María Elvira Salazar: “regarding Senate amendment No. 3637 to H.R. 4939, I believe it is important to clarify the intent of this amendment. The…”

“regarding Senate amendment No. 3637 to H.R. 4939, I believe it is important to clarify the intent of this amendment. The intent of Senate amendment No. 3637 is similar to Senate amendment No. 3645; however, due to technical considerations I had to redraft the amendment. The intent of Senate amendment No. 3637 is to provide $20 million to the Forest Service to address the consequences of Hurricane Katrina and other hurricanes of the 2005 season, as the Senate Appropriations originally reported. My amendment retains that $20 million for the gulf coast and adds another $30 million to reduce the risk of catastrophic fires and mitigate the effects of widespread insect infestations throughout the entire National Forest System. The need for this additional funding is highlighted in the State of Colorado. In Colorado, the Forest Service expects to conduct 35,000 acres of hazardous fuel reduction work as well as process timber sales in insect infested areas. However there is a capacity for more critical work to be done. Colorado has approximately 35,000 additional acres that are approved for hazardous fuel treatments; however the Forest Service lacks the funds to carry out those treatments. Colorado also has 12,000 acres ready for timber sales that would benefit the fire and insect situation but for lack of funding are not being carried out in fiscal year 2006.…”