WASHINGTON, D.C. — Today, the Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works held a full committee hearing entitled, “Hearing on Forest Management to Mitigate Wildfires: Legislative Solutions” to receive input on legislative solutions wildfire and forest management issues.

In his testimony, Collin O’Mara, president and chief executive officer of the National Wildlife Federation, said today:

“With near-record wildfires raging across the west, now is the time for bipartisan action to solve the wildfire funding crisis and improve forest management. Our federal land managers and local partners desperately need more resources and tools to confront the scale of the wildfire challenges we face. There are clear, bipartisan legislative solutions that both reduce the risks of mega-fires and enable more proactive habitat restoration work that will benefit all of us.

“By solving the budget crisis and providing additional conservation tools, we can improve forest management to restore wildlife habitat, enhance downstream water quality and quantity, build our carbon sinks, expand recreational access, and provide more opportunities for the forest products industry and rural jobs. Only then, can we rest knowing that we have advanced President Theodore Roosevelt’s ‘great central task of leaving this land even a better land for our descendants than it is for us.’”

View Collin O’Mara’s full testimony at the link below:

https://www.epw.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/2017/9/hearing-on-forest-management-to-mitigate-wildfires-legislative-solutions