Continental Divide Trail Completion Act

Floor Speech

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Ms. SCHRIER. Madam Chair, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

Madam Chair, we are seeing increasingly catastrophic wildfires in the West, including in my home State of Washington. Last year, more than 50,000 acres burned in just one of the counties in the Eighth District that I represent. This was a record-breaking wildfire season with abnormally dry conditions. But this type of wildfire season is expected to become more and more the norm.

We need to ensure that we have more resources at our disposal to confront them. The earlier we detect wildfire, the more quickly our firefighters can respond, and my amendment does just that.

A lot of our effort in fighting wildfires has correctly been focused on suppression and prevention. But as our climate continues to change and catastrophic wildfires burn hotter and seasons last longer, we need a whole-of-government approach to address wildfires.

My amendment would further enhance the contributions of Federal science agencies as part of the National Wildland Fire Risk Reduction Program. The amendment would also require an annual post fire-season weather survey and assessment. These activities will help to identify data gaps, enhance efficiency and reliability of data, and evaluate the accuracy and efficiency of our fire weather forecasting.

My amendment will also formalize NOAA's role in wildfire detection and response. In Chelan County, in my district, there is a radar gap which makes it much more difficult to predict and track extreme weather. This gap also impacts our ability to track fires--something that is particularly critical to wildfire prone central Washington.

The language in my amendment builds off legislation I recently introduced with my colleague, Congressman Bera, H.R. 8449, the Fire Ready Nation Act, which is the House companion to Senator Cantwell's bipartisan bill. This bill would codify and support NOAA's ability to help detect and respond to wildfires.

My amendment will strengthen contributions of our weather science agencies like NOAA to improve coordination and response efforts when it comes to fighting fires. This will be particularly impactful in areas like my district which lack robust radar coverage.

As part of the needed whole-of-government response to wildfires, I am glad that the underlying bill includes language from two of my other bills. One, from my National Prescribed Fire Act, would direct the Secretaries of Agriculture and the Interior to establish at least one prescribed fire training center in a Western State.

Prescribed burns during the offseason for fire allow for fuel reduction and prevent catastrophic forest fires. More training means more widespread use of prescribed fire. A recent report from the Washington Department of Natural Resources identified 3 million acres of forest land in need of restoration in my home State. Much of that area is rural central Washington where hot, dry weather and wind make wildfire especially probable and dangerous.

The second bill would allow the Forest Service to collect and keep the interest earned on settlement funds, much like other Federal agencies can, in order to supplement restoration efforts. This makes common sense and is a wise and fair use of the interest earned.

Wildfires are becoming more extreme and catastrophic every year in western States. They are even beginning to affect areas in my State that for a long time were thought to be too green and too wet for wildfires to happen, even the Olympic National Forest. Sadly, as our climate changes, this will become an increasing threat.

I am thrilled to have an amendment to this legislation to allow for more science and evidence-based decisionmaking. We need every tool in our toolbox to prevent these fires.

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Ms. SCHRIER. Madam Chair, may I inquire how much time remains.

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Ms. SCHRIER. Madam Chair, I would like to clarify that we already have provisions in place to prevent wildfires, to remove underbrush, and to thin our forests and make they are more resilient. The thing is that the earlier we can detect wildfires with appropriate weather systems, the earlier our firefighters can jump on it and suppress those fires.

You need both. You need the prevention, and you need the ability to respond quickly. So make no mistake. This is a critical amendment.

I urge my colleagues to vote for the amendment and for the underlying bill.

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Ms. SCHRIER. Madam Chair, I am thrilled to have worked with so many of my Republican colleagues on these bills to prevent wildfires. I encourage my colleagues to vote ``yes,'' and I yield back the balance of my time.

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