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[Congressional Bills 113th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H. Res. 279 Introduced in House (IH)]

113th CONGRESS
  1st Session
H. RES. 279

 Expressing the sense of the House of Representatives that allocating 
  the appropriate resources to wildland fire management is needed to 
  protect the environment, the economy, and the people of the United 
                    States, and for other purposes.

_______________________________________________________________________

                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             June 26, 2013

  Mr. Tipton (for himself, Mr. Pearce, Mrs. Lummis, Mr. Coffman, Mr. 
Lamborn, and Mr. Gardner) submitted the following resolution; which was 
   referred to the Committee on Agriculture, and in addition to the 
    Committee on Natural Resources, for a period to be subsequently 
   determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such 
 provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned

_______________________________________________________________________

                               RESOLUTION

 
 Expressing the sense of the House of Representatives that allocating 
  the appropriate resources to wildland fire management is needed to 
  protect the environment, the economy, and the people of the United 
                    States, and for other purposes.

Whereas the thoughts and prayers of the Members of the House of Representatives 
        go out to individuals and families who have lost loved ones and homes to 
        wildfire;
Whereas the Members of the House of Representatives express the utmost gratitude 
        to wildland fire firefighters and first responders who bravely protect 
        life and property;
Whereas nearly 10 million acres of land burned in the United States in 2012;
Whereas the acreage burned by wildfires has steadily increased over the past 
        decade;
Whereas the most destructive fire in the history of the State of Colorado and 
        the largest fire in the history of the State of New Mexico destroyed 
        hundreds of homes and hundreds of thousands of acres of wildlife habitat 
        in 2012;
Whereas Federal forest and land management officials continue to request fewer 
        funds to fight wildfires;
Whereas the funding available for wildland fire suppression in the Wildland Fire 
        Management Account of the Forest Service was cut by $461 million from 
        fiscal year 2011 to fiscal year 2013;
Whereas the Wildland Fire Hazardous Fuels Reduction Account of the Forest 
        Service was cut by $22 million from fiscal year 2011 to fiscal year 2013 
        and the latest budget request asks for another $116 million decrease;
Whereas the Collaborative Forest Restoration Program, a program that benefits 
        local economies and improves the overall health of the landscape, has 
        taken a 20 percent cut in funding over the past 2 years;
Whereas senior Forest Service officials have described a Federal land management 
        system hamstrung by ``analysis paralysis'';
Whereas decades of Federal mismanagement have increased fuel loads on Federal 
        forest land and led to increased risk of catastrophic wildfire;
Whereas the Forest Service has replaced responsible, environmentally sound 
        timber thinning with allowing fires to burn through overcrowded forests;
Whereas the bark beetle epidemic has destroyed 40 million acres of forest in 
        North America; and
Whereas academic studies indicate that bark-beetle-infected trees can still be 
        salvaged for timber to be used in mills and contribute to small 
        businesses and local economies: Now, therefore, be it
    Resolved, That it is the sense of the House of Representatives 
that--
            (1) allocating the appropriate resources to wildland fire 
        management is needed to protect the environment, the economy, 
        and the people of the United States;
            (2) the bravery of the men and women who risk their lives 
        to extinguish these conflagrations should never be questioned;
            (3) a healthy forest policy must include prescribed 
        thinning;
            (4) funding to fight and prevent wildfires is essential to 
        public safety, environmental protection, and economic growth;
            (5) people who live in or near national forests in the 
        United States have a right to expect the greatest possible 
        protection for their homes and property;
            (6) the Government should not continue to acquire more land 
        when hundreds of millions of acres already controlled by the 
        Government are mismanaged; and
            (7) the Forest Service should proactively manage Federal 
        forest lands in a manner that--
                    (A) protects life and property;
                    (B) prevents catastrophic wildfire;
                    (C) promotes forest and watershed health; and
                    (D) creates jobs and economic development in the 
                forest products industry.
                                 <all>
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