Theodore Roosevelt National Park Wild Horses Protection Act

Floor Speech

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Mr. GALLEGO. Mr. President, I rise today to mark an important step in the fight against wildfires with the passage of my Cross-Boundary Wildfire Solutions Act.

Like many Western States, my home State of Arizona is a patchwork of Federal, State, Tribal, and private lands. The fires do not stop at property lines. That is why we need an all-hands-on-deck approach to reducing wildfires and improving wildfire mitigation across land ownerships no matter who owns that land.

When fires move faster than governments can coordinate, the fire has the advantage. The Cross-Boundary Wildfire Solutions Act takes a practical step to fixing that. The bill supports the kind of collaboration between Federal, State, Tribal, and local partners that we know works. By studying and identifying the gaps in current Federal rules that present coordination between land ownership boundaries, we can bolster our firefighting efforts.

This couldn't be more timely. The West is getting hotter and dryer every year. In Arizona, we watched more than 200,000 acres burn across the North Rim of the Grand Canyon and the Kaibab National Forest.

The Dragon Bravo fire, one of the largest in Arizona's history, devastated iconic landscapes and the local businesses that depend on them.

In the face of these conditions, it is vital we have the research and coordination tools to ensure effective wildfire management.

At the same time, funding for the Forest Service's State, Tribal, and private forestry program is at risk. That is the funding that enables exactly the kind of cross-boundary collaboration this bill is designed to work with.

Congress needs to send a signal that we know this work matters, and we have the chance to do so today.

As we approach peak wildfire season, I have heard from people on the ground that cross-boundary collaboration is a top priority to keep our fire season from growing more dangerous and more expensive, and they are right.

The cost of inaction in lives and lands and dollars keeps climbing. So thank you, Senator Hoeven, and his team for helping me lead this effort. Today we take a very important step in that direction.

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