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WYDEN TO PRESIDENT: FULLY FUND
HEALTHY FORESTS
Letter to Bush requests $760 million
for hazardous fuels reduction projects
January 13, 2004
Washington, DC – U.S.
Senator Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) today urged President Bush to fully
fund the Healthy Forest Restoration Act’s hazardous fuels
reduction efforts in the Administration’s budget for the
coming year. In a letter to the president, Wyden, and U.S. Senators
Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.), Patty Murray (D-Wash.), and Tim Johnson
(D-S.D.), requested that the president’s FY 2005 budget
include the full $760 million authorized for hazardous fuels reduction
under the Healthy Forests Restoration Act. Wyden and Feinstein
negotiated the Senate compromise upon which the final legislation
was based, clearing the way for the bill’s passage and its
signature by the president in December.
NOTE: The complete text of the
letter follows.
# # #
January 13, 2004
The Honorable George W. Bush
President of the United States
The White House
Washington, D.C. 20500
Dear Mr. President:
As you know, we have worked
very hard for the past two years to achieve common ground on fire
and forest health problems faced by our national forests. The
legislation that we enacted together in a bipartisan fashion at
the end of 2003 could protect thousands of communities and many
millions of acres of forest land, but the effectiveness of that
law will depend largely on achieving the necessary level of funding
to address countless threats to communities and forests across
the country.
The Healthy Forests Restoration
Act of 2003 (Public Law 108-148), which you signed into law one
month ago, authorizes $760,000,000 for each fiscal year to carry
out hazardous fuels reduction projects. This amount reflects data
collected by the National Association of State Foresters based
on the funding level necessary to treat all the at-risk federal
lands in the U.S. One of the most important actions you can take
as President to promote the success of the first forest management
legislation to be enacted in over a quarter century would be to
include this level of funding in your Forest Service and Department
of Interior FY 2005 budget.
We were very appreciative of
the active participation of your administration in the negotiations
with the House and Senate that produced the forests bill. Including
full funding of the $760,000,000 you agreed to in those negotiations
would be the single most decisive step you could take to ensure
broad support for the new law and its successful implementation.
Again, we ask that you include
$760,000,000 in the Forest Service and Department of Interior
budget for hazardous fuel reduction projects, and that you do
so without diminishing other important Forest Service or Department
of Interior accounts. Please let us know if you have any questions
regarding this request.
Sincerely,
Ron Wyden
U.S. Senator
Dianne Feinstein
U.S. Senator
Patty Murray
U.S. Senator
Tim Johnson
U.S. Senator