Reps. Huffman, Peters, California Democrats Call for Congressional Action on Wildfires

July 23, 2014

WASHINGTON­—Reps. Jared Huffman (D-San Rafael) and Scott Peters (D-San Diego) led a letter today signed by 25 California Democrats urging swift action to address funding shortfalls in the nation’s wildfire suppression programs. In this letter, the lawmakers urged the leaders of the House and Senate to quickly act on the President’s million emergency supplemental appropriations request that would provide $615 million to fight fires without drastic cuts to other essential forest programs such as treatment and prevention.

Congress routinely under-budgets for containing and extinguishing wildfires, requiring the Forest Service and other land management agencies to take funding from other accounts, including fire prevention projects, to manage wildland fires. According to a Congressionally mandated report, the U.S. Forest Service and the Department of the Interior may need to spend $1.8 billion fighting fires this year—$470 million more than is available. Without Congressional action, the U.S. Forest Service and other agencies will be forced to delay hazardous fuels removals, timber harvests, and other practices that reduce the risk of wildfires.

“Let us be very clear: this is an emergency, and failure to act on the supplemental appropriations request will make our state and its citizens more vulnerable to wildfire,” the Members of Congress wrote today. “Working together, Congress can provide the emergency funding necessary to appropriately fund wildfire suppression this year, and allow for sound budget practices for these disasters in the future. Congress should not sit by and do nothing while the threat continues to escalate in California and the rest of the West.”

Wildfire suppression costs are soaring: the expense of fighting wildfires has soared to nearly four times greater than it was 30 years ago, and has exceeded $1 billion in every year since 2000 (in 2012 dollars). A report released today by the Union of Concerned Scientists indicates that the threat of wildfires is projected to worsen over time as rising temperatures lead to more frequent and severe wildfires and longer fire seasons in California and the American West.

In addition to Reps. Huffman and Peters, the letter was signed by California Reps. Juan Vargas, Alan Lowenthal, Grace Napolitano, Julia Brownley, Henry Waxman, Judy Chu, Mike Thompson, Maxine Waters, Mike Honda, George Miller, Jim Costa, Ami Bera, Linda Sanchez, Mark Takano, Zoe Lofgren, Eric Swalwell, Adam Schiff, Anna Eshoo, Doris Matsui, and Gloria Negrete McLeod, John Garamendi, Sam Farr, and Jackie Speier.

A copy of the letter may be found HERE or below:

July 23, 2014

The Honorable John Boehner                                     The Honorable Harry Reid

Speaker                                                                                   Majority Leader

U.S. House of Representatives                                               U.S. Senate

Washington, D.C. 20515                                            Washington, D.C. 20515

 

The Honorable Nancy Pelosi                                      The Honorable Mitch McConnell

Minority Leader                                                          Minority Leader

U.S. House of Representatives                                               U.S. Senate

Washington, D.C. 20515                                            Washington, D.C. 20515

 

Dear Speaker Boehner, Majority Leader Reid, Minority Leader Pelosi, and Minority Leader McConnell:

We are writing to urge you to take swift action to consider the President’s emergency supplemental appropriations request. As representatives from California, we want to draw your specific attention to the need to address shortfalls in our nation’s wildfire suppression services. We urge you to work together and pass this critical funding measure.  

The President’s request includes $615 million for wildfire suppression this year, along with a budgetary change necessary to ensure that we can fight fires without drastic cuts to treatment and prevention. As you know, land management agencies are regularly forced to divert funding from fire prevention projects to find funding for wildfire suppression. As former Secretary of Agriculture Dan Glickman recently wrote: “An ounce of prevention may be worth a pound of cure, but when it comes to fires the government doesn’t provide enough resources for either.”

Without Congressional action, the U.S. Forest Service and other agencies will be forced to delay hazardous fuels removals, timber harvests, and other practices that reduce the risk of wildfires. In California, these funding constraints have already caused the cancelation of a contract to repair cracks in an air tanker base taxiway in Southern California, increasing safety concerns for air tankers utilizing this taxiway. In the past, the need to divert prevention resources toward wildfire suppression has delayed timber sales in Klamath National Forest, and deferred hazardous fuels reduction projects in Tahoe National Forest and Plumas National Forest. 

Let us be very clear: this is an emergency, and failure to act on the supplemental appropriations request will make our state and its citizens more vulnerable to wildfire. Firefighting costs have exceeded their budget eight of the last ten years and we face prolonged droughts and longer wildfire seasons nationwide. In June, nearly 80% of California was under extreme drought conditions, and 36% of the state was in an “exceptional” drought, the highest category on the U.S. Drought Monitor.

Working together, Congress can provide the emergency funding necessary to appropriately fund wildfire suppression this year, and allow for sound budget practices for these disasters in the future. Congress should not sit by and do nothing while the threat continues to escalate in California and the rest of the West. We strongly urge you to work cooperatively towards passage of the President’s request without delay. 

Sincerely,