FOREST FUNDING GETS KEY APPROVAL MILLIONS EARMARKED FOR ROADS, CAMPSITES.Byline: Lisa Friedman Washington Bureau WASHINGTON - A key U.S. Senate panel approved $34.3 million in emergency funding Wednesday to repair roads and campgrounds devastated dev·as·tate tr.v. dev·as·tat·ed, dev·as·tat·ing, dev·as·tates 1. To lay waste; destroy. 2. To overwhelm; confound; stun: was devastated by the rude remark. by the winter floods in the Angeles, Cleveland, Los Padres and San Bernardino national forests. ``This is a godsend god·send n. Something wanted or needed that comes or happens unexpectedly. [Alteration of Middle English goddes sand, God's message : goddes, genitive of God, God ,'' said Matt Mathes, spokesman for the U.S. Forest Service's California region. ``We completely lost a lot of trails and roads due to landslides and erosion across the national forest in Southern California Southern California, also colloquially known as SoCal, is the southern portion of the U.S. state of California. Centered on the cities of Los Angeles and San Diego, Southern California is home to nearly 24 million people and is the nation's second most populated region, from the repeated heavy rains this winter,'' Mathes said. ``Entire sections of roads are just simply gone. It was an unprecedented situation.'' In February, damage to the northern end of Angeles National Forest The Angeles National Forest (ANF) was established by executive order on December 20, 1892 as the San Gabriel Timberland Reserve. It covers over 2,600 km² (650,000 acres) and is located in the San Gabriel Mountains of Los Angeles County, just north of the metropolitan area of Los was estimated at $10 million. Roads and trails were washed out and several campgrounds damaged. The popular Zuni and Streamside stream·side n. The land adjacent to a stream. campgrounds were covered in mud and parts of Zuni washed away as Bouquet Creek swelled. A third area campground, newly renovated for the disabled, also sustained heavy storm damage. Sen. Dianne Feinstein Dianne Goldman Berman Feinstein (born June 22, 1933) is the senior U.S. Senator from California, having held office as a senator since 1992. She is a member of the Democratic Party. , a member of the Senate Appropriations Committee In the United States government, the Appropriations Committee can refer to either:
Feinstein called the funding critical to firefighting efforts in Southern California, noting that the floods washed away 90 percent of access roads in the region's national forests. ``If there is a serious fire this summer, crews simply won't be able to reach vast tracts of land, and entire forests could go up in smoke. This funding is urgently needed to fix the roads, protect communities and save lives,'' she said. The funding includes $31.9 million to repair damaged fire roads and trails in the region's four national forests, and $2.4 million in National Forest System funding to repair campsites and other facilities. ``We were concerned about the impacts on recreational facilities,'' Mathes said, ``but our primary concern was access for firefighters and evacuation routes for communities.'' The bill also will include $103 million for emergency watershed protection The term watershed refers to an area of land that drains precipitation that falls on it to a common point. These points could be streams, lakes, etc. Precipitatoin falling on any part of a watershed can travel quickly on the surface of the land, known as surface runoff, or travel through , and Feinstein aides said $18 million of that pot is expected to fund local Southern California projects such as stabilizing stream banks to protect homes and building temporary flood walls and sediment storage basins to prevent flooding in Ventura, Los Angeles and San Bernardino counties. Staff Writer Patricia Farrell Aidem contributed to this story. Lisa Friedman, (202) 662-8731 lisa.friedman(at)langnews.com |
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