Wyden, colleagues try again with bill to ramp up prescribed burns, curb threat of severe wildfires
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The United States of fire - American Forests
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Save the forest.
The evidence continues to grow that vigorous use of prescribed fire â especially when combined with thinning projects â remains the only way to prevent sweeping changes in unhealthy, fire-prone forests throughout the west.
Unfortunately, this yearâs record-breaking drought forced the Forest Service to all but skip a season of controlled burns, since the fall never got wet or cool enough to allow a safe season of managed fires.
However, a growing number of studies have underscored the need to embrace prescribed fires throughout the region â despite the short-term political and economic risks. One of those risks centers on the refusal of forested communities like Payson and Show Low to adopt building codes for fire-harden buildings and make it much safer to employ prescribed fires close to those communities.
Oregon Sen. Ron Wyden joined by West Virginia Sen. Joe Manchin and Washington Sen. Maria Cantwell have introduced Senate Bill 4625 â the National Prescribed Fire Act of 2020 â to support the United States Department of Agriculture and Interior in conducting more prescribed fires throughout the United States.
A statement from Wydenâs Oregon Press Sec. Hank Stern, botes that Wyden introduced the legislation to provide a different approach for agencies to reduce hazardous fuels.
In a press release Wyden said that the United States Forest Service conducted a review in 2018 and the agency determined that 234 million acres of forest were at risk for dangerous wildfires, though only three million acres had been treated annually over the last decade.