Wintergreen Emergency Egress Act

Floor Speech

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Mr. McGUIRE. Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong support of my bill, H.R. 6365, the Wintergreen Emergency Egress Act.

Wintergreen, Virginia, is a popular tourist destination located in my district. Wintergreen is one of the largest planned communities in Virginia, with over 3,000 properties situated on 11,000 acres. The risk of wildfires was not top of mind when this mountaintop community was designed in the 1970s.

The original developers did not reserve an emergency egress corridor before conveying a few thousand acres of unneeded land to the Appalachian Trail commission. Because of this, Wintergreen only has one entrance and one exit route.

As awareness of wildfire risk grew, the community of Wintergreen was placed on the Virginia Department of Forestry's radar as a wildland- urban interface community with a high risk of a devastating fire. Since becoming aware of the increased risk of wildfire, the community has worked steadily to mitigate that risk. However, an emergency egress is still needed.

For over 25 years, and working with five other Members of Congress, the Wintergreen community has fought to complete an emergency evacuation route. The town of Wintergreen has already constructed all portions of the road that are not on Federal land. Unfortunately, the only thing that has stood in their way all these years is a small section of land controlled by the National Park Service, approximately 400 feet, that separates the unfinished road from being connected to the Blue Ridge Parkway.

The recent wildfires in California and Maui highlight the danger posed by limited evacuation routes. People lost their lives in those fires because they were trapped in their vehicles with no way to escape.

My bill is a proactive response to the very real threat to public safety that the town of Wintergreen currently faces if it needed to evacuate due to a natural disaster. We cannot wait until a tragedy occurs to make a change. Public safety and lives are at risk.

The Wintergreen community, including Chief Curtis Sheets of Wintergreen Fire and Rescue, has spent over 25 years fighting for the completion of this emergency evacuation route. I am proud to assist the entire Wintergreen community in continuing and finishing this fight.

I am proud to have bipartisan support of seven of my colleagues in the Virginia delegation. This bill is not political. It is a commonsense solution that is vital to preventing a tragedy in my district.

I thank Chairman Westerman for his friendship and leadership in helping me address this important issue for my district, and I urge all of my colleagues to vote in favor of H.R. 6365.

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