The House Natural Resources Committee on Wednesday endorsed a return to forest policy of a bygone era, approving a measure to once again suppress wildfires within 24 hours of detection.
In approving a bill by Rep. Tom McClintock (R-Calif.) on a voice vote, the committee backed a more aggressive approach to suppressing fire as a debate swirls about the Forest Service’s firefighting capacity.
“We need to return to policies that proved they work, and this is one of them,” said McClintock, who told colleagues he’s pursued the bill, H.R. 178, at the urging of local fire departments around the Sierra Nevada region he represents.
Democrats opposed the bill, saying it would bring back a total suppression policy that allowed forests to become overgrown in much of the last century and thus more vulnerable to wildfire. The practice officially ended in the 1970s.
