Remarks By President George W. Bush
At Signing Of H.R. 1904,
The Healthy Forests Restoration Act Of 2003
United States
Department of Agriculture
Washington, D.C. - December 3, 2003
10:40 A.M. EST
THE PRESIDENT: "Thanks for coming.
Thanks for finally inviting me to the Department of Agriculture, it's
an honor to be here. (Laughter and applause.) I'm really glad to be here
as our government takes a major step forward in protecting America's forests.
(Applause.)
"Almost 750 million acres of forest
stand, tall and beautiful across the 50 states. We have a responsibility
to be good stewards of our forests. That's a solemn responsibility. And
the legislation I sign today carries forward this ethic of stewardship.
With the Healthy Forest Restoration Act we will help to prevent catastrophic
wildfires, we'll help save lives and property, and we'll help protect
our forests from sudden and needless destruction.
"I appreciate so very such Secretaries
Veneman and Norton for working hard on this issue. These two members of
my Cabinet are doing a great job, and I'm proud that they're in my Cabinet.
(Applause.) I want to thank Mark Rey. I also want to thank Dale Bosworth,
who is the Chief of the Forest Service. (Applause.)
From the Interior Department, I want to thank Rebecca Watson and Lynn
Scarlett, for their hard work and their good work for these important
issues. (Applause.) I want to thank the officials and employees of the
Department of Agriculture and the Department of Interior for doing a great
job on behalf of the American citizens. Thank you for your dedication
and your work on behalf of all of us.
"I appreciate the Hot Shot team members
from the great state of California. These are the folks in the yellow
shirts. I spent some time with the hot shot members as a -- this summer
in California, last summer in Arizona, time in Oregon, Washington state.
These are brave, brave citizens. These are fantastic citizens in the country.
(Applause.) We're proud to be standing with them up here.
"I appreciate the members of Congress
who have joined us, strong members who brought some common sense to what
had been an acrimonious debate, who listened to the people -- (applause)
-- members who listen to the people, who know what they're talking about,
and came up with a good piece of legislation, starting with Senator Thad
Cochran, who's the Chairman of the Committee of Agriculture, Nutrition,
and Forestry. Thad has done a fabulous job of getting this bill out of
the United States Senate, along with Max Baucus and Mike Crapo -- Baucus
being of -- from Montana and Crapo being from Idaho. Great members of
the Senate, and thank you all for coming. I appreciate your coming. (Applause.)
" We have two other members of the
Senate with us here. From the West, Kyl and Smith -- Gordon Smith from
Oregon. I appreciate you two coming.
"From the House, on stage are three
members: the Chairman of the Committee of Agriculture, Bob Goodlatte,
from the great state of Virginia; Scott McInness, who is the sponsor of
the Healthy Forest bill -- (applause) -- McInness is having a family reunion
in Washington. (Laughter.) Richard Pombo is the Chairman of the Committee
on Resources. We've got Greg Walden and Sherry Boehlert. We've got --
we've got the finest fighter pilot in Navy history with us, Duke Cunningham.
We've got Renzi from Arizona. Thank you all for coming, fine members,
appreciate you getting this bill out. (Applause.)
"I want to thank all the state and
local officials who have come here. You understand the importance of getting
a good piece of legislation out of the Congress. See, you live right there
where the fires occur, and I want to thank you for your help, thank you
for helping bring some common sense to Washington, D.C. I appreciate the
representatives of the conservation groups who have worked in a constructive
way to help change the attitude inside the halls of the United States
Congress so we can work together to get some good legislation out to protect
our forests. I want to thank the business groups who are here, who spent
time making sure this legislation makes sense.
"I understand Chuck Leavell is here,
of the Rolling Stones. I appreciate Chuck being here. He's the keyboard
player. And he also has -- they tell me he's a tree raiser, a tree farmer,
whatever you call them. (Laughter.) Glad you're here. Thanks for coming,
Chuck. I appreciate you being here.
(Applause.)
"For decades, government policies have
allowed large amounts of underbrush and small trees to collect at the
base of our forests. The motivations of this approach were good. But our
failure to maintain the forests has had dangerous consequences and devastating
consequences. The uncontrolled growth, left by years of neglect, chokes
off nutrients from trees and provides a breeding ground for insects and
disease.
" As we have seen this year and in
other years, such policy creates the conditions for devastating wildfires.
Today, about 190 million acres of forest and woodlands around the country
are vulnerable to destruction. Overgrown brush and trees can serve as
kindling, turning small fires into large, raging blazes that burn with
such intensity that the trees literally explode.
"I saw that firsthand when we were
flying over Oregon, magnificent trees just exploding as we choppered by.
The resulting devastation damages the habitats of endangered species,
causes flooding and soil erosion, harms air quality, oftentimes ruins
water supplies. These catastrophic fires destroy homes and businesses;
they put lives at risk, especially the lives of the brave men and women
who are on the front line of fighting these fires.
" In two years' time, fires throughout
the country have burned nearly 11 million acres. We've seen the cost that
wildfires bring, in the loss of 28 firefighters this year alone. In the
fires that burned across Southern California this fall, 22 civilians also
lost their lives, as whole neighborhoods vanished into flames. And we
ask for God's blessings on the family members who grieve the loss and
on the friends who mourn for their comrades.
"We're seeing the tragic consequences
brought by years of unwise forest policy. We face a major national challenge,
and we're acting together to solve the challenge. The Healthy Forest Initiative
I announced last year marked a clear and decisive change in direction.
Instead of enduring season after season of devastating fires, my administration
acted to remove the causes of severe wildfires. We worked within our existing
legal authority to thin out and remove forest undergrowth before disaster
struck. We emphasized thinning projects in critical areas. And since the
beginning of 2002, we've restored almost 5 million acres of overgrown
forest and rangeland.
"And that's pretty good progress. But
it's not enough progress. And so, thanks to the United States Congress,
thanks to their action, and thanks for passing the Healthy Forest Restoration
Act -- we now can expand the work to a greater scale that the dangers
of wildfires demand. In other words, we were confined. The Congress acted
in a bipartisan spirit in order to enable this administration to work
harder to do what we can do to prevent wildfires from taking place.
"The bill expedites the environmental
review process so we can move forward more quickly on projects that restore
forests to good health. We don't want our intentions bogged down by regulations.
We want to get moving. When we see a problem, this government needs to
be able to move. Congress wisely enabled a review process to go forward,
but also wisely recognizes sometimes review process bogs us down and things
just don't get done.
" The new law directs courts to consider
the long-term risks that could result if thinning projects are delayed.
And that's an important reform, and I want to thank you all for that.
It places reasonable time limits on litigation after the public has had
an opportunity to comment and a decision has been made. You see, no longer
will essential forest health projects be delayed by lawsuits that drag
on year after year after year.
" This Act of Congress sets the right
priorities for the management of our nation's forests, focusing on woodlands
that are closest to communities and on places where the risk to wildlife
and the environment is the greatest. It enforces high standards of stewardship
so that we can ensure that we're returning our forests to more natural
conditions and maintaining a full range of forest types. It enables collaboration
between community groups and private stewardship organizations and all
levels of government before projects are chosen. This law will not prevent
every fire, but it is an important step forward, a vital step to make
sure we do our duty to protect our nation's forests.
"The principles behind the Healthy
Forest Initiative were not invented in the White House, and truthfully,
not invented in the Congress. They are founded on the experience of scientists,
forestry experts, and, as importantly, the firefighters who know what
they're talking about. (Applause.) Chief Tom O'Keefe, of the California
Department of Forestry, is among those who have seen the consequences
of misguided forest policy. He put it this way: "A lot of people
have been well-intentioned. They saved trees, but they lost the forest."
We want to save the forests. (Applause.)
"This bill was passed because members
of Congress looked at sound science, did the best they could to get all
the politics out of the way for good legislation. Members from both parties
came together, people from different regions of the country. A broad range
of people who care about our forests were listened to, whether they be
conservationists, or resource managers, people from the South, people
from the West, people from New York. You see, we all share duties of stewardship.
And today we shared in an important accomplishment.
"For the good of our forests, and for
the good of our people, I'm honored to sign this important piece of legislation.
I'm honored to be here to sign the Healthy Forest Restoration Act of 2003.
" (Applause.)
(The bill is signed.) (Applause.)
END 10:55 A.M. EST
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