Our success in supporting sustainable development is critical to our economic security, our environment, and our health.

I think we need to think about how to give our local and regional organizations more support in collaborating together.

Economic and environmental objectives need not be in conflict. Done right, our economic and environmental policies can lead to both sustained economic growth and a cleaner environment.

I hope you will let us know whatever it is we can do to help you get out of the way...

One of the primary needs in addressing this epidemic is increasing the awareness and understanding of how vast this problem is.

It is beyond comprehension unless you see it, and it is beyond avoiding. So now we are trying to deal with it.

I just want to emphasize something that Congressman Powell has said, which is in Colorado, at least, we are really in a crisis situation.

What do we do in the longer range? For example, if we pass climate change legislation today, that is not going to help us deal with this crisis situation; but we hope it will help us in the long run.

It seems to us as we do this climate change bill, which ultimately can help with the bark beetles, that we might be able to get incentives for folks to remove some of the downed trees, the woody biomass.

I would feel that woody biomass is an economic value. But we have to save our loggers.

In fact, in the current draft of the Waxman-Markey Climate Change Bill woody biomass is included in the renewable electricity standard.

All of us from Colorado know, Madam Chairwoman, that this is a terrible problem in the West, in particular, in Colorado.

I want to thank you for having this hearing, and I want to thank all of my colleagues, mostly from Colorado, but also from the whole West, for being here.

It's time to act.

Colorado's Second District relies heavily on those visitors who come to our state to ski, camp, climb, bike and boat.

I worked in the forest products industry for over two decades and know that, outside of protected roadless and Wilderness areas, we need proactive forest management to restore our forests to a more healthy condition and reduce the threat…

This hearing will help to highlight the problems that we currently face and continue to bring more minds to the table and a better Federal partnership to join those who are working constantly to promote mitigation solutions and keep our…

However, the mountain pine beetle epidemic is fundamentally changing this landscape, and with it our culture and economy.