A bill that would affect federal wildland firefighters, which is very similar to those that have failed in Congress several times in the past, has been reintroduced in the House of Representatives. Named the “Wildland Firefighters Protection Act”, H.R. 2858 would establish a “wildland firefighter occupational series that will more accurately reflect the variety of duties performed by wildland firefighters”. For decades federal wildland firefighters have worked in various technician or professional job series that are not specifically related to firefighting.
The bill would also begin a pilot program during which firefighters would receive “portal to portal” pay while they are assigned to an emergency incident.
Last year’s bill died in committee. This version was introduced by Rep. Diana DeGette from Colorado on July 30, 2013. No cosponsors are listed on the Library of Congress Thomas site.
On Monday, Nebraska Governor Dave Heineman signed into law LB 634, the Wildfire Control Act of 2013 which authorizes the state to contract for one Single Engine Air Tanker (SEAT). The act also directs that two bases for SEATs be constructed and to acquire one or more mobile SEAT bases. It went into effect immediately after being signed.
The signed bill also directs the Nebraska Forest Service to administer fuel reduction programs and to provide wildfire training for volunteer fire departments and private landowners.
Before the legislation was modified, the original version authorized the state to contract for two SEATS at Chadron and Valentine, but that was eventually cut back to one. Another item removed from the bill was direction to establish a Type 3 Incident Management Team in the state.
Oregon Senator Ron Wyden, Chair of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, is criticizing the federal land management agencies for not accomplishing enough hazardous fuel treatment projects, saying “the federal government can’t get this right”, and:
The message has not gotten through with respect to the choice: You can spend more modest amounts on the front end, with preventive kinds of efforts, or you can spend your time investing substantially more money trying to play catch-up as these infernos rip their way through the West.
The Senator is right, in that money spent up front to remove or reduce hazardous fuels can reduce the amount of money spent on fire suppression and minimize damage done to private property and infrastructure. It can also save lives.
In Colorado alone last year, six people were killed by wildfires, an issue we rarely hear being discussed as wildfire budgets are debated. When we’re talking about saving money and acres, how many dollars is a human life worth? Is it the Forest Service’s or BLM’s mission to manage fuels and fire management organizations with a primary objective being to prevent lives being lost in wildfires? It is a complex question, with plenty of responsibility and blame to be distributed to federal, state, and local agencies… and Congress.
The federal agencies know that fuel treatments can save money and help protect private property. And the Senator knows they know this. He should look in the mirror to discover part of the problem. The Senate and the House establish funding levels for the federal government, and the President signs the legislation. The agencies would love to accomplish more fuel reduction projects, but as the amount of money approved by Congress decreases, the first things to fall off the table are fire prevention and hazardous fuel treatments. After those are cut to the bone then the agencies have to start looking at furloughs, reductions in force, staffing fewer fire engines, and cutting back on the number of seasonal firefighters — some of which are occurring this year.
I don’t have any patience with politicians who issue strongly worded press releases (probably written by an intern) that blame an agency for cutting back on services while the politicians cut the budgets that caused the reduction in services.
The video below shows 16 minutes of the Energy and Natural Resources Committee’s June 4 hearing about wildland fire management. It features Senator Wyden and Chief of the Forest Service Tom Tidwell discussing budgets, fuel treatments, and next generation air tankers. It was edited to highlight Senator Wyden’s participation in the hearing. A video of the complete almost two-hour hearing can viewed on the Committee’s web site.
The House of Representatives has proposed a large budget cut for the U.S. Forest Service and the Department of Interior. The numbers are about 20 percent below President Obama’s budget request and about 14 percent below current sequestered funding levels, according to Alan Rowsome, director of conservation funding at the Wilderness Society.
Below are excerpts from an article at eenews:
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“It’s an allocation that would have devastating impacts for our lands, water and wildlife,” [Alan Rwosome] said. “At these funding levels, we would see massive and devastating park and wildlife refuge closures, less and less law enforcement officers protecting the public, and almost no resources to fight wildfires across the country.”
[…]
The House’s Interior-EPA allocation could change, especially if the chamber receives a new top-line funding level as a result of a budget agreement with the Senate, a House aide said. But it is unclear whether the two chambers will be able to reach such an accord.
The current allocation would put significant pressure on subcommittee Chairman Mike Simpson (R-Idaho) over how to fund programs important to constituents including conservationists, park and wildlife advocates, clean water groups, states, and Indian tribes.
[…]
Simpson last month warned that if Congress continues to tackle the deficit through discretionary spending — which accounts for about one-third of overall spending — he may soon be forced to zero out funding to some Interior programs.
“Do we come to the point where we say there are just some things we’re not going to do, and eliminate them and at least concentrate on the parts that we do well?” he asked at an April budget hearing for Interior. “That’s a tough choice.”
Cutting funding for Simpson’s agencies is particularly difficult given the high fixed costs of programs like wildfire funding — which consumes roughly half of the Forest Service budget — and the Indian Health Service, according to one former House appropriations aide.
“They’re going to have to figure out sizable things to just stop doing,” the former aide said.
Then-Interior Secretary Ken Salazar in April told Simpson his agency was “limping along” under sequestration cuts, which have resulted in fewer park police, reduced services at parks, more than $110 million in cuts in payments to states, reduced youth hiring and furloughs.
The President is recommending reduced budgets next fiscal year for the federal land management agencies that have wildland fire responsibilities. In his budget released on Wednesday President Obama desires to slash by 41 percent the funds allocated for the five agencies for reducing hazardous fuels, and the preparedness and suppression budget would be cut by 8 percent. The amount set aside for the FLAME Wildfire Suppression Reserve Fund would remain about the same.
The four Department of Interior Agencies would see a reduction of 512 FTEs (full time equivalent employees) to 3,445, down from 3,957 in FY 2012. Those four agencies are the National Park Service, Fish and Wildlife Service, Bureau of Land Management, and the Bureau of Indian Affairs.
Below, we assembled some of the numbers from documents released by the Departments of Interior and Agriculture:
It should be noted that the chances of this proposal being enacted exactly as recommended are somewhere between slim and none. Congress has not passed a federal budget in four years, and even if they did get one signed for Fiscal Year 2014 which begins in October, 2013, it would no doubt be different from what the President desires, after it makes its way through the dysfunctional House and Senate chambers.
Two bills related to wildland fire will be evaluated in a Congressional hearing before the House Subcommittee on Public Lands and Environmental Regulation Thursday, April 11 at 10:00 a.m.
The first one is the “Healthy Forest Management and Wildfire Prevention Act”, H.R. 818 (Tipton):
To address the bark beetle epidemic, drought, deteriorating forest health conditions, and high risk of wildfires on National Forest System land and land under the jurisdiction of the Bureau of Land Management in the United States by expanding authorities established in the Healthy Forest Restoration Act of 2003 to provide emergency measures for high-risk areas identified by such States, to make permanent Forest Service and Bureau of Land Management authority to conduct good-neighbor cooperation with States to reduce wildfire risks, and for other purposes.
This bill would give the Governor of a state the power to conduct “emergency hazardous fuels reduction projects” in areas on National Forests that the Governor has designated as a “high-risk area” as a result of bark beetle epidemic, drought, or “the future risk of insect infestations or disease outbreaks”. This could occur with or without the approval of the federal government. The bill would also shorten the environmental review process for these projects.
The second bill is the “Catastrophic Wildfire Prevention Act of 2013”, H.R. 1345 (Gosar):
To address the forest health, public safety, and wildlife habitat threat presented by the risk of wildfire, including catastrophic wildfire, on National Forest System lands and public lands managed by the Bureau of Land Management by requiring the Secretary of Agriculture and the Secretary of the Interior to expedite forest management projects relating to hazardous fuels reduction, forest health, and economic development, and for other purposes. “Catastrophic Wildfire Prevention Act of 2013”
This bill uses wildfire prevention as an excuse to increase livestock grazing and timber harvest projects on federal land. Like the previous bill, it also shortens the environmental review process for these projects.
