will the
3. What prescribed fire and pile-burning projects came into prescription during the shutdown that you could not accomplish? What are your plans and timelines for completing these activities?
4. How did you use funding from Knutson-Vandenberg, brush disposal, other trust accounts, and prior year appropriations to continue forest management activities? What did you prioritize and why?
5. What steps are you taking to ensure that our national forests can continue to collaborate with community partners to plan priority projects during the compressed timeline of FY 2019?
6. Given that the shutdown happened during a time of the year typically devoted to wildland firefighting hiring and training, what are you doing to ensure there is an adequate number of trained firefighting personnel for the upcoming year?
* In addition, please describe the medium- to long-term impacts on fire readiness of canceled trainings for the federal fire organizations and the potential impacts this could have on state and local fire operations that assist in fighting fires on federal lands.
7. The
8. Given the possibility of another shutdown in the near future, what is the
9. Many tribal governments and their citizens rely on timber harvesting and fire mitigation work for jobs and government revenue. Has the
We recognize that your agency has a large work burden in light of the shutdown. However, we request that you respond to these questions within 30 days due to the importance of this issue to communities across the country. Thank you for your attention to this matter, and we look forward to working with you to protect communities from wildfire and to improving the health of our nation's forests.
Sincerely,
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