Forestry

(Washington, D.C.) – Today, Congressman LaMalfa (R – Richvale) announced four awards to Wood Innovation Grant recipients in his district. Wood Innovation Grants are administered through the United States Department of Agriculture’s Forest Service and focus on areas including mass timber, renewable wood energy, and technological development that supports fuel reduction and forest management.

(Washington, D.C.) – Today, the U.S. House of Representatives overwhelmingly passed H.R. 2499 – the Federal Firefighters Fairness Act of 2022. Congressman Doug LaMalfa (R – Richvale) was a principal cosponsor of this bipartisan legislation. This legislation would fix the current law that requires federal firefighters who are injured on the job or claim illness from toxic exposure to apply for the Department of Labor’s Office of Workers’ Compensation Program, specifying a single event which led to their ailment. This legislation would establish a list of health conditions and injuries that can be brought on by their line of work, and streamline the process of qualifying for workers compensation, disability, and retirement benefits.

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Yesterday, Congressman Tom McClintock (CA-04) and Congressman Doug LaMalfa (CA-01) introduced legislation directing the U.S. Forest Service to immediately suppress wildfires on National Forest System lands and put an end to the policy of letting fires burn.

Chico, CA – Today, Congressman Doug LaMalfa (R – Richvale) announced a United States Forest Service Indefinite-Delivery contract award to the Firestorm Wildland Fire Suppression, Inc. This contract award was part of several made throughout the country for Type 2 Initial Attack (IA) qualified wildland firefighter crews. The contract period is for five years from 2/8/2022 to 2/7/2027 and is not to exceed $140 million.

Washington, D.C. – Today the Department of Homeland Security’s Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) announced a $1.4 million Hazard Mitigation Grant for Butte County Fire Safe Council. This grant will be used to reduce fire fuels and create a defensible space around residences within 500 feet of main evacuation routes and in the unincorporated areas of Butte County, and identify the locations of hazardous trees within 300 feet of residences and within 500 feet of evacuation routes. Reducing fire fuels and creating defensible spaces increases the likelihood of structures surviving wildfires, minimizing damage, and reduces the chance for a wildfire to become out of control.

Washington, D.C. – Yesterday the Congressional Western Caucus hosted a 2022 Kick-off Chairmen’s Briefing to outline their goals and priorities for the Caucus in 2022. Chairman Dan Newhouse (R-Wash.), Senate Western Caucus Chairman Steve Daines (R-Mont.), Republican Conference Chairwoman Elise Stefanik (R-N.Y.), and other members of the Caucus discussed their policy priorities for the upcoming year. The Congressional Western Caucus is made up of over 60 Members who serve as the voice of rural America in Congress. Many of the Caucus’s policy priorities for the upcoming year regard improvements in domestic energy policy, private property rights, water policy, forest revitalization, and farming and agriculture.

Washington, D.C. – Congressman Doug LaMalfa (R-Calif) and Congressman Mike Thompson (D- Calif) led a letter with Senator Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif), Senator Alex Padilla (D-Calif), Congressman Tom McClintock (R-Calif), Congressman Jared Huffman (D-Calif), and Congressman John Garamendi (D-Calif) to Internal Revenue Service Commissioner Charles Rettig to expedite and release tax guidance to help wildfire victims understand the taxability of their claims from the Fire Victim Trust. The Trust, a $13.5 billion settlement established in July 2020, is made up of over seventy thousand survivors of the 2015 Butte Fire, the 2017 North Bay Wildfires, and the 2018 Camp Fire. The Trust first began distributing funds in November 2020, and by the end of 2021 totaled $1.7 billion in awards. As a result, this year will be the first that many victims’ awards may be taxable.