Forest Fire Season Is Upon Us

august 2004

Past Columns

Once again, our area is bracing for another dangerous wildfire season. We have already seen fires in neighboring states, including Nevada, and blazes break out within the Angeles National Forest. The Federal Emergency Management Agency has reacted swiftly to Governor Schwarzenegger’s request for federal funds to help the state fight the Crown fire, and I believe Congress has taken some important steps this year to address the potential damage wildfires can cause.

Earlier this year, the House of Representatives approved legislation providing $2.9 billion to protect forests on Forest Service and Department of Interior lands, including funds for thinning and clearing dead trees and brush, and restoring areas burned during last year’s fires. Included within that funding is $128 million for forest health initiatives sponsored by the Forest Service, and $5 million to address the bark beetle problem in southern California. We learned a painful lesson last year that failure to control these harmful beetles leads to a dangerous mix of too much dead and combustible wood in our forests. Funding has also been provided to expand the Fire Safe Councils in California, which help Californians ensure their homes, neighborhoods and communities are fire safe. This funding should go a long way toward smarter, more sound forest management so that we can prevent hazardous wild fires before they even start. In the event that they do, and they most likely will, we have also approved an additional allocation of $500 million in emergency funds for urgent wildfire suppression needs both this year and the next.

In addition, the Forest Service recently announced that five air tankers would return to firefighting service, giving it the ability to bring these important firefighting tools to bear on wildfires this year. Although, all of these efforts cannot stop fires from erupting, they will certainly help get them controlled when they do.