Political Quotes

“legislation will be introduced soon that takes our Nation an important step closer to avoiding devastating wildfires in our national forests. I am proud to be an original cosponsor of the legislation to be introduced by the senior Senator from Idaho--the Forest Health Amendments of 1995. Last year, wildfires raged across the Western United States. The fire season started in early summer and by the time the smoke had cleared nearly 3 million acres of land in the Western United States had burned--double the amount of 1993. In the States of Washington and Oregon alone, nearly 1.4 billion board feet of Federal timber burned. Last summer, after listening closely to the concerns of Washington State residents, I offered an amendment during the House-Senate Interior Appropriations conference to provide the Forest Service with the authority to expedite these salvage sales. Unfortunately, I could not convince the members of the conference committee to include my amendment in the report. And, unfortunately, the burned timber is still sitting on the ground.”