Forestry Reform & FFA Students
Forestry Reform & FFA Students. I'm Greg Martin with today's Northwest Report.
Congress is taking up forestry reform bill H.R. 2647 that aims to reduce the threat of wildfire and increase active forest management. Rep. Greg Walden of Oregon is a major proponent of the bill.
WALDEN: As we speak today we know there are fires burning across the west in our district and state. We have to return to active forest management and that means being able to get better resiliency in our forests, get them back more in balance with nature, protect our watersheds and helps top these fires. So this legislation which is called the Resilient Federal Forest Act of 2015 moves us a long way down this path.
The bill helps solve the long-standing "fire borrowing" problem by allowing the Forest Service to request FEMA disaster funds for fire suppression without having to continually rob their internal fire prevention accounts.
The National FFA Organization has selected 50 outstanding young people to participate in the 2015 New Century Farmer program. This exclusive, highly competitive program develops young men and women committed to pursuing a career in production agriculture. Three students from the northwest have been chosen: Tanner White of Prosser; Olivia Zurcher of Mesa, Washington and Kellsie Hodges of Salmon, Idaho. The students will learn from each other and industry experts during a series of workshops and sessions.
That's today's Northwest Report. I'm Greg Martin on the Ag Information Network of the West.
