Healthy Forests : An Initiative for Wildfire Prevention and Stronger Communities

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The Need for Healthier Forests

• Federal lands are increasingly vulnerable to catastrophic fires.
• This fire season is among the worst in modern history.
• Catastrophic wildfires harm people, property, and the environment.

Overview: Current Efforts to Control Wildfires and Restore Forest Health

• Firefighters are effective in part because of additional federal resources provided for both firefighting and forest health programs.
• A comprehensive 10-year strategy to make communities safer from wildfires.
• The Administration is working to prevent future large, catastrophic fires by carrying out fuel treatment programs such as thinning and prescribed burning.
• Fuel treatment projects have prevented or stopped fires.
• Fuel Reduction in Rocky Mountain National Park
• The Administration is working to make its fuels treatment and forest health programs even more effective.
• The Administration is restoring record amounts of burned forests and rangelands.
• The Administration is
• The Administration is providing more thatn $428 million in fire prevention, prepardness, and suppression assistance this year to thousands of communities.
• Student Conservation Association volunteers have enlisted in the fight against wildfires.

The Need for Improved and Accelerated Forest Management

• Procedural delays are stalling critical forest and rangeland management projects.
• The appeals process is complex, time consuming, and burdensome.
• Delays caused by appeals can be disasterous when fires strike.
• Court injunctions can have broad impacts on management activities.
• Congress has recognized the effects of regulatory and administrative delays this fire season.

The Squires Fire: A Case Study in Fire and Forest Management Obstacles and Effects

• The value of fuels reduction projects.
• Legal and regulatory obstacles to timely implementation of fuels projects.

Photo Essay - Aftermath of the Squires Fire The Healthy Forest Area Survives

Fulfilling the Promise of the 1994 Northwest Forest Plan

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