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Today, the Natural Resources Subcommittee on National Parks, Forests and Public Lands, held a hearing examining important legislation sponsored by Congressman Paul Gosar (R-AZ).  The bill, theCatastrophic Wildfire Prevention Act of 2012 (H.R. 5744), is a forest health bill that seeks to reduce government bureaucracy and red tape that is leading to widespread destruction of federal forests and a loss of resources.   

The Catastrophic Wildfire Prevention Act streamlines the bureaucratic process and will expedite cattle grazing and forest thinning projects on Forest Service and Bureau of Land Management federal lands. This act will not only create rural jobs, but it will also protect the environment and improve public safety.  Without additional grazing and forest thinning, forests across the western United States are burning at record rates due to a tremendous overgrowth of fuel. 

“The current federal system is reactionary and continues to prioritize fighting fires instead of preventing fires. Although the need to suppress fires is never going to go away, we must shift priority towards pro-active management. We simply cannot afford to do otherwise,” highlighted Congressman Gosar at the hearing. “Bureaucratic red tape, preventing us from participating in the stewardship of our public lands and the extortion tactics of radical environmental groups, have devastated the timber industry, harmed forest health, and placed my constituents’ economic livelihood at risk. That is why my bill is necessary.”   

Congressman Gosar’s full opening statement can be found here.

At the hearing, Arizona leaders testified on the importance of the Catastrophic Wildfire Prevention Act of 2012 in protecting local communities and improving forest health.

David Cook - Public Lands Rancher in Gila County, AZ, Arizona Cattlemen’s Association Executive Committee, & National Cattlemen Beef Association Federal Lands Committee Vice-Chair

“For far too long we have allowed outside interests and bureaucratic paralysis to dictate the management of our Nation’s forests.  Our federal government needs to reduce the current bureaucratic planning process and litigious playing field that our forests have been subject to for most of the last 30 to 40 years.  Congressman Gosar’s bill will expedite projects, encouraging free enterprise solutions on federal lands to reduce the threat of catastrophic wildfire, ultimately reducing threats to communities, the landscape, and endangered species.  We urge the committee to advance the Catastrophic Wildfire Prevention Act of 2012 without delay, to enact commonsense solutions to reduce the threat of wildfire on public lands.”

John Doyel Shamley:  Natural Resource Coordinator - Apache County, Arizona

“The need for sweeping and massive reform in the mechanisms to expedite forest management projects to reduce hazardous fuels, increase forest health and economic development cannot be stressed enough.  The current system in place is heavily laden with out-of-date along with unclear and conflicting mandates upon the land management agencies, slowing down an already cumbersome system even more.  Congressman Gosar’s Catastrophic Wildfire Prevention Act can greatly aid in this endeavor and is of utmost importance considering my county and our state’s current situation.”

All testimonies and statements from the hearing can be found on the House Natural Resources Committee website by clicking here.

The Catastrophic Wildfire Prevention Act has the bipartisan support of thirty-two Congressmen from twenty-three different states.  Many of these supporters represent Congressional Districts with large swaths of National Forest System or Bureau of Land Management administered land. Additionally, Utah Senator Mike Lee has introduced Congressman Gosar’s legislation in the U.S. Senate with a companion bill, S.3411.

To learn more about Congressman Gosar’s work regarding forest health, please visit www.gosar.house.gov, or visit his wildfire prevention page http://gosar.house.gov/issue/wildfire-prevention.