I
103D CONGRESS
2D SESSION
H. R. 5097
To require the identification of certain high-fire-risk Federal forest lands
in the State of Nevada, the clearing of forest fuels in such areas,
and the submission of a fire prevention plan and budget.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
SEPTEMBER 23, 1994
Mrs. VUCANOVICH introduced the following bill; which was referred jointly to
the Committees on Natural Resources and Agriculture
A BILL
To require the identification of certain high-fire-risk Federal
forest lands in the State of Nevada, the clearing of
forest fuels in such areas, and the submission of a fire
prevention plan and budget.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Nevada Forest Protec-
tion Act’’.
SEC. 2. CONGRESSIONAL FINDINGS.
The Congress finds that—
(1) persistent drought and large areas of accu-
mulated fuels in forest lands have caused the 1994
wildfire season to be one of the most severe in his-
tory;
(2) an extreme wildfire danger exists in many
of the forest lands in Nevada, including such lands
in the Lake Tahoe area, which have suffered years
of drought and insect infestation that have resulted
in a forest that is overloaded with fuels;
(3) over 780 wildfires have occurred throughout
the State of Nevada in the 1994 wildfire season and
have involved more than 215,000 acres, including
areas near Caliente, Hallelujah Junction, Panaca,
Lone Mountain, Bull Run, Mahogany Springs, Hol-
brook Junction, and Verdi;
(4) the risk of intense wildfires that pose a seri-
ous threat to the health of forest lands and water-
sheds can be significantly reduced by the reduction
of excessive fuel accumulations, including slash piles
and dead trees that become fuel ladders;
(5) the highest priority for fuel removal should
be placed on areas where the population is greatest
and the interface between urban and wild land cre-
ates a great fire threat to persons and property; and
(6) timber sales and fuels reduction projects
should result in major decreases in fuel loading and
emphasis should be placed on handpiling and burn-
ing as well as the removal or burning of
nonmerchantable, smaller, dead trees that are likely
to become fuel ladders.
SEC. 3. IDENTIFICATION OF RISK AREAS AND CLEARING OF
FUELS.
The Secretaries of Agriculture and the Interior shall,
in cooperation with appropriate State and local agencies—
(1) identify any area in the State of Nevada,
within forest lands under the respective jurisdictions
of the Secretaries, that is extremely vulnerable to
wildfire due to the accumulation of forest fuels and
a combination of fire history, extent of human settle-
ment, weather patterns, topography, accessibility,
and visitor intensity; and
(2) take action to reduce excessive accumula-
tions of fuel, including slash piles and dead trees
that become fuel ladders, in such areas.
SEC. 4. FIRE PLAN AND BUDGET.
The Secretaries of Agriculture and the Interior shall
jointly prepare, in consultation and coordination with
other Federal agencies and the State of Nevada, a strate-
gic plan regarding fire prevention for forest lands in the
State of Nevada under the respective jurisdictions of the
Secretaries and an annual budget for the plan. The Sec-
retaries shall submit the plan and budget to the Congress
not later than March 1, 1995, for inclusion in the 1996
appropriations request.
SEC. 5. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.
There are authorized to be appropriated such sums
as may be necessary to carry out this Act.
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