[Vision2020] Fw: CRAPO CALLS FOR SUFFICIENT FIREFIGHTING FUNDS FOR WILDLAND FIRES IN IDAHO

[lfalen]

All
More funding was allocated to fighting fires. This is good, however it was included in the defence bill. I object to this procedure. All legislation should stand on its own merits and not be buried in an unrelated bill.
Roger
-----Original message-----

From: "Crapo News Release (Crapo)" newsclips at crapo.senate.gov
Date: Fri, 09 Nov 2007 08:50:08 -0800
To: 
Subject: CRAPO CALLS FOR SUFFICIENT FIREFIGHTING FUNDS FOR  WILDLAND FIRES IN IDAHO

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CONTACT:      Susan Wheeler (202) 224-5150

November 9, 2007
Marques Chavez (202) 224-7518

 

 

CRAPO CALLS FOR SUFFICIENT FIREFIGHTING FUNDS FOR  WILDLAND FIRES IN
IDAHO


Sends letters to Interior, Agriculture Secretaries


 

Washington, DC - Idaho Senator Mike Crapo wants to ensure that
sufficient funds are made available for wildland fire management in
Idaho, including recovery and rehabilitation efforts underway from this
year's fires.  In letters sent to Interior Secretary Dirk Kempthorne and
Acting Agriculture Secretary Chuck Connor, Crapo noted that the funds
are crucial for fighting and recovery from wildland fires in the state.
Wildland Fire Management funds in the Fiscal Year 2008 Continuing
Resolution are designated for the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) in the
Department of the Interior, and the U.S. Forest Service in the
Department of Agriculture.  The Continuing Resolution was passed last
night as part of the Defense Appropriations bill.   

 

"It is my hope that some of this newly-appropriated assistance will be
used for firefighting efforts in Idaho, including emergency wildfire
suppression and the replenishment of depleted resources that were
expended for fighting fires in 2007," Crapo said in the letters.

 

Idaho has had a particularly brutal fire season this year.  There were
904 fires in Idaho which burned approximately 1.72 million acres of
land.  Fighting large fires cost the U.S. Forest Service and the BLM
nearly $150 million in Idaho.  This figure does not include expenditures
to fight fires subdued by an initial attack or for fires contained
within a small area.

 

Both departments will receive an increase in the funds available for
firefighting efforts.  The Continuing Resolution contains funding at
$329 million above the 2007 level for the Department of Agriculture for
emergency wildfire suppression, hazardous fuel reduction, the
rehabilitation and restoration of federal lands and facilities and
replenishing funds that have been exhausted fighting fires in 2007.  The
Department of the Interior has been funded $171 million above the 2007
level for the same purposes. 

 

"With devastating wildland fires, the primary emergency response garners
the most attention, but the need for adequate funding is ongoing to
mitigate the damage and prevent similar tragedies in the future," Crapo
said.  "I want to ensure the needs of Idahoans and affected lands are
not overlooked after the fires themselves have died down.  I look
forward to working with Secretaries Kempthorne and Conner to address the
needs of Idaho communities."  

 

Copies of the letters accompany this news release.

 

To directly link to this news release, please use the following address:


 

# # #

 

FOR INTERESTED MEDIA: A radio actuality is available by calling
1-800-545-1267.  Press 327 at any time during or after the greeting and
instructions.  You can also access the actuality through the Internet at
http://src.senate.gov/radio/.

This is generated from an unattended mailbox. If you have constituent
comments or information you would like forwarded to Senator Crapo,
please do so at the Senator's website, http://crapo.senate.gov
<http://crapo.senate.gov/> . Comments sent to this e-mail address will
not be responded to.

 


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Subject: CRAPO CALLS FOR SUFFICIENT FIREFIGHTING FUNDS FOR WILDLAND FIRES IN
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