The Congressional Record is a unique source of public documentation. It started in 1873, documenting nearly all the major and minor policies being discussed and debated.
“WILDLAND FIRE MANAGEMENT ACT” mentioning the Department of Interior was published in the Extensions of Remarks section on pages E807 on May 15, 2001.
The publication is reproduced in full below:
WILDLAND FIRE MANAGEMENT ACT
______
speech of
HON. CHRIS CANNON
of utah
in the house of representatives
Wednesday, May 9, 2001
The House in Committee of the Whole House on the State of the Union had under consideration the bill (H.R. 581) to authorize the Secretary of the Interior and the Secretary of Agriculture to use funds appropriated for the wildland fire management in the Department of the Interior and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 2001, to reimburse the United States Fish and Wildlife Service and the National Marine Fisheries Service to facilitate the interagency cooperation required under the Endangered Species Act of 1973 in connection with wildland fire management:
Mr. CANNON. Madam Chairman, in the last eight years my home and the homes of my neighbors have been threatened by fire on the mountain behind our town in Mapleton. I want to thank the heroic, hard working Federal firefighters for how they fought those infernos. My home is in the mouth of a canyon that has a strong and regular evening wind. Had the fire reached the canyon it would have been like a huge blowtorch. Many Utahns have shared the same concerns. We have a lot of homes located along the hundreds of miles of the urban/public lands interface.
Our ways of thinking about fire have shifted in recent years. We understand the benefits of fires in the natural cycles of our public lands. The beautiful areas where we live, the parks and forests that we enjoy, can benefit from reducing the fire risk by reducing fuel loads, prescribed burns, and educating people on fire safety.
To undertake these prevention measures, the Forest Service must first consult with the US Fish and Wildlife Service, ensuring that there will be no adverse effects to animals and especially endangered species. Unfortunately, the USFWS lacks the money to do what is needed.
H.R. 581 will allow the Forest Service to reimburse the Fish and Wildlife Service for their consultations.
Last year, many of the western states, including Utah, experienced some of the worst forest fires in history. Utah's current fire conditions look similar to last year's. According to the National Forest Service, most of the state is at high and very high risk of fire danger. Last year nearly 2,000 fires in Utah burned 228,000 acres of land. In Utah County alone, over 3,200 acres of land were destroyed by 57 fires.
Preventive actions can help save our lands as well as better allocate the taxpayer money spent on putting out fires. The Yellowstone fire of 1988 cost the nation $120 million to fight. Only a fraction of that amount would have been needed for prevention. As prescribed, controlled fire costs about $50 an acre. In a wilderness fire this cost for fighting the fire alone increases to between $200-$400 an acre. That does not include the cost of lost timber, wildlife, or ecological damage. Simply reducing the built-up fuel load that grew during years of fire suppression can have a significant effect on reducing fire danger.
Educating people on fire safety is a key issue as well. In Utah, 60-
70% of the fires are either accidentally or intentionally started by humans, Most of these could be avoided with proper understanding.
We must make funding for responsible fire practices a priority. This will improve the sense of serenity for my family, the constituents who I serve, and the many people who live on or near our public lands.
