Aerial Fire Retardant to Protect Human Life

Floor Speech

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Mr. FULCHER. Mr. Speaker, my colleague from the State of Washington and my colleague from the State of Montana and I share some very similar concerns and some very similar demographics, so I am here to rise in opposition to the attempts to ban any kind of aerial fire retardant.

Currently, the Forest Service is facing litigation that, if its opponent is successful, could result in the loss of this critical firefighting tool.

Aerial fire retardant helps slow the spread of wildfires and creates a barrier between the fire and unburned fuel load. This makes it easier for ground crews to access and extinguish fires. It can be applied quickly in hard-to-reach areas where the ground crews cannot get access.

Additionally, aerial fire retardant can help protect homes and other structures, as well as reduce the amount of smoke produced by the fire.

We are seeing the catastrophic results of years of neglect and mismanagement by the Federal Government. It comes in the form of more frequent and more destructive wildfires. These fires not only do more harm to people and property but also to nature itself.

If I can be very clear, our Federal resources are overwhelmed. In my own State, two-thirds of the land mass, or nearly two-thirds, is Federal land. They simply don't have the capacity to manage these lands, and so they don't.

That results in wildfire, and we need every tool in the toolbox we possibly can access to fight it.

As we prepare for the 2023 fire season, we must maximize these tools at our disposal in order to better fight the fires that threaten our local communities, economies, environment, and health.

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