U.S. Senator Ken Salazar Member: Finance, Agriculture, Energy, Ethics and Aging Committees 2300 15^th Street, Suite 450 Denver, CO 80202 | 702 Hart Senate Building, Washington, D.C. 20510
For Immediate Release Saturday, September 27, 2008		CONTACT:Michael Amodeo – 303-455-7600 Matt Lee-Ashley – 202-228-5905
**UPDATE** Wildfire Funding for Colorado Clears Congress, Heads to President's Desk ‘CR’ Adds Funds for Hazardous Fuels Reduction, Bark Beetle Mitigation WASHINGTON, DC – Today, by a vote of 78 to 12, the United States Senate passed the Fiscal Year 2009 Continuing Resolution (CR), which will fund the government into the coming year. The bill provides $910 million in emergency funding to cover all 2008 fire suppression costs and to add resources for fiscal year 2009 to reduce hazardous fuels. This funding will restore the budget for Colorado’s region (Region 2), which was raided in 2008 for fire suppression activities in other parts of the country, and will allow additional hazardous fuels reduction and bark beetle mitigation activities in 2009. The measure now goes to the President’s desk for signature. “As the bark beetle infestation continues to grow in Colorado, the investments we make in forest health and management are getting more and more important,” said Sen. Salazar. The health of our forests, and the safety of many Colorado communities, are at stake. “We still face many challenges as we work to restore the health of our forests, but this additional funding is a big win for Colorado and will help our efforts to reduce hazardous fuels in the year ahead and to better manage our forests.” Colorado/ Region 2: Colorado has suffered a loss of $13.8 million in fire mitigation dollars this year because funds had to be borrowed for fire suppression costs across the country. Region 2, more broadly, suffered a loss of $19.1 million. The Region 2 accounts hit hardest by the ‘fire borrowing’ have been: $6.2 million from Facilities Construction, $5.0 million from National Forest System funds (a combination of grazing, recreation, wilderness, timber, wildlife, etc for individual national forests), $2.0 million from Land Acquisition. Nationally: Provides an additional $910 million in emergency wildfire funding above FY08 baseline levels. This additional funding includes: $610 million for wildfire suppression, which also restores all money to prevention and treatment programs that had been transferred for fire suppression this year. $175 million for hazardous fuels reduction and hazard mitigation activities $75 million for forest rehabilitation and restoration The $175 million in additional hazardous fuel reduction funds for FY2009 will increase resources across the country, including resources for treatment of forest areas damaged by bark beetles in Colorado. Furthermore, because the baseline budget for the continuing resolution extends 2008 funding levels, Region 2 will not suffer the $16.5 million decline in funding that the President’s budget had proposed for FY2009. Forest Service Region 2 includes Colorado, Kansas, Nebraska, and most of South Dakota and Wyoming. ###