House Committee on Natural Resources Chairman Bruce Westerman joined Congressional Western Caucus Chair Celeste Maloy, U.S. Senator John Curtis, U.S. Representative Mike Kennedy, U.S. Representative Burgess Owens, and Department of Agriculture Under Secretary for Natural Resources and Environment Michael Boren in Beaver, Utah, on July 24 to survey the aftermath of the recent Cottonwood Fire.
Westerman said, “The town of Beaver is digging out after catastrophic wildfires and associated flooding devastated their community, charred the landscape and contaminated the drinking water. The real message is this doesn’t have to happen. We need to pass the Fix Our Forests Act so that we can do everything humanly possible to prevent what happened in Beaver from happening to other Western communities. We spend billions of dollars fighting wildfires every year, when we should be spending more preventing those fires—that’s why we need the Fix Our Forests Act. I’d like to thank Congresswoman Maloy for bringing us to her district and Senator Curtis for championing the Fix Our Forests Act in the Senate.”
Members met with representatives from the U.S. Forest Service as well as local cattlemen and officials during their visit. They discussed how residences, school facilities, and ranches suffered severe damage due to fire activity. The group also noted downed power lines, compromised water supplies, and families displaced from their homes.
Senator Curtis is leading sponsorship efforts for the Fix Our Forests Act in the Senate while Maloy’s Congressional Western Caucus has endorsed it in the House.
Chairman Westerman acknowledged both Curtis’s leadership in sponsoring this legislation at a federal level and Maloy’s efforts within her district.