April 6, 2006

U.S. Senate Holds Hearing On 2006 Fire Season

Fire preparedness and an overview of this year's upcoming fire season was the focus of an oversight hearing held by the U.S. Senate on Wednesday, April 5. The fire season officially begins on June 1, 2006. Members of the Public Lands and Forest Subcommittee expressed concern over a shift in funding for hazardous fuel suppression reduction of $10 million for Southern California. Chairman Larry Craig (R-Idaho) commented that 2,000 less acres, for example, would be eligible for hazardous fuel work in Idaho, than originally planned.

Senator Ron Wyden (D-Oregon) echoed Senator Craig's concerns, saying there is "an unfortunate trend in how the government deals with fires." Senator Craig pledged to hold hearings on implementation of the Healthy Forest Act in July.

In his testimony, Mark Rey told Senators that 16 large air tankers, 58 medium and large helicopters, and eight C-130 military aircraft would be available to fight fires this summer. He went on to say that 26.2 million acres have been treated for hazardous fuels reduction, but that "Congress has failed to fund the Administration's requests."

The outlook for the 2006 fire season is that fire activity will be above that of last year, with severe fire predictions for the southwest, southern California, the Rocky Mountains, Texas, Oklahoma, and Central Alaska. Dry conditions exist from Florida to Virginia. The Interior Department and the USFS are planning for 17 Type I incident management teams and 38 Type II teams.

According to additional testimony from Mark Rey, $500 million remains in the contingency fire account for 2006, with suppression requests going up each year as fires and costs increase. Senator Wyden expressed his opinion that he is "not convinced the agencies spend the dollars they get in the correct way."

Senator Maria Cantwell (D-Washington) questioned panel members on a recent Inspector General (IG) report, and the findings contained therein on wildland firefighting actions by the Department of Agriculture. Specifically, Senator Cantwell asked questions regarding the findings and recommendations that will be contained in the report, due for release soon. USFS and Interior officials indicated they concur with the recommendations, although they "quibble" over some of the findings. New contract requirements related to five of the recommendations, with new programs underway with the agencies, will focus on the IG report this fire season.

View original article by Helicopter Association International