**July 3, 2007 FEMA Emergency Management Higher Education Project
Report**

\(1\) CITIZEN DISASTER PREPAREDNESS:

Citizen Corps. Citizen Corps July 2007 Newsletter. Accessed at:

[[http://www.citizencorps.gov/pdf/newsletter/cc-newsletter-july2007.pdf]{.underline}](http://www.citizencorps.gov/pdf/newsletter/cc-newsletter-july2007.pdf)

\(2\) DISASTERS AS A GROWTH BUSINESS:

Walters, Dan. \"Tahoe Fire Forces State to Face Reality.\" San Jose
Mercury News, July 3, 2007. Accessed at:

[[http://www.mercurynews.com/opinion/ci_6287722?nclick_check=1]{.underline}](http://www.mercurynews.com/opinion/ci_6287722?nclick_check=1)

\[Excerpt: \"California\'s unique melange of topography, scenery and
weather has made it the nation\'s most populous state with a world-class
economy. But those qualities have a darker face - imminent disaster. We
may not be able to predict them, but we know that Californians face
perpetual peril from wildfires, earthquakes, floods, landslides,
droughts and other natural or semi-natural calamities.

The latest is the Angora fire, as it was dubbed, that swept through more
than 200 homes near Lake Tahoe last week. And it has generated the usual
torrent of words from pundits and politicians that it should be a
\"wake-up call\" about better preparation and prevention.

It should be such a warning, of course, but if the past is any guide,
after a few days or weeks, we\'ll shut off the alarm button and
figuratively turn over and go back to sleep until the next disaster
strikes and the finger-pointing and alarm-raising begin anew.

Were we to treat the Angora fire as a serious sociopolitical phenomenon,
we\'d wonder why years of warnings from foresters, wildfire fighters and
other natural resource professionals about living in wooden houses in an
over-stressed, diseased and tinder-dry forest had been largely ignored.

Just last fall, the California Forestry Association\'s magazine devoted
an entire issue to describing a looming \"perfect storm\" that could
devastate the Tahoe basin if thinning of private and public timberland
wasn\'t accelerated and decrying the triumph of scenic protectionism and
bureaucratic proceduralism over fire safety. Ironically, of course, the
Angora fire will denigrate arboreal scenery and create more
lake-clouding erosion.

Sure, the CFA has its ax to grind, so to speak; it represents the
commercial timber industry. But that doesn\'t make its warning any less
valid from an objective standpoint. Its projected scenario almost
perfectly matched the Angora fire\'s destructive dynamics. It should
also be noted that the conditions that underlay the fire were similar to
those that fueled the deadly Esperanza fire in the San Bernardino
Mountains last year, which should have been another wake-up call.

Fundamentally, the conditions that generated so much destruction were
political. The Tahoe basin is governed by an array of federal, state and
local agencies that is as dense as the fuel-laden forest, all of which
control pieces of the thinning issue. It includes a super-agency called
the Tahoe Regional Planning Agency that exercises minute control over
building and development.

As the Angora fire raged, the long-simmering tension between TRPA and
local residents flared up, with property owners complaining that TRPA\'s
history of nitpicking bureaucratic procedures made them leery about even
applying for timber-thinning permits.

John Singlaub, TRPA\'s executive director, insisted that it encourages
such clearing and added: \"I know that emotions are running high right
now, people are angry, they want somebody to blame. We\'re the usual
target.\"

The TRPA flap is indicative of the rampant confusion over land use and
development throughout California. Local, state and federal regulators
pursue single-purpose goals, often without coordination or comprehensive
policies to prevent or minimize losses from natural disasters. The
thicket of overlapping governments in the flood-prone Sacramento-San
Joaquin River Delta uncannily mirrors the Tahoe situation.

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and other state and local officials gathered
near the Angora fire site last week to praise firefighters, as they
should, and pledge to rebuild the devastated community. Perhaps,
however, it shouldn\'t be rebuilt until we come to grips with the
dangers and are willing to embrace what needs to be done to prevent
another fire from devastating the region.\"

\(3\) EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT ACCREDITATION PROGRAM (EMAP) STANDARDS PUBLIC
COMMENT:

EMAP Press Release dated July 2, 2007:

\"EMAP is pleased to release the inaugural edition of the EMAP standards
entitled \"Emergency Management Standards by EMAP\" for public comment.

Several stakeholders from National Emergency Management Association
(NEMA), International Association of Emergency Managers (IAEM), National
Governors Association (NGA), The Council of State Governments (CSG),
International City/County Management Association (ICMA), National
Association of Counties (NACo) and other public and private sector
partners came together over the last several months to create the
Standards, separate and independent of the NFPA 1600. These standards
are written to serve as a set of standards defining a quality emergency
management program to be a tool for strategic planning and improvement
efforts. These standards are now open for public comment starting July
2, 2007 and closing on July 31, 2007. A form is enclosed with the
standards for stakeholder input, comment, or proposal for the new
standards.\"

For more information, or to download the \"Standards\" go to:

[[http://www.emaponline.org/?341]{.underline}](http://www.emaponline.org/?341)

\(4\) FEMA ADVISORY COUNCIL AND IAEM:

Received email today from IAEM HQ noting that: \"We are very pleased to
announce that IAEM Second Vice President Russell J. Decker, CEM,
Director, Allen County Emergency Management, Lima, Ohio, has been
appointed to serve as the association\'s representative on the newly
formed National Advisory Council. The Council is composed of recognized
experts across the range of emergency management disciplines. Its
development was set into motion by the Post-Katrina Emergency Management
Reform Act of 2006.\" The full news release can be accessed at:

[[http://www.iaem.com/publications/news/news.htm#fema070307]{.underline}](http://www.iaem.com/publications/news/news.htm#fema070307)

\(5\) FEMA EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT PERFORMANCE GRANTS (EMPG) AUTHORIZATION:

Overstar, Rep. James L. \"Chairman James Oberstar\'s Comments on H.R.

2775 to Authorize Funding for Emergency Management Performance Grants
and Other Purposes.\" Washington, DC: House Committee on Transportation
and Infrastructure, June 28, 2007. Accessed at:

[[http://transportation.house.gov/News/PRArticle.aspx?NewsID=244]{.underline}](http://transportation.house.gov/News/PRArticle.aspx?NewsID=244)

\[Excerpts: \"Today, the Committee considers H.R. 2775, a bill to
authorize funding and provide statutory reinforcement for the Emergency
Management Performance Grant (\"EMPG\") program.

EMPG is the Federal Government\'s principle program to build the
capability of state and local governments to prepare for, respond to,
recover from, and mitigate all hazards. Administered by the Federal
Emergency Management Administration (\"FEMA\"), EMPG is truly a
partnership between the Federal Government and state and local
governments that has withstood the test of time. This grant program has
been in existence, under different names, since the 1950s\.....

Despite the risk that our country faces from all hazards, EMPG receives
a fraction of the amount spent annually by the Federal Government for
terrorism-specific programs. In April, the Subcommittee on Economic
Development, Public Buildings, and Emergency Management held a hearing
on programs related to preparedness for all hazards. The hearing
revealed that in FY 2006, EMPG received only about 10 percent of the
funding allocated to terrorism preparedness programs\....

Recently, the Administration has sought to undermine and undo the EMPG
program, by proposing changes that stand to gut the core all hazards
nature of the program. The Administration proposed in its FY 2008 Budget
request that EMPG should be combined with terrorism programs. I am
pleased that the FY 2008 Homeland Security Appropriations bill, passed
by the House this month, rejected this misguided proposal and funds EMPG
as a separate program. The Committee on Appropriations recognized the
importance of the EMPG program as \'the one true all-hazard sources of
funding for emergency managers,\' as stated in the Committee report.\"\]

\[For more on the hearing and the EMPG go to:

[[http://www.iaem.com/committees/GovernmentAffairs/GovtAffairs.htm#empg062]{.underline}](http://www.iaem.com/committees/GovernmentAffairs/GovtAffairs.htm#empg062)

907 \-- scroll down to \"U.S. Government Affairs News.\"

\(6\) EM HI-ED PROJECT REPORTS ON HOLD WHILE AWAY FOR THE ANNUAL BOULDER
HAZARDS WORKSHOP:

Will be back in the office Monday, July 16th.

B.Wayne Blanchard, Ph.D., CEM

Higher Education Project Manager

Emergency Management Institute

National Emergency Training Center

Federal Emergency Management Agency

Department of Homeland Security

16825 S. Seton, K-011

Emmitsburg, MD 21727

\(301\) 447-1262, voice

\(301\) 447-1598, fax

wayne.blanchard@dhs.gov

[[http://training.fema.gov/EMIWeb/edu]{.underline}](http://training.fema.gov/EMIWeb/edu)

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