LaMalfa Urges President Biden to Include Litigation Reform in Wildfire Discussions
Washington, DC) – Congressman Doug LaMalfa issued the following statement after the Biden Administration released information on their plan to address wildfires. Over 68 million acres burned in the last decade and over 10 million acres burned in 2020 alone.
Rep. LaMalfa said, "Extreme environmentalists have weaponized the Endangered Species Act and the National Environmental Policy Act and are using frivolous lawsuits to block nearly every forest thinning project or salvage sale that the U.S. Forest Service proposes. As President Biden begins his discussions on how to address wildfires, I urge him to focus on litigation reform as we desperately need that for proper forest management. The decline of responsible timber harvesting and the lack of active management have created overstocked forests. This decline has resulted in the closure of the majority of California's lumber mills, thus eliminating the very tools needed to help get our overgrown forests under control. We need a sustained commitment to decades of increased thinning to bring our western forests back to the majestic jewels they were at the turn of the 20th century. Until everyone, regardless of party, gets serious about fixing our broken forest management, we will continue to see catastrophic fires."
The Biden Administration's plan includes:
- Bolstering firefighter pay with a commitment that firefighters will not make less than $15 an hour
- Extending hiring of temporary firefighters
- Using early detection wildfire sensors and satellites to track and manage fires
- Requesting $30 billion in the President's FY 2022 budget to support wildfire management