Providing For Consideration Of H.R. 1404, Federal Land Assistance, Management And Enhancement Act
Floor Speech
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Mr. POLIS. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
Mr. Speaker, House Resolution 281 provides for consideration of H.R. 1404, the Federal Land Assistance Management and Enhancement, or FLAME, Act under a structured rule. The rule provides 1 hour of general debate controlled by the Committee on Natural Resources.
The rule makes in order 13 amendments, which are listed on the Rules Committee report accompanying the resolution. Each amendment is debatable for 10 minutes. The rule also provides one motion to recommit, with or without instructions.
All Members were given an opportunity to submit amendments to the Rules Committee on the bill, and a number of Members on both sides of the aisle did so: 21 amendments were submitted to the Rules Committee on this bill; two amendments were subsequently withdrawn; and three amendments were nongermane to the underlying bill. Of the remaining 16, 13 were made in order, five of those from Republican sponsors. This was a very fair rule and a very fair process.
My district and the State of Colorado are tied closely to the lands and landscapes that our citizens interact with on a daily basis. These landscapes are majestic and rugged, and define the character of Colorado. The FLAME Act ends a cycle of growing costs for fighting wildfires. These costs are draining the coffers of our Federal land management agencies.
The character of our wilderness is being tested every summer when districts like mine and many others face the threat of wildfires, and anxiety grows in the minds of mountain residents and local communities. This anxiety has grown in recent years due to the health of forests, which has worsened.
Mr. Speaker, the FLAME Act is a bill of personal interest to me and the residents of Colorado. My district, like many Western districts, is dealing with a mountain pine beetle outbreak of catastrophic proportions. This outbreak has killed millions of acres of lodgepole pines, altering the landscape, and has put more Colorado, New Mexico, Wyoming, Montana, and Idaho communities at risk of wildfire.
I bring your attention to this picture. This is some land in my district in Grand County near Granby, Colorado. My district has many tourists coming through it; and I have Vail, Beaver Creek, Copper Mountain, Winter Park. Recently, I had somebody who came through in July and noticed that many of our trees were red and said, ``Fall comes early in Colorado.'' I had to respond that, ``No, it is not fall. Our trees are dying.'' This is a typical landscape across many parts of the Mountain West of Colorado. The red trees are actually dead or in the process of dying, having been felled by the pine beetle. The danger is that when we have a forest of dead trees, it is in effect a tinderbox and is a major forest fire risk.
This bill includes amendments in the underlying language that free up resources to help address the underlying causes of forest fires rather than just after the fact dealing with emergencies.
The culprit in this particular case, the mountain pine beetle, a small little fellow, dendroctonus ponderosae. I have some here, life-size. Again, not just affecting Colorado, but affecting many areas of our Mountain West; and, in addition to the devastation of our forests, visually and ecologically, creating a very real risk of forest fires, which this bill gives us the ability to begin to address.
Our land management agencies are working quickly to reduce the potential fire risks where communities and wildlands come face to face. These wildland-urban interface zones, or WUI zones, are critical in decreasing the number and threat of catastrophic wildfires. But our agencies simply don't have the resources to effectively respond to the risk or the increased risk because of the changes. The Forest Service and Bureau of Land Management have multiple environmentally friendly projects simply waiting to be funded.
Fire suppression costs have increased with alarming speed in recent years. In 2008, fire suppression costs consumed 46 percent of the Forest Service's budget compared to 13 percent in 1991. The account established in the FLAME Act frees up capital and resources for needed and lasting forest health improvements.
Mr. Speaker, the beetle epidemic in the West puts Coloradans on the front lines of changing climate, which only further strains our national land management budgets. Across the Nation, climate and weather modeling shows our future to be growing both drier and hotter. These models point to extreme intense thunderstorms with insufficient quantities of rain.
Our communities deserve a land management policy that not only reflects crucial priorities, but is unimpeded by the costs of frequent and overwhelming fires and the crises that arise from time to time. Our policy needs to make sure that, as these fires grow in scope and number, we are not forced to make hard choices between money and safety, between dealing with catastrophes and preventing them from occurring. This is exactly what this legislation is designed to do.
The FLAME Act addresses the anxiety of our communities by removing hurdles that currently restrict the Forest Service and BLM's ability to proceed with projects. By establishing the FLAME fund, this bill separates the increasing costs of fighting fires from the annual budget that agencies rely on for maintenance and mitigation. This bill keeps the critical budget of--our Forest Service from being consumed by potentially just one or two major wildfires each year.
Mr. Speaker, this bill has gained the support of every environmentally conscious constituency, from land management agencies to environmental and community leaders to local governments. It has garnered bipartisan support, as reported out of the Natural Resources Committee in the 110th Congress by a voice vote.
Mr. Speaker, I want to reiterate the importance and the critical nature of this legislation to thousands of communities like mine across the Nation and to millions of acres of our public lands. This is an excellent opportunity to provide necessary resources to our Forest Service and BLM so they can do the work that they are meant to do, and prevent forest fires from occurring. I urge passage of the bill and the rule.
I reserve the balance of my time.
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Mr. POLIS. Mr. Speaker, of the 16 amendments that were germane and were offered, 13 were made in order, and indeed five of those were by Republican sponsors. And I know that the Rules Committee did give every consideration to amendments from both sides and indeed allow a reasonable number for discussion.
The issue is an urgent one. By freeing up the pot of money that is otherwise able to be used for single events or catastrophes as sometimes in the past it has been used for one or two events, it prevents ongoing forest maintenance and prevention activities. As my colleague from Florida mentioned, this bill does have strong bipartisan support. I too would like to applaud Chairman Rahall and Ranking Member Hastings for their work in bringing this bill before us.
Not only my district, but many other parts of the country deserve a better equipped agency that can work to address the challenges faced by our communities on public lands. The pine beetle epidemic will leave an increased risk of forest fire for many years to come. And the further effects of climate change will put many more strains on our ecosystems and the economy, not just in Colorado, not just for the southern pine beetle in Florida, not just in areas that are currently affected, but indeed in public lands and areas across our great Nation. In many ways, this is one of the costs of climate change which this body talks about in other pieces of legislation from time to time.
I would like to reserve the balance of my time.
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Mr. POLIS. Reclaiming my time, of all individuals, those who have served on the Rules Committee are well aware of the functions of that committee and have, in fact, in previous sessions of Congress undertaken even more severe restrictions on a number of bills. Again, with regard to allowing 13 of the 16 amendments that were germane I think is an excellent example of the Rules Committee not only doing their job but actually working to improve the bill.
Our land management agencies shouldn't have to choose between fighting fires and preventing them or preparing our communities or promoting healthier forests. Our agencies should be given the tools that allow them to fulfill their mission statements, protecting our forests and serving our communities. The FLAME Act addresses these problems by providing a source of emergency funds to suppress severe fires that pose a threat to life and property. It ensures that during fire-fighting seasons when the agencies' budgeted fire suppression funds are exhausted, they won't be forced to cut other vital projects, indeed prevention-related and forest health-related projects as a result.
I would like to reserve the balance of my time.
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Mr. POLIS. Mr. Speaker, I was beginning to wonder when our friends would try to connect AIG with forest health and preventing forest fires. Indeed we did not have to wait too long.
This bill promotes accountability by requiring the Secretaries of Agriculture and Interior to monitor their accounts and anticipate relevant costs. This is a valuable tool in the long term to improve the efficacy and sustainability of our public lands management. We will note that the arguments being made are purely procedural. We should not allow these procedural issues to get in the way of what is substantively agreed on.
I have heard very positive comments with regard to the substance of this bill from both sides of the aisle, indeed giving our land management agencies the flexibility they need to make sure that their budgets are not consumed by signal events and to focus on what they need to do and are, in fact, required to do under law in terms of forest management and forest fire risk mitigation.
For nearly a decade, the GAO has called for our agencies to draft a strategy which will identify agencies to environmental and community leaders alike. This bill has garnered strong bipartisan support, and it was reported, as I mentioned before, by a voice vote from the Natural Resources Committee.
I want to reiterate the importance of this legislation to thousands of communities across the Nation and to millions upon millions of acres of public lands. This is an excellent opportunity to provide the necessary resources to our Forest Service so they can do the work they are meant to do and indeed must do.
I urge the passage of the bill and the rule.
I would inquire if the gentleman from Florida has any remaining speakers.
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Mr. POLIS. Mr. Speaker, I believe that it is noteworthy of the issues raised by our friends, none speak to the lack of merit of this bill or, indeed, the 13 amendments that are allowed under this rule which will be subsequently discussed. We must make sure that substance takes priority over procedural processes which could otherwise delay a critical bill for the management of our public lands.
Our public lands management agencies remain constrained every day by the costs of fighting wildfires, which will only worsen in coming years from a changing climate and increasing fuel load.
Some critics may point fingers, but today we stand here with an intelligent, well-designed, responsible and bipartisan solution that puts our taxpayer money to good use by protecting our communities and preserving our national treasures.
This rule allows for 13 amendments, including five from the minority party, and has given fair and due consideration to all the ideas that have been promoted to enhance this legislation, including many that actually impact, at least two amendments that reflect invasive species such as the pine beetle.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I urge a ``yes'' vote on the previous question and the rule.
I yield back the balance of my time, and I move the previous question on the resolution.
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