legislation Archives - Page 20 of 25

New Mexico passes 3 fire-related bills, will form wildfire crews of veterans

Bill GabbertApril 1, 2013Uncategorizedlegislation, New Mexico, veterans

New Mexico will hire and train 40 military veterans to become wildland firefighters, and the Governor recently signed 3 pieces of fire-related legislation. Below is an excerpt from a news release from the Governor’s office:

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April 1, 2013

ALBUQUERQUE – Governor Susana Martinez today signed into law three bills supporting New Mexico firefighters.

“While the number of human-caused wildfires was down last year, we can’t let our guard down,” said Governor Martinez. “Across New Mexico, we have seen ongoing drought and another dry winter. Conditions are in place for a potentially difficult fire season and I urge all New Mexicans to make themselves responsible for preventing wildfires.”

In 2012, New Mexico experienced its largest wildfire in recorded history, the Whitewater-Baldy Complex, and the state’s most destructive fire, the Little Bear, which burned more than 250 structures near Ruidoso. For this reason, local, state, federal and tribal interagency partners continue to stress wildfire preparedness and prevention.

At today’s news conference at the Rio Grande Nature Center State Park, Governor Martinez also joined a half dozen New Mexico military veterans to announce a new pilot program that will hire and train 40 military veterans as wildland firefighters. These veterans will be placed on four fire crews that will be available for assignment on wildfires statewide. The new program is a collaborative effort between New Mexico State Forestry, the Department of Veteran’s Services, and the New Mexico Workforce Connection.

The governor also signed three pieces of legislation that will support New Mexico’s firefighters and help protect communities:

HB 275, increasing volunteer firefighter retirement benefits to $250 per month from the current amount of $200 per month for individuals over the age of 55 with 25 or more years of experience. Benefits increase from $100 per month to $125 per month for individuals over the age of 55 with between 10 and 25 years of experience.
HB 615, allowing volunteer firefighters be paid a stipend by a public agency that still allows them to maintain volunteer status.
SB 431, which gives counties the authority to contract with individuals as well as municipalities for firefighting services.

Utah bill approved to restrict target shooting during enhanced fire danger

Bill GabbertMarch 29, 2013March 29, 2013Uncategorizedexploding targets, legislation, Oregon, sky lantern, target shooting, Utah

The Governor of Utah has signed legislation, S.B. 120, that will allow the state forester to restrict target shooting during periods of enhanced wildfire danger.

When first introduced by state Senator Margaret Dayton it was temporarily withdrawn after the bill received criticism from some, including Utah Shooting Sports Council Chairman Clark Aposhian who was quoted as saying:

If it restricts gun owners from going there, then it should also restrict bird watchers. It has to be closed to everybody.

The legislation does not close areas to the public. It allows the state forester to “restrict or prohibit target shooting in areas where hazardous conditions exist”.

According to Utah State Forester Dick Buehler, of the 1,528 fires in the state in 2012, 33 were caused by target shooting which cost over $16 million to suppress. In October, 2012 when we wrote about the increasing number of fires started by target shooters using exploding targets, we found 10 fires started by these devices in Utah over a 5-month period last year. One of them burned over 5,500 acres.

The legislature in Oregon is considering a bill, HB 3199, that would prohibit the use of sky lanterns (or fire balloons), exploding targets, and tracer ammunition on land within the boundaries of a forest protection district.

Nebraska legislature considers bill to enhance wildfire response

Bill GabbertMarch 25, 2013April 5, 2013Uncategorizedair tanker, legislation, Nebraska, Photo by Bill G

SEAT at Hot Springs — Single engine air tanker #466 at Hot Springs, SD, March 14, 2012. Photo by Bill Gabbert

UPDATE at 5:34 p.m. MT, April 5, 2013:

State Senator Jerry Johnson said the Governor is in favor of the bill.

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(Originally published on March 25, 2013)

The Nebraska legislature voted 36 to 0 on Monday to advance a bill to the second round of debate that would appropriate $1.7 million to improve the response to wildfires. LB634 directs that contracted single engine air tankers be stationed at Valentine and Chadron, one at each location, during the fire season. It would also provide for the thinning of forests, make more wildfire training available to volunteer firefighters, and develop a Type 3 incident management team.

The air tankers would be available through mutual aid agreements for fires that occur across the states lines in South Dakota, Colorado, and Wyoming.

Before the vote on Monday the bill was amended, adding the following:

Since an emergency exists, this act takes effect when passed and approved according to law.

Senate passes 2014 budget bill with enhanced funding for fire

Bill GabbertMarch 24, 2013August 25, 2019Uncategorizedair tanker, legislation

At 5 a.m. on Saturday the U.S. Senate passed a budget bill for the first time in four years. It would provide funding for the federal government including the wildland fire programs of the five major land management agencies in fiscal year 2014, which begins October 1, 2013.

The bill included an amendment offered by Colorado Senator Mark Udall which increased the funding for wildland fire programs, providing $100 million more than originally specified in the bill. In a press release issued on March 21 the Senator said the amendment would:

…increase the funding availability for fighting wildfires and modernizing the air tanker fleet. … Our amendment would ensure that firefighting resources are given top priority. This will help give Federal land agencies the tools they need to save lives, homes, and property across the country.

Here is the official summary of the amendment:

Udall (CO) amendment to provide additional suppression resources to the Forest Service and the Department of the Interior for the protection of communities, homes, water supplies, utility infrastructure, and natural resources from catastrophic wildfires. (#239) Agreed to in Senate by Voice Vote.

The Senate version of the bill passed by one vote, 50 to 49, but it will face a tough test in the Republican dominated House of Representatives where it could be modified. Or if the House never passes any version of an appropriations bill for next fiscal year, the federal government would be back to a continuing resolution with little or no change to funding levels for the land management agencies.

Thanks go out to Tim.

House passes bill to restore wildfire funding

Bill GabbertMarch 12, 2013UncategorizedIdaho, legislation

The House of Representatives passed their version of a continuing resolution last week, H.R. 933, that would fund the U.S. government through the end of the fiscal year which ends on September 30. Congress still has not passed a budget in four years, but at least this would prevent the government from shutting down.

According to a press release from Congressman Mike Simpson whose district is very close to the National Interagency Fire Center in Idaho, the bill included “adequate funding for fire suppression shortfalls”. Here is an excerpt from the release:

…“Idaho and the West faced an intense fire season in 2013, requiring more funding than initially budgeted to protect communities and manage resources,” said Simpson. “While we do our best to predict a fire season and budget accordingly, some years are worse than expected, and it’s not until all is said and done that we can take stock of the costs and respond appropriately.”

H.R. 933 provides $570 million to address shortfalls in fire accounts. This includes $97 million for the Department of the Interior and $473 million for the Forest Service. With carry-over and reserve wildfire funds exhausted through budget cuts in recent years, the Forest Service had to borrow roughly $600 million from non-fire accounts to meet fire suppression needs in FY13, the largest transfer in recent history. With the entire fire season accounted for, the continuing resolution fully restores these accounts.

“If we continue to rob land management accounts to pay for fire suppression, we are going to see fires that are bigger, more catastrophic, and much, much more expensive,” said Simpson. “This funding makes those accounts whole so that the agencies can do the work necessary to improve the health of our forests and rangelands. More work needs to be done to remove hazardous fuels buildup and prevent catastrophic fires, and so in addition to this funding we need to review or existing fire policy and continue to look at management reforms.”

H.R. 933 passed the House by a vote of 267-151. The current funding resolution expires on March 27, and the bill will now be considered by the U.S. Senate.

Impacts of budget reductions on fire program of USFWS

Bill GabbertMarch 7, 2013August 25, 2019Uncategorizedfiscal cliff, legislation, sequester, USFWS

The impacts of the sequestration budget reductions on the wildland fire program of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service may be just another in a series of past and future hits affecting the agency. In the last few days their Washington office has been distributing more details to the field about what to expect. We obtained the information below from someone who is not authorized to speak for the agency, therefore we are not able to disclose the person’s name.

The FWS fire program was told to assume their budget will be 5.1% less than the initial draft allocations due to sequestration, but that could change.
Fire employees may be assigned to other accounts to make up for shortfalls in fire budgets in order to avoid furloughs.
At least some FWS Regions should be able to absorb a 5.1% decrease with no furloughs necessary because of the cuts they made previously.
At this time it doesn’t appear likely that anyone in the FWS fire program will be furloughed.
Some of those in the higher levels of the agency are thinking that a “workforce reduction” may be required later. They may have to cut back on positions and/or conduct directed reassignments to prepare for future budget reductions.
The cuts the agency absorbed previously, before sequestration, have already created significant adverse impacts on their fire management capabilities.
There could be additional reductions when or if the Continuing Resolution budget is passed in the next couple of months.
Decisions on whether to stop conducting prescribed fire and fuels treatment projects will be up to each region.
Some regions have issued a moratorium on all prescribed burning.
Decisions on whether to hire fire-funded seasonals will be up to each region.
Required training can still occur, but no other training will be allowed.
Sequestration could be a “walk in the park” compared to future possible budget cuts.
Some were told, “It’s OK to do less with less. Don’t feel you have to knock yourselves out working hours of comp. time trying to maintain the level of performance you were able to do previously.” And, “Don’t let all the distractions going on right now interfere with your focus on safety.”