Forest Health Legislation
I'm Bob Larson. Forest health and the cost of fighting wildfires is at the heart of an effort in the Nation's Capital. Sunnyside Representative Dan Newhouse says they were trying to get it included as part of the budget package, but the House and Senate weren't able to agree on what that language should be ...NEWHOUSE ... "So, the goal now is to make sure it's part of the potential omnibus legislation that will be passed by March 23rd, and I think we have a really good chance of doing that. We've got a little time here that we're utilizing."
Newhouse says they want to make it as all-encompassing as possible ...
NEWHOUSE ... "Trying to get the language that the Senate will agree to so that we can get this, not a temporary fix, but a lasting solution to the management issue as well as the fire borrowing issue."
Newhouse says the House and Senate are going to have to get on the same page ...
NEWHOUSE ... "Not just the Republicans, but also the Democrats and, in this case, Maria Cantwell's leading the charge for the Democrats. And, we're coming together, but we're just not quite there yet. There's still some disagreement on the extent and the number of reforms that we include in this package in order to break the cycle of this fire borrowing that, as you know, it consumes more than 50 percent of the forest service budget on an annual basis."
Newhouse says active forest management is a matter of saving lives and livelihoods, of protecting our communities, and ensuring the health and safety of our residents.