Pete Sessions: “I remember when the fires at Yellowstone were taking place, and I remember seeing how many of our friends who were…”

“I remember when the fires at Yellowstone were taking place, and I remember seeing how many of our friends who were environmentalists said, let it burn, let it burn, and yet I remember seeing the carnage that took place with wildlife and the millions of animals who not only lost their home but then would be thrust out in the cold as a result of the huge fire, when in fact I had learned from my being an Eagle Scout, and the gentleman from Oregon is an Eagle Scout, we learned in our forestry merit badges that healthy forests are those where you can come in and clear out those things that were from years of use, and come and clean the forest, and you could come and take sections so that you made sure that any fire did not destroy the whole thing. They would come and cut the forest and work with Mother Nature and then replant. Mr. Speaker, in the last 5 or 6 years, and you can look at any National Geographic or perhaps the Discovery Channel and see where the people, the companies that grow trees, they have healthy forests. I think the healthiest forests are where private people and private companies own the trees, as opposed to the government, because the government has a policy of ineffective, wasteful and intrusive government in managing our forests.”