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Today, the House passed Reps. Scott Tipton (R-CO) and Doc Hastings’ (R-WA) legislation to immediately address the hazardous conditions of Western forests by establishing a plan for healthy forest management to reduce the occurrence and severity of wildfire, protect watersheds, species habitats and ecosystems, and prevent the loss of life and property.

Rep. Scott Tipton’s (R-CO) Healthy Forest Management and Wildfire Prevention Act (H.R. 818) was combined with Natural Resources Committee Chairman Doc Hastings’s (R-WA) Restoring Healthy Forests for Healthy Communities Act (H.R. 1526) during a Natural Resources Committee markup in July. The resulting comprehensive Hastings-Tipton forest management package (H.R. 1526) was passed by the House today and now goes to the Senate.

Watch Rep. Scott Tipton speak on the House floor on H.R. 1526.

“It is far more efficient and cost effective to proactively manage our forests. I’ve said it before, but the old adage—an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure—rings especially true when we’re talking about reducing the occurrence and severity of wildfire in our forests. Despite this, we’ve seen a decrease in timber harvesting of 80 percent over the past three decades. It’s no coincidence that during this time the severity of fires and number of acres burned has increased steadily. From 2000-2012, over 90 million acres burned in the U.S.—nearly as many as the previous three decades combined. The status quo of reactive forest management is not working,” said Tipton. “I’m pleased to have been able to work with Chairman Hastings and other members of the Resources Committee in crafting this proactive forest management strategy that would take immediate action to address the hazardous conditions of our forests.  Time is of the essence and we cannot afford to wait for more fires and more devastation before we address this western emergency.”

Read Tipton’s full statement here.

H.R. 1526 (Hastings) addresses the shortfall in county revenue for schools and critical services caused by lack of timber harvest by requiring the Forest Service to produce at least half of the sustainable annual yield of timber required under law since 1908 and to share 25 percent of those receipts with rural counties. In order to meet this goal while providing for healthy forests, the bill includes the local management framework set out in H.R. 818 (Tipton) by directing the Forest Service to prioritize hazardous fuels reduction projects proposed by governors and affected counties and tribes. To expedite locally based healthy forest projects, the Hastings-Tipton package builds on the positive streamlining procedures implemented under the bipartisan Healthy Forests Restoration Act of 2003 (HFRA).

View the full bill here. (Tipton language is under Title 2). 

Background:

Wildfires burned 9.3 million acres in 2012, while the U.S. Forest Service only harvested approximately 200,000 acres of timber. The cost of proactive healthy forest management is far less than the cost of wildfire suppression and cleaning up the aftermath. According to the Forest Service, the agency spent $296 million on hazardous fuels treatment nationwide in FY2012 while spending $1.77 billion on wildfire suppression during the same time.

In July, Colorado Deputy State Forester Joe Duda testified during a Natural Resources Committee hearing on wildfire prevention. He joined with Tipton in speaking on the need for more proactive management to restore forests to healthy conditions and reduce the severity of wildfire. Read more on that hearing here.

The Healthy Forest Management and Wildfire Prevention Act (H.R. 818) is supported by numerous Colorado counties, the National Association of Counties, as well as state and national environmental organizations and conservation districts. A list of endorsements and additional background on the Healthy Forest Management and Wildfire Prevention Act isavailable here.

Read Tipton’s op-ed in the Denver Post on SRS, timber harvesting and proactive forest management.