We wanted to make sure you saw Lauren's piece at Aspen Daily News
about her bill that will overhaul forestry management, and
protect Coloradans from wildfires. Please have a look and share
it with your friends!
--Team Boebert

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Forestry legislation
aims to fund firefighting efforts, protect homes
By U.S. Rep. Lauren
Boebert/Guest Commentary | Aug 14, 2021
Decades of
eco-terrorism have effectively shut down our national forests
from responsible management. The result? Now there are 6 billion
standing dead trees in the West that create a tinderbox waiting
to ignite one devastating forest fire after another.

It doesn't need to be
this way, which is why I introduced the most comprehensive forest
management bill in decades. The bill pays for itself, generates
revenue for local communities, and most importantly, makes our
forests healthier and safer for all of us to enjoy.

In 2020, the U.S. set
a record as 57,000 wildfires burned over 10.3 million acres. From
2015-20, the departments of Interior and Agriculture spent $14.1
billion of taxpayer money just putting out fires. That staggering
figure does not include cleanup costs or the rebuilding efforts
for families who lost everything they owned.

The federal
government's negligence has victimized our communities, and every
summer, it's the same story, with massive wildfires scorching the
West. Farmers lose their livestock. Families lose their homes.
Precious photos, family heirlooms and life savings go up in
smoke. Even more tragically, people lose their lives.

Currently, Colorado
is experiencing the worst air quality in the world due to
wildfire smoke pouring in from the West. This dangerous smoke
causes serious medical disorders like eye and respiratory tract
infections, reduced lung function, bronchitis, exacerbation of
asthma and even reduced life expectancy. Wildfire smoke also is
devastating for the environment, and NASA estimates that one
large wildfire releases as much pollution in a few days as all
the cars in an entire state over the course of a year.

Last year, Colorado
had the three largest recorded wildfires in state history. The
Pine Gulch Fire burned 140,000 acres in Mesa and Garfield
counties and caused $26 million in damages. The Cameron Peak Fire
was the largest wildfire in Colorado history, burning more than
460 farms, homes and businesses, and causing massive flooding
that killed three people. The Grizzly Creek Fire was a crown fire
that damaged soil and vegetation and its burn scars are
responsible for the mudslides that have shut down I-70, causing
significant economic harm to local communities on the Western
Slope.

Unfortunately, 2020
was not an outlier. In 2012, the Waldo Canyon Fire caused two
deaths, destroyed 346 homes and forced the evacuation of 32,000
people. In 2002, the Hayman Fire killed six people. In 1994, the
Storm King Mountain Fire in Glenwood Springs killed 14
firefighters.

Decades of
mismanagement have left our nation's forests vulnerable to
insects and disease and ripe for catastrophic wildfires.
Frivolous lawsuits from extremist groups have caused a steep
reduction in active sawmills nationwide, from 1,311 in 1995 to
just over 200 today. Forests in Colorado and the West that once
had 50-100 trees per acre are now dangerously overcrowded with
500-1,000 trees per acre. Our forests are overgrown and poorly
managed, making them more susceptible to large wildfires, disease
and bark beetle attacks.

Enough homes,
livelihoods, livestock, forests, businesses and lives have been
destroyed, which is why I introduced the Active Forest
Management, Wildfire Prevention and Community Protection Act.

This comprehensive
legislation is a result of meetings with firefighters and
communities throughout Colorado's 3rd Congressional District, who
have all said the same thing: Outdated, unscientific forest
management policies don't work, and our forests need to be
actively managed.

My bill authorizes
active management on a larger scale to reduce the current threats
to our communities. It establishes the Western Bark Beetle
Epidemic Fund to remove dead bark beetle trees. H.R. 4302
contains important litigation reforms that remove incentives for
extremist groups to file frivolous lawsuits that have closed our
mills and prevented important forest management projects. My
legislation is fully paid for and will generate billions of
dollars for the U.S. Treasury.

My bill puts rural
communities first by ensuring counties receive 25% of the revenue
generated from timber harvests, allowing them to fund essential
services including local wildland firefighting teams, hotshots,
smokejumpers and Helitak wildfire fighting teams. The revenue
will equip their firefighters with the best training and
equipment possible.

My legislation
empowers forestry experts to make real scientific improvements to
our forests. It's time to chart a new path in forest management
that's guided by science, protects rural communities, benefits
the environment and actively manages our forests to prevent
catastrophic wildfires.

Lauren Boebert









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