Hearing takes up wildfire, public land bills

By Michael Doyle | 07/08/2024 06:34 AM EDT

Bipartisan legislation would make it easier to keep power lines away from trees.

Smoke rises next to a power line tower after the Camp Fire moved through the area in 2018 in Big Bend, California.

Smoke rises next to a power line tower after the Camp Fire moved through Big Bend, California, in 2018. Justin Sullivan/Getty Images

A House Natural Resources subcommittee will take up legislation this week to prevent electric power lines from causing wildfires.

H.R. 6012, from Rep. Salud Carbajal (D-Calif.), would authorize the Forest Service authorize to allow the removal of trees around electrical lines on national forest land without conducting a timber sale.

“Our bill is a no-brainer for western states who have seen electrical equipment and dry, dead trees combine to create devastating wildfires in recent years,” Carbajal said of the “Fire Safe Electrical Corridors Act of 2023.”

Advertisement

Other bills on the agenda are:

GET FULL ACCESS