Catastrophic Wildfire Prevention Act of 2012

Bill: 112-hr-5744
Sponsor: Rep. Gosar, Paul A. [R-AZ-1]
Introduced: 2012-05-15 in the House
Policy area: Public Lands and Natural Resources
Subjects: Administrative law and regulatory procedures
Department of Agriculture
Department of the Interior
Endangered and threatened species
Environmental assessment, monitoring, research
Fires
Forests, forestry, trees
Watersheds
Wildlife conservation and habitat protection

Summary:
action_date: 2012-05-15
text: 
Catastrophic Wildfire Prevention Act of 2012 - Authorizes the Secretary of Agriculture (USDA), with respect to National Forest System lands, and the Secretary of the Interior, with respect to public lands, (the Secretaries) to implement authorized wildfire prevention projects in at-risk forests and threatened and endangered species in a manner that focuses on surface, ladder, and canopy fuels reduction activities. 
 
Requires projects carried out on threatened and endangered species habitat to: (1) provide enhanced protection from wildfire, including catastrophic wildfire, for the endangered species, threatened species, or their habitat; and (2) comply with applicable recovery plan guidelines. 
 
Requires projects carried out in at-risk forests to move the federal land from condition class II or III toward condition class I. 
 
Permits use in a project of: (1) domestic livestock grazing to reduce surface fuel loads and to recover burned areas; and (2) timber harvesting and thinning to reduce ladder and canopy fuel loads for the prevention of wildfire, including catastrophic wildfires.
 
Directs the Secretaries to review public petitions for, and make determinations with respect to, the designation of federal lands as at-risk forests or as threatened and endangered species habitats. 
 
Requires notice in the Federal Register of proposed projects and final designated projects and permits public comment on projects as specified. 
 
Instructs the Secretaries to prepare an environmental assessment for projects that include timber harvesting or grazing. 
 
Instructs the Secretaries to research what impact any listing of a species under the Endangered Species Act of 1973 would have on both forage and timber forest fuel loads. Requires endangered species recovery plans and critical habitat determinations to include a wildfire risk assessment analysis. 


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2012-07-20
text: Subcommittee Hearings Held.
action_date: 2012-05-30
text: Referred to the Subcommittee on Conservation, Energy, and Forestry.
action_date: 2012-05-18
text: Referred to the Subcommittee on National Parks, Forests and Public Lands.
action_date: 2012-05-15
text: Referred to the Committee on Natural 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.
action_date: 2012-05-15
text: Referred to the Committee on Natural 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.
action_date: 2012-05-15
text: Introduced in House
action_date: 2012-05-15
text: Introduced in House