Jeff Bingaman: “today, I am introducing the Forest Landscape Restoration Act. I developed this bill with Senators Domenici and…”

“today, I am introducing the Forest Landscape Restoration Act. I developed this bill with Senators Domenici and Feinstein, and I am pleased they have joined as cosponsors. The bill also is cosponsored by Senators Allard, Wyden, Salazar, Cantwell, Craig, Akaka, and Crapo. I also am pleased that Chairman Grijalva will be introducing a companion bill in the House of Representatives, and I look forward to working with him as his subcommittee in the Natural Resources Committee moves forward with the bill. The bill establishes a program to select and fund projects that restore forests at a landscape scale through a process that encourages collaboration, relies on the best available science, facilitates local economic development, and leverages local funds with national and private funding. As many of my colleagues know, we are facing serious forest health and wildfire challenges in many of our National Forests. A century of over-aggressive fire suppression, logging, and other land uses have significantly deteriorated entire landscapes. These conditions have played an important role in the extraordinary wildfires and insect-caused mortality we have seen on millions of acres of National Forest and other lands. To address these problems, it is critical to begin trying to restore our forests at a landscape scale.”