I

103D CONGRESS

2D SESSION H. R. 4742

To declare a state of emergency on Federal lands within the State of California for the immediate reduction in forest fuels for the prevention of

catastrophic wildfire.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

JULY 13, 1994

Mr. HERGER introduced the following bill; which was referred jointly to the

Committees on Natural Resources and Agriculture

A BILL

To declare a state of emergency on Federal lands within

the State of California for the immediate reduction in

forest fuels for the prevention of catastrophic wildfire.

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE AND TABLE OF CONTENTS.

4 (a) SHORT TITLE.—This Act may be cited as the

5 ‘‘Forest Fire and Pest Emergency Act’’.

6 (b) TABLE OF CONTENTS.—The table of contents for

7 this Act is as follows:

Sec. 1. Short title and table of contents.

Sec. 2. Findings and purpose.

Sec. 3. Definitions.

Sec. 4. Declaration of emergency.
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Sec. 5. Strategic fire plan and budget.

1 SEC. 2. FINDINGS AND PURPOSE:

2 (a) FINDINGS.—

3 (1) Congress accepts the report and findings of

4 the National Commission on Wildlife Disasters, cre5 ated through the Wildfire Disaster Recovery Act of

6 1989 in response to the destructive western fire sea7 son of 1987 and the Yellowstone fires of 1988. The

8 commission found:

9 (A) Millions of acres of forest, grassland,

10 and desert in the United States face abnormally

11 high risks of wildfire due to altered species

12 composition, excessive fuel buildup, and in13 creased ignition opportunity.

14 (B) The problem is exceptionally severe on

15 the public lands of the western states, where

16 dangerous conditions exist over very large areas

17 and wildfires can attain a size and intensity

18 that defies control.

19 (C) Preventing disaster in such situations

20 can no longer be limited to suppression with en21 gines, air tankers (fixed-wing aircraft that drop

22 chemical retardant), and other firefighting par23 aphernalia.

24 (D) In many forest situations, fuel reduc25 tion by mechanical removal through careful sal-
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1 vage logging, thinning, or other means will be

2 needed before prescribed fire can be safely uti3 lized.

4 (E) The Southern California firestorm of

5 1993 burned nearly 200,000 acres, destroyed

6 over 1,100 structures, killed three people and

7 injured over 160, and cost an estimated $1 bil8 lion in suppression efforts, damages, and res9 toration. Soil erosion, mud slides, wildlife habi10 tat loss, and other damage will leave an

11 unforgotten legacy for years to come.

12 (F) In California, 3,500 homes were de13 stroyed by wildlife between 1920–89, but well

14 over 4,200 were destroyed between 1990–93.

15 (G) In 1992, when 24,500 acres of prime

16 timber and recreation lands in the Sierra-typi17 cal mixed conifer forest, ladened with heavy

18 fuels, bone dry from the six-year drought, and

19 suffering from drought stress and insect and

20 disease attack, ignited into a raging firestorm,

21 it turned into the most expensive rural wildfire

22 in California history in just four days. Total es23 timated value lost was $245 million dollars,

24 $16.5 million in suppression costs, 2 lives and

25 72 firefighting injuries. After an optimistic sal-
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1 vage recovery, estimated value loss is $5,670

2 per acre. Cost for prevention fuels treatment

3 average less than $200 per acre.

4 (2) Based on recent scientific reports, including

5 the California Spotted Owl Report (CASPO) and the

6 Sierra Nevada Ecosystem Project Progress Report

7 (SNEP), Congress finds:

8 (A) The enormous wildfires awaiting igni9 tion on the public lands of the west can no

10 longer be seen as an uncontrollable act of na11 ture; they will be the direct result of negligence

12 in land management, much of which can be

13 traced to the long-standing aversion to fire in

14 all forms.

15 (B) Major reductions in wildfire extent,

16 damage and cost are possible if effective pre17 vention actions are taken in time.

18 (C) Wildfire must be mitigated by preven19 tive land treatments that reduce fuels, break up

20 large contiguous areas of dangerous conditions,

21 improve building standards, and create defen22 sible spaces between flammable fuels and sus23 ceptible buildings.

24 (D) Outstanding late-successional forest

25 areas are often found in the less accessible loca-
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1 tions, and the potential for losing them to cata2 strophic wildfire is very high.

3 (E) Stands once kept open by frequent,

4 low-intensity lightning fires have been, as a con5 sequence of fire suppression, highly altered both

6 in structure and function by the development of

7 dense, shade tolerant understories that now

8 place them at risk of high-intensity stand9 replacing fire.

10 (F) Efforts to reduce catastrophic fire risk

11 to late-successional forest stands, and to main12 tain key ecosystem processes and biodiversity,

13 are much more likely to require active manage14 ment in the Sierra Nevada.

15 (G) Activities which reduce forest fuels will

16 provide interim employment and availability of

17 men and equipment for forest fire suppression.

18 (b) PURPOSE.—The purpose of this Act is to imme19 diately reduce the risk of wildlife on federal forest lands

20 in California, immediately reduce the number of dead and

21 dying trees, provide access to needed funding contained

22 in the Emergency Firefighting Funds ($190,222,000 for

23 Forest Service and $116,674,000 for Department of Inte24 rior in FY 94), provide access to needed funding contained

25 in the Forest Service Emergency Pest Suppression Fund
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1 ($15,000,000 in FY 94) and to develop a Strategic fire

2 protection plan with associated budget for Congressional

3 consideration.

4 SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS.

5 For the purposes of this Act:

6 (1) NATURAL FUELS.—Fuels not directly gen7 erated or altered by management activity. This in8 cludes fuels that have accumulated as a result of fire

9 exclusion.

10 (2) EXTREME FIRE RISK.—Areas determined to

11 be extremely vulnerable to wildfire based on a com12 bination of fire history, weather patterns, topog13 raphy, accessibility, visitor intensity, and fuel loads.

14 (3) SECRETARIES.—The term ‘‘Secretaries’’

15 means the Secretary of Agriculture and the Sec16 retary of the Interior.

17 SEC. 4. DECLARATION OF EMERGENCY.

18 The United States Congress declares the reduction

19 of natural fuels, on Federal lands within the State of Cali20 fornia identified as extreme fire risk, to constitute an

21 emergency action to prevent or to reduce risk to public

22 health or safety or to serious resource loss, for the dura23 tion of the drought as determined by the Secretaries. Not24 withstanding direction in land management plans, Con25 gress directs the Federal agencies to work cooperatively
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1 with State agencies to immediately identify areas of ex2 treme fire risk and take immediate action to reduce natu3 ral fuels. Congress authorizes the use of emergency fire

4 suppression funds to reduce natural fuels in such areas

5 provided reductions in the Sierra forests are consistent

6 with the fuels management guidelines of the California

7 Spotted Owl EA or subsequent EIS. In areas identified

8 as requiring additional treatments due to drought or pest

9 infestation on National forest lands, the Forest Service is

10 directed to prepare a budget request declaring an emer11 gency, pursuant to section 251(b)(2)(D) of the Balanced

12 Budget and Emergency Deficit Control Act of 1985.

13 SEC. 5. STRATEGIC FIRE PLAN AND BUDGET.

14 The Federal agencies are further directed to prepare,

15 in consultation and coordination with other federal agen16 cies and the State of California, a strategic fire plan and

17 annual budget. The plan and budget shall be submitted

18 to Congress by March 1, 1995 for inclusion in the 1996

19 appropriations request with a supplemental appropriations

20 request, if needed, for 1995 funding of natural fuels treat21 ment.

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