Thursday, September 12, 2002

Mr. President, I rise to support the Craig 2nd Degree Amendment. This amendment will address the continuing problem of hazardous fuels buildup in our nation’s forests. Unfortunately, the excessive buildup of these fire producing fuels has reached a crisis stage.

Nowhere is this fact more evident than what has happened in our forests this year. Currently, conditions in our nation’s forests are terrible. The fire risks as a result of the buildup of these fuels are extremely high. According to the Society of American Foresters, “As a result of 80 years of fuels accumulation and several years of drought, the potential for wildfire is at an all time high in many regions of the U.S.” In addition to this, recent forest service estimates indicate that approximately 73 million of the nation’s national forests are at risk from “catastrophic” wildfire.

For many of the states, the damage is already done. As you all know, many western states have experienced devastating wildfires–fires that have not only destroyed homes and property, but vast acres of trees and wildlife as well. As of late August, more than 6.3 million acres of land have burned this fire season–more than double the 10-year average. So far in this fire season, we have seen devastating fires in Colorado, Arizona, New Mexico, Alaska and Oregon.

The time for addressing the problem of excessive fuels buildup in our forests is long overdue. Current efforts to reduce fuel loads are taking far too long due to senseless bureaucratic delays. According to the U.S. Forest Service, it can take up to 8 years to plan and execute a relatively routine fuels reduction projects. We simply cannot afford to wait this long.

We are talking about good science-based forest management here. In a letter to the St. Louis Post Dispatch, Dr. Gene Garrett of the University of Missouri School of Natural Resources who has studied and taught forestry for over 32 years indicates, “In many forests in the west, trees become susceptible to insects and disease, die off, and add their wood mass to an already excessive fuel load on the forest floor. Studies have shown that fuel loads are 5-10 times higher per acre in the pine and mixed conifer types in the west than during pre-settlement times. Forest Scientists all across the country believe that reduction of these excessive fuel loads is the necessary and prudent action to take to restore the health of our forests.

If we do not address this problem now, we risk losing many of America’s most pristine forests due wildfire devastation. Congress needs to pass legislation to streamline and expedite the clearing of these fire producing fuels.

I believe that the Craig Hazardous Fuels Reduction Amendment will accomplish this goal. This amendment is designed to cut through bureaucratic red tape and speed up the review and approval process for fuels reduction efforts.

Specifically, this amendment limits projects to areas that qualify as Condition Class 3 or high fire risk areas with priority placed on Wildlife Urban Interface zones, municipal watersheds, diseased, dying, insect infected or wind thrown trees and areas susceptible to reburn.

Proposed projects must also be consistent with the applicable forest plan, resource management plan, or other applicable agency plan. Furthermore, this amendment limits the aggregate treatment area to 10 million acres of federal land or roughly 6% of the 190 million acres of federal lands that are at high risk for wildfire.

Finally, the Craig Amendment allows parties to seek judicial review in federal district court.

This Amendment is important to Missouri because it addresses most of the causes of excessive fuels buildup in Missouri Forests:

1) There has been a significant increase in fuels in the Mark Twain National Forest as a result of a serious tornado that occurred in Southeast Missouri on 4/24/02.

According to the U.S. Forest Service’s Tornado Fuels Assessment for the Mark Twain, heavy winds from the tornado caused tops of trees to be broken off, stems splintered and whole trees to be uprooted. Because of this damage, fuels in this region of the forest have increased by anywhere from 5-25 times pre-tornado conditions.

Fuels in the tornado affected areas are now classified under two levels: “very high to extreme fire danger” and “high fire danger” Currently, over 470 valuable private structures near this damaged area are endangered by this fuels buildup.

2) Missouri has a significant number of Wildlife Urban Interface areas. These are areas in and around forests that have a high population with a significant number of private structures. Some of these areas include individual residences, numerous rural subdivisions and small towns. These areas are particularly prevalent in Southeast Misouri.

3) In addition to the tornado, several years of drought, oak decline and oak mortality have accelerated the process of fuels buildup in other areas of the Mark Twain. The USFS has prepared an Environmental Impact Statement(EIS) for oak decline and forest health for a 192,000 acre area of the of the Mark Twain where trees are dying from a combination of age, drought and insect infestation(red oak bores and two line chestnut bores).

Conclusion:

The first of Missouri’s two fire seasons starts next month. The most recent high wildfire season in Missouri occurred in 2000 when over 8,700 acres of wooded lands burned– more than 3,000 acres over the ten year average. The time for this body to act on this problem is now.

As stated earlier, I believe that the Craig Amendment will address most of the fuels buildup issues in Missouri’s Forests, and prioritize them for expedited cleanup. In closing, I urge you to vote in favor of this amendment. By expediting the cleanup or clearing of these fuels, Missouri and the rest of the nation can expect to see the risks of catastrophic wildfires reduced.