Wayne Allard: “Today in Colorado we had two fires erupt in the State. One was a grassland fire that probably won't amount to much. The…”

“Today in Colorado we had two fires erupt in the State. One was a grassland fire that probably won't amount to much. The other is a very serious fire that happened north and west of Boulder and Jamestown. We have a school that has been evacuated; 300 people have been evacuated. There is an educational camp in the area that has been evacuated. The reason I bring this to the attention of the Senate at this particular point in time is because Colorado is one of those areas in the western part of the United States where we have a forest/urban interface. That is what the Forest Health Restoration Act is all about, trying to provide a program where we can begin to apply the principles of forest health. Along the Front Range of Colorado, running all the way from Colorado Springs all the way up into Fort Collins, including Boulder, where this fire has broken out, there are a lot of homes being built into the forest. Of course, if you don't practice good forest health, then they become vulnerable to fires that could erupt. The significant thing about what is happening today is this is not the fire season for Colorado.”