Bruce Westerman: “Mr. McGUIRE. Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong support of my bill, H.R. 6365, the Wintergreen Emergency Egress Act.…”

“Mr. McGUIRE. Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong support of my bill, H.R. 6365, the Wintergreen Emergency Egress Act. Wintergreen, Virginia, is a popular tourist destination located in my district. Wintergreen is one of the largest planned communities in Virginia, with over 3,000 properties situated on 11,000 acres. The risk of wildfires was not top of mind when this mountaintop community was designed in the 1970s. The original developers did not reserve an emergency egress corridor before conveying a few thousand acres of unneeded land to the Appalachian Trail commission. Because of this, Wintergreen only has one entrance and one exit route. As awareness of wildfire risk grew, the community of Wintergreen was placed on the Virginia Department of Forestry's radar as a wildland-urban interface community with a high risk of a devastating fire. Since becoming aware of the increased risk of wildfire, the community has worked steadily to mitigate that risk. However, an emergency egress is still needed. For over 25 years, and working with five other Members of Congress, the Wintergreen community has fought to complete an emergency evacuation route. The town of Wintergreen has already constructed all portions of the road that are not on Federal land.”