tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25538125610734771852024-03-13T17:57:25.373-07:00Fire Suppression Funding Solutions Partner CaucusAnonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11853013603179377309noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2553812561073477185.post-60713309819230585222016-07-07T09:43:00.003-07:002016-07-07T09:43:52.112-07:00<div align="center" class="MsoHeader" style="text-align: center;">
<b><span style="font-size: 18.0pt;">Groups Ask for Comprehensive Wildfire Funding Solution
at Senate Hearing on Discussion Draft </span></b><span style="font-size: 11pt;"> </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 11.5pt;">June
23</span><span style="color: windowtext; font-size: 11.5pt;">, </span><span style="font-size: 11.5pt;">2016 (</span><span style="color: windowtext; font-size: 11.5pt;">Arlington,
Va.</span><span style="font-size: 11.5pt;">) — The Senate Energy and
Natural Resources Committee is holding a hearing today to receive testimony on
a discussion draft of legislation entitled the “Wildfire Budgeting, Response
and Forest Management Act of 2016.” <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 11.5pt;"><a href="https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B4uilIfbMbzUOWZZZHFzdHlZRmM/view">In a
letter to the committee</a>, a group of over 100 environmental, business,
industry, and recreation groups expressed concern with the eroding budgets
facing the Department of the Interior and USDA Forest Service. With such a
steep amount of the money being used for wildfire suppression, agencies are
left with significantly less for a multitude of federal, state, and private
land programs, including those that would help reduce the risk of future fires.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 11.5pt;">The
committee proposes a partial solution to fire funding that includes accessing
disaster funding and significantly reducing the practice of transferring funds
from non-suppression programs when firefighting funds run short. The groups
recommend a comprehensive fire funding solution that would: 1) access disaster
funds; 2) minimize transfers; <i><u>and</u></i> 3) most importantly, address
the impacts of the increasing costs on programs when budgets are developed.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 11.5pt;">“We
appreciate this committee’s recognition of the wildfire funding issue that
places an annual burden on federal agency budgets,”<b> said Cecilia Clavet of
The Nature Conservancy, on behalf of the Fire Suppression Funding Solutions
Partner Caucus.</b> “However, we also need to address the bigger problem of
rising firefighting costs and the resulting impacts on programs when budgeting
takes place. Too many important public land programs are shortchanged.” <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<u><span style="font-size: 11.5pt;">Quotes
from some of the many organizations supporting a comprehensive fire funding
fix:<o:p></o:p></span></u></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 11.5pt;">“American
Forests appreciates Congress’ focus on trying to solve our national wildfire
funding problem,” said <b>Rebecca Turner, Senior Director of Programs and
Policy, American Forests. </b>“A comprehensive approach is needed now to fund
both the programs essential to the health of our forests as well as the
ever-rising costs of fire suppression. We look forward to working with Congress
to get sensible wildfire funding passed.” <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 11.5pt;">“Western mountain communities with
outdoor recreation-based economies are not only vulnerable to wildfire risk but
are forced to shoulder the financial burden when public lands funding is
shortchanged due to the increasing costs of wildfire suppression,” said<b>
Diana Madson, Executive Director of the Mountain Pact</b>. “We thank
the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee for their recognition of
the impact of wildfire funding on USDA and DOI budgets and we urge them to
address this growing problem through a comprehensive funding fix.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 11.5pt;">“While we appreciate that language in
the Discussion Draft will eliminate the seriously illogical wildfire funding
process, it does nothing to address the equally illogical current situation
that continues to result in the erosion of funds from the very natural resource
management programs that prevent future catastrophic wildfires from destroying
resources, communities, and the lives of fire fighters,” said<b> Hank Kashdan,
Legislative Director, National Association of Forest Service Retirees</b>. “The
Committee has an opportunity to address both issues. The American People
deserve the Committee doing exactly that.” <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 11.5pt;">“State Foresters appreciate
the draft bill language which would curtail the need for cancelling contracts
and agreements for non-fire suppression work at the end of the summer fire
season to pay for suppression costs,”<b> </b>said <b>Paul DeLong, Wisconsin
State Forester and President of the National Association of State Foresters.</b>
“However, we still must address the significant challenge of fire suppression
funding subsuming increasingly larger amounts of the agency budget, some of
which would actually fund work to reduce wildfire risk.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 11.5pt;">“We need Congress to make fixing the
wildfire budgeting problem a priority right now to stop the profound impacts
that funding transfers have had on public land recreation, and in turn, rural
economies,” said<b> Michael Berry, President of the National Ski Areas
Association</b>. “It is imperative that the fix be comprehensive in nature. The
ski industry is incredibly grateful for Congress’ attention to this critical
issue.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 11.5pt;">“Outdoor recreation drives a $646
billion economy that relies on funding and infrastructure for recreation
assets,” said <b>Jessica Wahl, Government Affairs Manager at the Outdoor
Industry Association (OIA)</b>. “As land management agencies are dealing
with hotter and longer fire seasons, addressing a comprehensive wildfire
funding fix will help maintain dollars allotted for programs that get youth
outside, employ Americans in gateway communities and contribute to the national
economy.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 11.5pt;">“The Rural Voices for Conservation
Coalition appreciates the committee’s pledge to address the crippling impacts
of longer fire seasons and increasing suppression costs on the Forest Service’s
budget. The escalating problem deeply impacts the agency’s ability to invest in
other, critical programs that create and maintain jobs in our rural
communities,” said<b> <span class="highlight">Karen</span> Hardigg, Coordinator
for Rural Voices for Conservation Coalition.</b> “Any solution must include a
comprehensive fix in order to improve outcomes for our communities, our
landscapes and our economies.”<b><o:p></o:p></b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 11.5pt;">“As climate
change drives more frequent and intense fires across our western forests, it's
clear that a solution for wildfire borrowing is urgently needed,” said <b>Athan
Manuel, Director of Public Lands Protection at the Sierra Club</b>. “That fix
should be focused on addressing increasing wildfire costs.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 11.5pt;">“SAF is encouraged that bipartisan
leaders in the House and Senate continue to explore options to fix wildfire
suppression funding,” said <b>Clark W. Seely, CF, President of the Society of
American Foresters</b>. “While the discussion draft makes great strides in
addressing the holistic nature of the problem, SAF is concerned that the
disaster funding language is not a comprehensive budgetary solution. Without
addressing the rapidly increasing 10-year average, less and less will continue
to be available for forest management, restoration, research, recreation, and
other critical private and public land objectives.”<b> </b><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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###<span style="font-size: 12.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12.0pt;">FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
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<span style="font-size: 12.0pt;">Contact: Heather Layman, The
Nature Conservancy, 703-841-3929 or <a href="mailto:hlayman@tnc.org">hlayman@tnc.org</a><o:p></o:p></span></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11853013603179377309noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2553812561073477185.post-59285634669580666882016-06-17T07:05:00.001-07:002016-06-20T06:46:09.883-07:00<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 15.6pt;">
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif";"><b><span style="font-size: large;">Dear Senate: Make that Fire Fix
Comprehensive, Please!<o:p></o:p></span></b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif";">This week, over 100 diverse organizations submitted
a <b><a href="https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B4uilIfbMbzUOWZZZHFzdHlZRmM/view?usp=sharing" target="_blank"><span style="color: blue; text-decoration: none; text-underline: none;">letter</span></a> </b>requesting that the Senate comprehensively address
a long-term fix to a reoccurring wildfire funding problem. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif";">The issue? In combination with eroding
budgets, the U.S. Forest Service and Department of the Interior increasingly need
to transfer funds from their non-fire programs to fire suppression efforts as
wildfires grow larger and more expensive. This ultimately removes money from
important conservation programs like forest restoration and health, recreation
area maintenance, hazardous fuels reduction projects, and other public and
private lands programs that make wildfires more manageable in the future.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif";">While the letter applauds these
Senators for bringing up the important topic, the diverse group of 100
organizations urges them to go farther. The letter highlights how the current
version of the discussion draft provides only a partial fix to addressing the
impacts from rising wildland firefighting costs.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif";">Three main criteria to address the
fix: 1. The solution needs to address the continued erosion of agency budgets
that results from an increasing ten-year average of fire suppression funding.
It should do this by stabilizing the level of funding for suppression within
the agencies. 2. Agencies need to be able to access disaster funding for
extraordinarily costly wildfires, including those that may be calculated as
part of the ten-year average. 3. A solution should work to significantly reduce
the need for agencies to transfer money from non-fire program accounts.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif";">These criteria represent bipartisan
beliefs and signers on the letter include groups ranging from environmental to
timber industry groups—all who view the need for a funding fix as essential.
The letter concludes by calling attention to several approaches to amending the
discussion draft to meet a comprehensive fix, including funding fire suppression
at 70 percent of the ten-year average, similarly to the Wildfire Disaster
Funding Act, or by freezing the ten-year average and accessing disaster funding
for levels beyond. It’s critical that the focus remains on addressing those
three areas of concern so that federal agencies can effectively carryout their
missions.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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