Forests: better green than black: protecting our forests from wildfires has become a national priority.

Hayman ... Cerro Grande ... Rodeo-Chediski ... as these fires raged across the intermountain West the last couple of years, the issue of forest management catapulted into the national spotlight. As thousands of firefighters battled blazes in western forests, Congress was fighting its own battle over how to improve forest health and decrease the catastrophic nature of wildfires.

Severe droughts, bark beetle infestations, timber harvesting, grazing and more than 100 years of fire suppression have made our forests vulnerable to wildfires. Hot summer weather, lightning strikes and fierce winds can produce the wildfires that wreak havoc.

Although natural conditions affect the type and severity of wildfires, the presence of homes in an area exacerbates the problem. The firefighting techniques used by the U.S. Forest Service are geared for wildland blazes and are different from those used to fight fires in populated areas. Rural areas adjacent to cities (called the urban wildland interface) have become extremely attractive to builders. More than 20 million acres of privately owned wildlands were developed between 1970 and 1990. The homes are often built of wood and are surrounded by thick forests, presenting a great risk when fire breaks out.

Firefighters must modify how they fight blazes in these areas to help save houses, but homeowners have a responsibility as well. "Residential losses don't have to occur," says Jack Cohen with the Fire Sciences Lab's Fire Behavior Project, "even during extreme wildfires." Research shows that if the area around the home (about l00 to 200 feet) is cleared of dead grasses and wood and trees are thinned, there's a good chance the home won't be lost in a wildfire. "But that area is typically privately owned," he says. "That means homeowners have to take the actions necessary to reduce their homes' vulnerability to wildfires."

KEEPING FORESTS HEALTHY

No one questions the benefits of healthy forests. They provide homes for wildlife, spawning grounds for some of our nation's most valuable fisheries and buffers against flood damage. They contain the main sources of our nation's drinking water. Even New York City's water comes from the watersheds in the Catskill Mountains.

How best to protect the forests is where the controversy arises and is what Congress struggled with last summer.

President Bush's Healthy Forests Initiative (which became law in December 2003) focuses heavily on reducing the fuels--young trees, brush and dead wood--accumulated on federal lands. "We need to thin," he said.

But coming to agreement in Congress on how to implement the president's initiative wasn't easy. The Senate wanted to include language to protect old growth forests in exchange for restrictions on appeals of logging projects. The House wanted limits on the number of alternatives that can be studied when making environmental assessments of logging projects.

There was disagreement over funding. Senators proposed an annual appropriation of $760 million to pay for fuel reduction projects and a mandate that at least half of it be used in urban wildland areas. The House wanted funding to come from timber sales.

Agreement was finally reached last November, and the Healthy Forests Restoration Act became law. The final, bipartisan bill included the $760 million annual appropriation for fuel reduction, 50 percent of which is to be dedicated to thinning near residential communities.

A streamlined process for administrative and judicial review of thinning projects is included--requiring the Forest Service to propose as many as three plans: a proposal of action, one of inaction and an alternative. Federal courts, when necessary, will help decide the matter of balancing the environmental consequences of thinning with doing nothing.

The secretaries of agriculture and interior have received directives on how to plan and conduct thinning and clearing projects on national forest, national park and Bureau of Land Management parcels, including those that are home to threatened and endangered species. Projects that safeguard communities and watersheds are priorities. Funding for these projects, however, is uncertain.

Although an annual $760 million for hazardous fuel reduction was authorized under the act, the White House budget contains only $80 million to $100 million in new money for thinning projects in 2005. The president's budget asks for only $685 million for firefighting, even though more than $1 billion a year was spent in three of the past four years. Overruns in firefighting may force the Forest Service to borrow money from other programs, including hazardous fuels reduction. Once this money is transferred from programs for firefighting, it is not likely to be restored by Congress. As of August 1, Congress had not passed a final budget resolution for FY 2005, leaving the final budget for forest thinning activities in question due to current differences in the House and Senate resolutions.

STATES RESPOND

States own and regulate most of our forests. Private and state landowners hold 73 percent of the nation's forests, while the federal government owns the other 27 percent, largely in the western states.

Thirty-one percent of the acres consumed by wildfires during 2003 were in state forests. And while the federal act does not directly affect those lands, state and privately owned acres that back up to federal lands--especially those in the interface zones--are indirectly affected, putting an onus on the states to respond.

States are using a variety of approaches. Oregon passed a law in 2003 that requires cooperation among the state departments of Fish and Wildlife, Parks and Recreation, and Forestry, as well as the Division of State Lands, to reduce the risk of catastrophic loss of state forest land from disease, insect infestation and wildland fires.

Oregon Representative Tim Knopp says that there was a lack of communication and little planning among state agencies. "I hope HB 3152 leads to a more cooperative effort to manage our forests responsibly through thinning," he says. "I prefer our forests green, not black."

The Wisconsin Assembly passed a resolution introduced by Representative Donald Friske, chairman of tile Assembly Forestry Committee, that encourages sound forest harvesting techniques. This includes using selective thinning or clear cutting. "It was my belief that the state government had to take a position in support of sound science and best forestry management techniques," Friske said. "Silence could be viewed by industry, environmental groups and the public as ambivalence toward the proper stewardship of our prime renewable natural resource and economic base."

Arizona House Speaker Jake Flake and Senate President Ken Bennett convened a 13-member task force on forest health that included lawmakers and representatives for ranching, logging and water, in addition to Indian tribes and scientists. Unlike the rest of the country, the majority of the state's millions of acres of forest are under the direct supervision of the federal government and Indian tribes. But the lawmakers acknowledge that the state still has a responsibility in looking out for the long-term health of its forests.

Three counties in Montana--Lewis and Clark, Broadwater, and Jefferson--developed programs to educate those living in the urban wildland interface zone on how to prevent wildfire on their property. The state forester's office uses federal funds to build fire breaks around homes in the forests. To date, 300 homes have been protected.

As drought, insect infestations and development continue in interface zones, wildfire management will have the attention of federal and state lawmakers. And while views vary as to how best to manage the dangers, the need continues.

2003 WILDLAND FIRES

                   Number of      Total Acres     Percent
State            Wildland Fires     Burned      State Owned

Alaska                  451          559,332         32%
Alabama               1,249           12,260         97
Arkansas              1,751           25,446         85
Arizona               2,868          193,475          3
California            9,116          793,402         47
Colorado              2,027           27,655         47
Connecticut              97              138        100
Delaware                  4               22        100
Florida               2,118           34,366         78
Georgia               3,392            9,794         96
Hawaii                    2            6,465          0
Iowa                     34            3,417          0
Idaho                 1,845          312,932          4
Illinois                 16            1,346         78
Indiana                 630            4,344         76
Kansas                3,205           52,864         99
Kentucky                956           20,931         99
Louisiana               773           18,147         37
Massachusetts         1,749            1,530         98
Maryland                126            1,140        100
Maine                   625              870        100
Michigan                719            7,002         66
Minnesota             3,376          144,420         60
Missouri              2,537           49,855         96
Mississippi             257            4,803         53
Montana               2,326          735,619         17
North Carolina        1,930            8,636         97
North Dakota            743           40,498         70
Nebraska                320            3,667         82
New Hampshire           320               99        100
New Jersey              729            1,460        100
New Mexico            1,591           82,528         13
Nevada                  797           17,582          5
New York                115              704         95
Ohio                    516            3,889         99
Oklahoma              1,950           97,500         76
Oregon                2,599          160,191          5
Pennsylvania            211              924         96
Rhode Island             80               91        100
South Carolina          238            2,913         25
South Dakota            206           34,471          7
Tennessee               957            8,140         84
Texas                   982           46,827         77
Utah                  1,630          115,994         16
Virginia                429            3,743         98
Vermont                 101              102         99
Washington            1,373          200,517          8
Wisconsin             2,320            6,069         88
West Virginia           648            8,094         99
Wyoming                 557           94,514          0
Totals               63,591        3,960,728         31%

Source: National Interagency Coordination Center and NCSL, 2004.

Jennifer Smith tracks forestry issues for NCSL.