Fix Our Forests Act

Floor Speech

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Mr. VALADAO. Mr. Chair, I thank Chairman Westerman and his staff at the Natural Resources Committee for their work on this very important bill. I appreciate his partnership and work to ensure my amendment was included today.

Mr. Chair, I urge my colleagues to support my amendment, which would dramatically increase the number of airlift assets available for wildfire emergencies.

Containerized Aerial Firefighting Systems, or CAFFS, are airdrop- capable disposable containers for water or fire retardant, which can be dropped from much higher altitudes and with less visibility than current aerial firefighting operations. Current aerial firefighting operations depend on single-mission aircraft, but CAFFS can be used by any standard cargo plane.

The use of CAFFS provides more coverage for firefighters on the ground and allows teams to quickly respond to prevent smaller fires from becoming uncontrollable. These systems are being used in other countries, but not here in the United States. We have the technology that we can deploy to stop the devastation these fires cause, and we should be using it.

Mr. Chair, I urge all of my colleagues to support the passage of this amendment to help combat and contain wildfires in a quicker and more efficient way.

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Mr. VALADAO. Mr. Chair, I yield such time as he may consume to the gentleman from Arkansas (Mr. Westerman), the chairman of the Natural Resources Committee.

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Mr. VALADAO. Mr. Chair, I yield back the balance of my time.

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Mr. VALADAO. Madam Chair, I rise as the designee for the gentleman from California (Mr. Costa).

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Mr. VALADAO. Madam Chair, my amendment would add the text of my bill, the bipartisan Headwaters Protection Act, to the Fix Our Forests Act.

This commonsense language is led by my colleague from California (Mr. Costa) and myself, and it has bipartisan support. It was included in the House Committee on Agriculture's farm bill.

This amendment expands public and private partnerships in forestry and watershed management projects under the Water Source Protection Program. These projects can improve access to clean drinking water, provide for greater downstream water availability, and prevent future wildfires.

My amendment makes changes to improve the program, including expanding the number of entities that are eligible to participate in the program to include local, regional, and public entities that have water management and delivery expertise; allowing non-Federal partners to input their knowledge and expertise in the design and implementation of forestry and watershed management projects; and allowing for the use of existing watershed condition frameworks to reduce bureaucracy and deploy projects faster.

Overall, this amendment would support efforts in the San Joaquin Valley like the Olam project, a series of wildlife prevention and restoration projects in the Pine Flat watershed between public and private partners. This amendment would build off of the good work done in the Fix Our Forests Act, and I urge its adoption.

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Mr. VALADAO. Mr. Chair, I yield back the balance of my time.

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