July 3, 2002
Forest Subcommittee Announces July 11 Oversight Hearing on Cost, Causes and Implications of 2002 Wildfire Season
Will include forthright analysis of pros/cons of aggressive forest management
Washington, D.C. - The Forest & Forest Health Subcommittee will hold an oversight hearing on Thursday, July 11 at 10 a.m. in Room 1334 Longworth HOB on Wildfire on the National Forest: An update on the 2002 Wildland Fire Season.
Witnesses from the Interior and Agriculture departments are expected to testify regarding the nearly $400 million spent year-to-date on fire suppression. Scientists from Colorado and Arizona will be invited to testify regarding the explosive nature of this years fires and the available options for forest management.
Statement from Chairman James V. Hansen:
Were less than halfway through the summer and already the Administration has spent nearly every firefighting dollar it has on the fires in Arizona and Colorado. Meanwhile, five large, new fires have broken out in just the last 24 hours in Colorado, California, Wyoming and Utah. Were out of money. Homes are threatened and lives are in jeopardy in some part of virtually every western state. This crisis will only get worse between now and autumn.
Statement from Forest & Forest Health Chairman Scott McInnis:
"For those who have doubted or downplayed the seriousness of the wildfire epidemic on our national forests, this summer has been a rude awakening. 2002 is well on its way to becoming among the most destructive wildfire
seasons in American history. And if this fire season has taught us anything, it is that our attempts to reduce the threat of catastrophic wildfire on the national forests are falling woefully short.
"My goals for the hearing are three-fold: find out what additional resources the government needs this year to protect the many western communities in the crosshairs of wildfire, begin the process of separating the junk-science from the real-science when it comes to managing our national forests, and press policymakers and scientist to find out what it's going to take to get out ahead of this crisis in the long-term."
Hansen is retiring. He is chairman and he's the one who went before Congress last year to decry the eco-nuts and their lawsuits.
U.S. House of Representatives
Committee on Resources
1324 Longworth House Office Building
Washington, D.C. 20515-6201
107th Congress
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