Westerman introduces wildfire bill
U.S. Rep. Bruce Westerman, R-District 4, took a step toward preventing catastrophic wildfires Thursday by introducing a bill that would both increase funding and provide the U.S. Forest Service with better management tools.
H.R. 7315, the Protecting American Communities from Wildfire Act, would provide the Forest Service with the management tools it needs to rapidly treat federal forests in the wildland-urban interface while also providing additional grant funding to at-risk communities, supporting programs ranging from the purchase of new firefighting equipment to the FIREWISE program, a news release said.
“As more and more Americans move closer to our nation’s forests, it is imperative that Congress protect our communities from the devastation of wildfire,” Westerman said in the release. “The lack of large-scale forest management — combined with a patchwork of state, local, tribal, and federal landowners — has resulted in dangerous, unhealthy forests, which in turn has led to the catastrophic, deadly fires we see today.
“Congress must act to protect American
lives, property, and watersheds. The Forest Service must be provided the management tools to quickly shield these at-risk communities, and further, Congress must provide landowners the incentives and the resources to implement sound management.”
“The congressman is working with other members of Congress to address any concerns and pass this important piece of legislation,” Ryan Saylor, Westerman’s communications director, said Friday.
The bill will give the Forest Service the authority to prescribe forest treatment plans within the wildland-urban interface, creating a halo of managed timber around an at-risk community.
The wildland-urban interface is a term defined on the local level, he said, so at-risk communities can tailor the amount of protective treatment needed for their town.
It also gives the Forest Service the authority to prescribe forest treatment plans around the watersheds that supply at-risk communities, ensuring the steady supply of clean drinking water.
The bill also excludes the prescribed action from lengthy National Environmental Policy Act reviews, ensuring the critical protection is rapidly implemented, the release said.
The bill also reauthorizes the Cooperative Forestry Assistance Act of 1978 at $100 million a year from 2019 to 2024, a $20 million increase from current funding levels.
“This investment will be distributed as block grant funding to states looking to implement protective forest management, with programs ranging from technical assistance to community preparation, like FIREWISE,” the release said.
This funding will incentivize state, local, and tribal landowners to ensure that protective forest management is implemented at the landscape level.
With restoration in the wildland-urban interface costing millions of dollars annually, investing in preventive measures now will save taxpayers money over the long run, Westerman said.