Angie Craig: “Mr. President, for some time I have attempted, along with others, to bring to the attention of this Senate the serious…”

“Mr. President, for some time I have attempted, along with others, to bring to the attention of this Senate the serious deterioration of this country's forest lands from a variety of ills, including drought, insect and disease attacks, and natural wildfires. We have come to understand that these problems, in combination, affect millions of acres of Federal, State, and private forest lands, and they have advanced to a point that they simply demand the attention of this Congress. It should be no surprise to any of us. Numerous recent reports from the scientific community, one of them called 'Assessing Forest Ecosystem Health in the Inland West' and the 'Report of the National Commission on Wildfires,' predicted intense wildfire events as a consequence of the forest health problems that this legislation will speak to. Many believe these costly fires will continue, unless there is an aggressive action by man to work with Mother Nature in attempting to deal with this situation.”