Wildfire Mitigation Bill to be Released Today
Written by Andrew-Rossi on October 24, 2017
The U.S. Senate today will be releasing a draft piece of legislation aimed at mitigating wildfires around the country.
Wyoming Senator John Barrasso, chairman of the Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works, joined with other western Senators to release a staff draft of the Wildfire Prevention and Mitigation Act of 2017.
In a Senate hearing a month ago, Senator Barrasso pointed out that in Wyoming, and across the West, catastrophic fires have destroyed people’s homes, devastated wildlife, and claimed lives, adding that state and local forest managers need the flexibility to remove trees and dead wood that fuel these fires.
BARRASSO WILDFIRE BILL
Barasso says the proposed bill will provide commonsense tools and cut unnecessary red tape. The draft legislation will enhance forest management to more effectively mitigate severity of catastrophic wildfires. The bill will also provide increased protections for wildlife habitat threatened by wildfires.
