U.S. CONGRESS – U.S. Senator Steve Daines and Congressman Greg Gianforte sent a letter urging Congressional Leadership to pass their bipartisan forest management legislation by the end of the year. The bill will protect Montana communities from deadly wildfires, promote public safety and health, stop frivolous litigation, and create good paying timber jobs.
“We write to you near the end of another catastrophic wildfire year. Over 8.7 million acres have burned in the West, 2.2 million acres more than the ten-year average. Experts predict that this trend will continue, as rising temperatures lead to drier, hotter conditions in many parts of the West,” they wrote. “Each year that Congress delays in passing forestry legislation, we jeopardize the lives and homes of our constituents. We respectfully urge you to include provisions from S. 4431 in any end-of-year legislative package and support passage of this Western priority.”
To read the full letter, click HERE.
The bipartisan bill was introduced by Senators Daines (R-MT) and Feinstein (D-CA) and Congressmen Jimmy Panetta (D-CA), Doug LaMalfa (R-CA), and Greg Gianforte (R-MT).
The legislation also has the support of over 100 organizations, including governors, mayors, counties, conservation organizations, and fire departments.
Background:
On September 16th, 2020, in a U.S. Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee hearing, U.S. Senators Daines and Feinstein stressed the importance of passing their bipartisan wildfire prevention and forest management reform bill.
On September 9th, 2020, U.S. Senators Steve Daines and Dianne Feinstein announced that their bipartisan forest management reform bill had been given a hearing date in the U.S. Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee for the following week.
On August 20th, 2020, Daines sent a letter to the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee calling for a hearing as soon as possible on his bipartisan forest management reform legislation.
On August 17th, 2020, Daines hosted a roundtable discussion with local Montana leaders, conservation groups, leaders in the timber industry, and fire officials on his bipartisan forest management reform bill at Flathead National Forest.
Earlier this summer, Daines introduced his major forest management reform bill after working for over a year on a bipartisan product that would have strong bipartisan consensus.