LaMalfa Supports Legislation for Better Forest Management

Nov 1, 2017
Press Release
(Washington, DC) – Congressman Doug LaMalfa (R-Richvale) issued the following statement after the House passed H.R. 2936, the Resilient Federal Forests Act. This bill reduces the risk of catastrophic wildfire and dramatically improves the health and resiliency of federal forests.
 
LaMalfa said: “A complete lack of forest management has left our forests more combustible than ever – leaving our firefighters wholly unprepared to contain overwhelming wildfires that quickly get out of hand. Forest fires will occur, but we can take logical steps to manage them that will help prevent them from spreading and extinguish them more quickly – resulting in less damage and lower costs. The Resilient Federal Forests Act will allow the U.S. Forest Service and Bureau of Land Management to properly manage our federal forests, which will improve overall forest health and reduce the risk of such severe wildfires.”
 
Rep. LaMalfa speaks on the House floor in Support of the Resilient Federal Forests Act. [YouTube]
 
2017 Wildfire Statistics:
  • Between January 1st and October 29th 2017, state and federal firefighters have responded to 8,336 fires covering 1,138,907 acres in California.
  • Nationwide, this year has been the most expensive year on record – with over $2 billion spent to combat fires that have burned almost 9 million acres of land.
  • There are 60-80 million acres of land that the USFS has deemed as “high risk” of wildfire – yet they are only able to manage 1% - 2% of these areas.
 
Congressman Doug LaMalfa is a lifelong farmer representing California’s First Congressional District, including Butte, Glenn, Lassen, Modoc, Nevada, Placer, Plumas, Shasta, Sierra, Siskiyou and Tehama Counties.
 
###
Issues: 
Forestry