Fire Facts

Floor Speech

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Mr. GOSAR. Mr. Speaker, first of all, I thank the gentleman from Arkansas (Mr. Westerman), my friend, for organizing this Special Order and for his leadership and expertise on forestry issues.

The events of the last month and the last decade plus show how poorly our current forest management policies are and that they are broken and in drastic need of reform.

Nearly every corner of the West has been touched by catastrophic wildfire. My district has been home to several major fires this year, including the Bush fire that burned over 193,000 acres. 700,000 acres of land has been burned across my State.

Even before this year's fire season, the evidence of our forest management practices being broken are clear. In the last 10 years alone, wildfires have burned over 74 million acres of land in the West, and our Federal Government's reaction to this has been extremely lacking.

These catastrophic fires have devastating impacts on the environment and human health. For example, one large wildfire is roughly the equivalent of a major volcanic eruption, releasing large amounts of dangerous particles into the air. This increase of air pollution exacerbates respiratory illnesses, such as COVID-19.

Because of this, earlier this year, I wrote a letter to Agriculture Secretary Perdue and Interior Secretary Bernhardt. This letter urged them to act quickly to secure contracts with private businesses to ensure that firefighters could be properly protected from COVID-19 and that the aerial support they needed to adequately fight catastrophic fires was there.

Recent studies conducted at George Mason University showed that on average, a fire stands a higher probability of being contained within 24 hours if air tankers are deployed on that fire within the first few hours. Fires that do not receive air tanker support for a period of 13 hours or more are likely to take days or weeks to achieve containment.

I also wrote a letter to Attorney General Barr that urged him to ensure that the Justice Department's Natural Resources Division was adequately resourced to fight frivolous lawsuits from radical leftwing environmental organizations.

Lawsuits from radical environmentalists are nothing new. We have seen this already in Arizona with the disastrous WildEarth Guardians lawsuit regarding the Mexican Spotted Owl. In that case, a U.S. District Court judge in Tucson issued a ruling based on bad and debunked science that stopped active forest management activities in six national forests, including the Tonto National Forest in Arizona, which was the home of the Bush fire.

This decision was a massive setback, and it is directly contributing to the enhanced fire risk that threatens our communities that we are seeing across the West.

A devastating wildfire season is not inevitable. It isn't something that we must just accept. There are steps that can be taken now to ensure that our communities are protected.

I will continue to urge the Federal agencies tasked with managing our forests and fighting catastrophic fires that bold action is necessary. Lives depend on it.

Just last year, as chairman of the Congressional Western Caucus, I had the opportunity to visit the district of my friend from California, Mr. McClintock, where aggressive forest management practices in the Lake Tahoe Basin have prevented catastrophic fire. This active management was made possible by getting unnecessary red tape out of the way and putting what is most important first: protecting our communities from the destruction of wildfire.

Just in the last 2 years, this administration has taken steps to manage vegetation inside utility corridors, build additional firebreaks, and reform the NEPA process within the Forest Service. However, after so many years of inaction, there is a long road to hoe to where we have to get, which is why I am so pleased we are here tonight calling for serious action by this House.

There are a few pieces of legislation that have been introduced. Just to name a few: H.R. 7978, a bipartisan, comprehensive forestry reform bill led by the gentleman from California (Mr. LaMalfa), as well as H.R. 2607, the Resilient Federal Forests Act, by Mr. Westerman, both of which I am proud to support.

The Democratic leadership in this House has been transparent about the fact that they do not view forest management to prevent wildfires as a legislative priority, and that has deadly consequences.

Again, Mr. Speaker, I thank my friend from Arkansas for holding this Special Order and for his leadership and expertise on this issue.

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