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News and Views |
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House-Senate
Conference Committee Approves $500 Million in Emergency Fire Funding Sought
By Senator Feinstein and Representative Lewis Washington
,
“This funding is a major infusion of federal dollars to help
“I want to thank Senators Byrd and Obey, the chairs of the Senate and House
Appropriations Committees, for moving this funding request forward, and
Representative Jerry Lewis of California, the ranking member of the House
Appropriations Committee, for his strong support in this effort. I also want to
thank Representative Norm Dicks of
“Amid the terrible destruction caused by our recent fires, federal and state
firefighters were convinced that our vigorous fuels-reduction efforts over the
past few years saved lives, homes – and federal dollars by allowing a stronger
counter-attack against the fires in the
“I especially want to commend Senator Feinstein and Congressman Dicks for
their leadership in ensuring that the The
$500 million approved by the House-Senate Conference Committee would be spent as
follows: ·
$215 million to repay
program funds borrowed by U.S. Forest Service and the Interior Department for
last year’s spending; ·
$150 million to the
U.S. Forest Service and the Interior Department to fight wildfires; ·
$90 million to reduce
hazardous fuels, including dead, dying and downed trees that feed major
wildfires. Of this, $60 million will go to clear hazardous fuels from federal
lands, and $30 million will be for grants to clear hazardous fuels from state
and private lands; ·
$31 million for
emergency rehabilitation and restoration of federal lands; these efforts will
involve replanting new trees and stabilizing soils to reduce the risk of
mudslides in burn areas; and ·
$14 million to
rebuild U.S. Forest Service facilities destroyed by the recent fires. Senator
Feinstein and Representative Dicks (D-Wash.) had asked the chairmen of the House
and Senate Appropriations Committee for supplemental appropriations for
firefighting, fire-prevention and recovery in a letter sent October 26, as
wildfires ravaged The
In
their letter, Senator Feinstein and Representative Dicks noted that so far in
2007, fires had scorched more than 8.3 million across the
As a result, the Interior Department and U.S. Forest Service were forced to
spend a combined $1.8 billion in appropriated and supplemental funds on wildland
firefighting in fiscal 2007. And both agencies were forced to borrow other
program funds to fully fund firefighting needs through the end of fiscal 2007. The
The
funding measures were approved as part of a continuing resolution attached to
the $460 billion Defense Appropriations Bill approved by the Conference
Committee. The bill will proceed to final votes in the House and Senate and then
go to the President. Immediately
after the 2003 wildfires, Senator Feinstein and Representative Lewis secured
$150 million for counties in Click Here to Return to News & Views
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