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104TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION H. R. 770

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

FEBRUARY 1, 1995

Mr. HERGER (for himself and Mr. RIGGS) introduced the following bill; which

was referred to the Committee on Resources and, in addition, to the

Committee on Agriculture, 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

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; table of contents.
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Sec. 2. Findings and purpose.

Sec. 3. Definitions.

Sec. 4. Declaration of emergency.

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

22 drop chemical retardant—and other firefighting

23 paraphernalia.
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1 (D) In many forest situations, fuel reduc2 tion by mechanical removal through careful sal3 vage logging, thinning, or other means will be

4 needed before prescribed fire can be safely

5 utilized.

6 (E) The southern California firestorm of

7 1993 burned nearly two hundred thousand

8 acres, destroyed over one thousand one hundred

9 structures, killed three people and injured over

10 one hundred and sixty, and cost an estimated

11 $1,000,000,000 in suppression efforts, dam12 ages, and restoration. Soil erosion, mudslides,

13 wildlife habitat loss, and other damage will

14 leave an unforgotten legacy for years to come.

15 (F) In California, three thousand five hun16 dred homes were destroyed by wildfire between

17 1920 and 1989, but well over four thousand

18 two hundred were destroyed between 1990 and

19 1993.

20 (G) In 1992, when twenty-four thousand

21 five hundred acres of prime timber and recre22 ation lands in the Sierra-typical mixed conifer

23 forest, laden with heavy fuels, bone dry from

24 the six-year drought, and suffering from

25 drought stress and insect and disease attack,
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1 ignited into a raging firestorm, it turned into

2 the most expensive rural wildfire in California

3 history in just four days. Total estimated value

4 lost was $245,000,000, $16,500,000 in sup5 pression costs, two lives and seventy-two fire6 fighting injuries. After an optimistic salvage re7 covery, estimated value loss is $5,670 per acre.

8 Cost for preventive fuels treatment average less

9 than $200 per acre.

10 (2) Based on recent scientific reports, including

11 the California Spotted Owl Report (CASPO) and the

12 Sierra Nevada Ecosystem Project Progress Report

13 (SNEP), Congress finds:

14 (A) The enormous wildfires awaiting igni15 tion on the public lands of the West can no

16 longer be seen as an uncontrollable act of na17 ture; they will be the direct result of negligence

18 in land management, much of which can be

19 traced to the longstanding aversion to fire in all

20 forms.

21 (B) Major reductions in wildfire extent,

22 damage and cost are possible if effective pre23 ventive actions are taken in time.

24 (C) Wildfire must be mitigated by preven25 tive land treatments that reduce fuels, break up
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1 large contiguous areas of dangerous conditions,

2 improve building standards, and create defen3 sible spaces between flammable fuels and sus4 ceptible buildings.

5 (D) Outstanding late-successional forest

6 areas are often found in the less accessible loca7 tions, and the potential for losing them to cata8 strophic wildfire is very high.

9 (E) Stands once kept open by frequent,

10 low-intensity lightning fires have been, as a con11 sequence of fire suppression, highly altered both

12 in structure and function by the development of

13 dense, shade tolerant understories that now

14 place them at risk of high-intensity stand15 replacing fire.

16 (F) Efforts to reduce catastrophic fire risk

17 to late-successional forest stands, and to main18 tain key ecosystem processes and biodiversity,

19 are much more likely to require active manage20 ment in the Sierra Nevada.

21 (G) Activities which reduce forest fuels will

22 provide interim employment and availability of

23 men and equipment for forest fire suppression.

24 (b) PURPOSE.—The purpose of this Act is to imme25 diately reduce the risk of wildfire on Federal forest lands
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1 in California, immediately reduce the number of dead and

2 dying trees, provide access to needed funding contained

3 in the Emergency Firefighting Funds, provide access to

4 needed funding contained in the Forest Service Emer5 gency Pest Suppression Fund, and to develop a strategic

6 fire protection plan with associated budget for congres7 sional consideration.

8 SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS.

9 For the purposes of this Act:

10 (1) NATURAL FUELS.—Fuels not directly gen11 erated or altered by management activity. This in12 cludes fuels that have accumulated as a result of

13 nonmanagement activity such as fire exclusion, or

14 indirectly as a result of management activity such as

15 increased regeneration of brush and trees, resultant

16 epidemic mortality therefrom.

17 (2) EXTREME FIRE RISK.—Area determined to

18 be extremely vulnerable to wildfire based on a com19 bination of fire history, weather patterns, topog20 raphy, accessibility, visitor intensity, extent of

21 human settlement, and fuel loads.

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

23 means the Secretary of Agriculture and the Sec24 retary of the Interior.
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1 SEC. 4. DECLARATION OF EMERGENCY.

2 The United States Congress declares the reduction

3 of natural fuels, on Federal lands within the State of Cali4 fornia identified as extreme fire risk, to constitute an

5 emergency action to prevent or to reduce risk to public

6 health or safety or to serious resource loss. Notwithstand7 ing direction in land management plans, Congress directs

8 the Federal agencies to work cooperatively with State

9 agencies to immediately identify areas of extreme fire risk

10 and take immediate action to reduce natural fuels. Con11 gress authorizes the use of emergency fire suppression

12 funds to reduce natural fuels in such areas provided reduc13 tions in the Sierra forests are consistent with the fuels

14 management guidelines of the California Spotted Owl EA

15 or subsequent EIS, and that fuels reduction activities in

16 roadless areas preserve the unique characteristics of such

17 areas. In areas identified as requiring additional treat18 ments due to drought or pest infestation on National For19 est lands, the Forest Service is directed to prepare a budg20 et request declaring an emergency, pursuant to section

21 251(b)(2)(D) of the Balanced Budget and Emergency

22 Deficit Control Act of 1985.

23 SEC. 5. STRATEGIC FIRE PLAN AND BUDGET.

24 The Federal agencies are further directed to prepare,

25 in consultation and coordination with other Federal agen26 cies and the State of California, a strategic fire plan and
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1 annual budget. The plan and budget shall be submitted

2 to Congress by March 1, 1996, for inclusion in the 1997

3 Appropriations request with a Supplemental Appropria4 tions request, if needed, for 1996 funding of natural fuels

5 treatment.

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