Thank you, for all the work that you did and given us the money to do this type of work.

I am really quite proud of what we were able to put in, the 5.4 billion over 5 years, the Forest Service receives through the Infrastructure Bill.

Successful implementation is going to require interagency coordination, robust tribal consultation, and intergovernmental collaboration at all levels.

How will funding provided through the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act and fiscal year 2022 discretionary funded be allocated and applied to the maintenance/preservation of these valuable investments?

You remind me, and there were some people on this Committee, some of the staff on the Committee, that had an opportunity to go out to the Committee hearing that we held out in Savoonga a couple of years ago.

So if you have outlined your strategy, and you know where you are going, have you identified any barriers that you are looking at...

Affordability is something that we have to address.

I think that this is one of the areas within the Appropriations Committee where we are able to do active oversight.

I think we both know that they are not enough to restore forest to a more resilient state.

That Roadless Rule exemption finalized in 2020 should stand, but instead, we see an administration that is rolling it back.

I continue to hear that there are challenges in ensuring that those fire crews have the training that they need.

It's your VA, too, and so how we can make sure that they feel supported and reached out to.

If there is not a legislative fix on program support, are there options that you are considering to ensure these projects can be completed in a timely manner?

I think probably the others on the panel would agree that we can't make roads happen, we can't make water infrastructure happen unless we have some sense of the permitting process.

the Forest Service is just hell bent on killing what is left of a very small timber industry, starving them of timber supply.

I think the President needs to focus on places like Alaska, not Saudi Arabia, not Venezuela, not Iran.

I just wanted to add to what Senator Lujan raised about the Office of Tribal Affairs.

Now that the infrastructure law has provided full funding for all of the sanitation projects within the IHS sanitation deficiency system database, would IHS be supportive of using part of its annual sanitation facilities construction…

We've seen estimates that are shifting anywhere from $10 million to $50 million in a matter of months.

Alaska stands ready, willing, and certainly able to be a big part of that solution, all while we insist on meeting the highest environmental standards in the world.

I was pleased to see that a Phase 2 Small Business Innovation Research Grant was provided to an Alaska constituent who has a pretty innovative way of recycling plastic ocean waste.

You really do have to be somewhat technology neutral.

The ability to utilize Federal funding to strengthen historical breaks would provide for both firefighter safety and protection of communities.

I hope that you are right.

The first theme is optimism about the unprecedented level of funding. But the second theme is concern about missing out on this once in a generation opportunity.