Political Quotes

“As I stand here, wildfires are burning in my district and in the State of Colorado. The bark beetle epidemic, rampant drought, intense weather occurrences, and deteriorating forest health have increased the propensity for devastating wildfires throughout the Western United States. According to the National Interagency Fire Center, last year, more than 9.3 million acres of land burned. That is an area that is approximately the size of Rhode Island, Delaware, the District of Columbia, and Massachusetts combined. These fires tragically claimed 13 lives, destroyed more than 2,000 homes, and led to hundreds of millions of dollars in damages. Nearly 400,000 acres burned in Colorado, alone, with the tragic loss of six lives. The status quo of addressing a problem when it's too late is no longer good enough. The status quo has given us decades of declining forest health. The status quo has given us years of increasingly catastrophic wildfires. The status quo has put people, communities, and ecosystems at risk. We must do more. Forests are vital for the Western United States. They provide limitless environmental and economic benefits when healthy. It's our responsibility to be able to preserve this incredible natural resource and do all that we can to be able to restore forest health. And we also need to be able to prevent future loss of life and property to catastrophic wildfire.…”