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Promoting common sense on nation's forests |
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September 15, 2017 |
By U.S. Senator Mike Crapo
Fourteen years ago, congressional colleagues and
I crafted the Healthy Forests Restoration Act of
2003 (HFRA) to help provide the U.S. Forest
Service with the tools needed to do the
necessary work on the ground to restore our
forests to health and reduce the threat of
catastrophic wildfire to our communities and
ecosystems.
With the National Interagency Fire Center
reporting more than 45,000 fires burning more
than 6.9 million acres since the beginning of
this year alone — approximately 2.4 million more
acres than during the first nearly seven months
of 2016 — we must continue to work to ensure
that federal fire policy keeps pace with this
continued threat.
I have agreed to again be an original co-sponsor
of legislation that would amend the Healthy
Forests Act to better ensure that those closest
to the forests have the ability to reduce
hazardous fuels in the forests in a timely
manner.
S. 1752, the Emergency Fuel Reduction Act,
introduced by Senator Dean Heller (R-Nevada) and
also co-sponsored by fellow Idaho Senator Jim
Risch, would streamline the federal permitting
process for projects that would reduce risk of
wildfires to communities, and improve forest,
watershed and rangeland health. Projects that
would qualify for a more efficient process
include projects providing for the removal of
insect-infected trees, dead or dying trees; and
removal of trees and other hazardous fuels close
to power and phone lines, water delivery
infrastructure, heritage sites, schools and
other important infrastructure.
Projects on federal lands containing fire-risks
that pose a threat to adjacent private property
owners and lands containing critical habitat for
endangered or threatened species, and candidate
species could also be considered for this
permitting process.
This legislation would build on the HFRA, which
was designed to encourage fuel reduction
efforts, protect old-growth forests, enhance
water quality, promote community-based land
management and public involvement in forest
management and address insect and disease
problems.
HFRA has promoted stewardship contracting
projects which incorporate public-private
partnerships, emphasizing more localized forest
management. The legislation also compliments
other provisions enacted since HFRA to advance
forest health.
This includes stewardship contracting authority
and Good Neighbor authority included in the 2014
Farm Bill. Stewardship contracting authority
provides a tool for federal land managers to
carryout forest stewardship projects and avoid
costly and time-consuming lawsuits, while Good
Neighbor authority expanded the federal
government’s ability to partner with state
foresters on restoration projects, including
bark beetle treatments, across state-federal
boundaries.
I continue to maintain that the best way to
manage our natural resources is through working
together to advance locally-driven,
collaborative solutions, and federal forest
policy must support these efforts.
Removing obstacles for common-sense projects to
improve the health of our forests and reduce the
threat of wildfire can help ensure a more
productive environment for these collaborative
solutions to take shape.
As work continues to adjust federal budgeting to
address the largest and most destructive
wildfires as the natural disasters they are, we
must make any other necessary changes to federal
law to ensure forest managers have the updated
tools they need to improve the health of our
forests to reduce the threat to our communities
and ensure the continued enjoyment and
productivity of these natural resources. |
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