Political Quotes

“today I am reintroducing the Wildfire Disaster Funding Act of 2015 with a bipartisan group of my colleagues, to ensure that Federal agencies have the resources and funding they need to not only fight the wildfires that erupt yearly in our Nation's forests, but to effectively manage forests to prevent future infernos. For decades, our country has experienced tragic and costly wildfire seasons. Year after year, communities are displaced, natural treasures are destroyed, and the brave men and women who fight these fires risk their lives, and some don't come home. Due to climate change, drought, and overstocked and under-managed forests, the risks from these infernos continues to grow. As the Forest Service needs to direct more and more resources to fighting fires, and less to managing the forests, it is transforming itself into the ``Fire Service.'' Over the past 20 years, substantial spending on Federal wildfire suppression activities has grown. In 2013, the Forest Service devoted 41 percent of its total budget to wildfire management, compared to just 13 percent of its total budget in 1991. In 8 of the past 10 years, the Forest Service has exceeded its budget for wildfire suppression, requiring the Agency to conduct what's known as ``fire borrowing'' to cover wildfire suppression costs.…”