Fix Our Forests Act

Floor Speech

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Mr. PANETTA. Mr. Chairman, in the past few weeks and in the past few years, communities all across America have witnessed the devastation, destruction, and death from wildfires. Much of this calamity and crisis is due to the many communities being in high-risk areas, known as the wildland urban interface. Over 99 million people live in these danger zones, not just in Los Angeles or California, but throughout the entire United States.

In my district in central California, numerous towns are located right next to national forests. Don't get me wrong. It is nice to have national forests as your backyard, but national forests have been neglected and mismanaged, and the risk of wildfires is much worse due to extreme weather and climate change.

Some say that we shouldn't do anything and just let forests manage themselves. Unfortunately, we all bear witness to what can happen when we do nothing.

Fortunately, the Fix Our Forests Act would do something by restoring the health to forests, bolstering the resiliency, and reducing the threat of wildfires. As wildfire seasons have turned to wildfire years, we must be proactive when it comes to our forests.

That is why, rather than just suppress fires, the Fix Our Forests Act would prevent fires, and that is how we protect our communities.

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Source