Resolution would fund forest plan

Source: Roseburg News Review

April 2, 2009

Oregon Sens. Ron Wyden and Jeff Merkley on Tuesday introduced a budget resolution that would fully fund the Healthy Forests Restoration Act of 2003.

The amendment would provide an additional $200 million for reducing hazardous fuels and for thinning on overstocked forests.

Funding for the program has historically reached less than half of the $760 million authorized by Congress. Due to the limited funding, the U.S. Forest Service and the Bureau of Land Management have been unable to adequately fund hazardous fuels reduction projects.

Full funding would also allow for the implementation of community wildfire protection plans in forest areas.

“If our amendment survives, rural communities will finally get the resources they were promised,” said Wyden, one of the authors of the Healthy Forests Restoration Act. “These funds will put these communities on a path to preventing wildfires and bringing jobs back to the forest.”