Rep. McClintock creates legislation to end what he calls "let it burn" policy of USFS

Two US Congressmen, Tom McClintock (CA-04) and Doug LaMalfa (CA-01) introduced legislation this week, directing the U.S. Forest Service to immediately suppress wildfires on National Forest System. They called for an end to what they say is the USFS "let it burn" policy.

H.R. 6903 requires that “to the extent practicable, use all available resources to carry out wildfire suppression with the purpose of extinguishing wildfires detected on National Forest System lands not later than 24 hours after such a wildfire is detected.”

“This ‘let burn’ policy of federal land managers began in 1972, during the height of the radical environmental movement,” McClintock said. “Essentially, it holds that ‘fire is our friend.’ It stems from the premise that fire is nature’s way of cleaning up forests, and that active suppression of fires leads to a build-up of excess fuels. As we have tragically witnessed firsthand, it is dangerous nonsense to ‘monitor’ incipient fires in today’s forest tinderbox. The U.S. Forest Service was formed to remove excess growth before it can burn and to preserve our forests in a healthy condition from generation to generation. It’s time they did.”

According to the USFS regional forester for the Pacific Southwest Region, Jennifer Eberlien, the USFS, its firefighters and partners suppress over 98 percent of all wildfires during the initial attack with aggressive firefighting techniques that use all available resources. She said in California last year, they suppressed over 1,100 wildfires in areas they are responsible for.

In January 2022, Forest Service Chief Randy Moore launched a comprehensive response to the growing wildfire crisis – “Confronting the Wildfire Crisis: A Strategy for Protecting Communities and Improving Resilience in America’s Forests.” The strategy outlines the need to significantly increase fuels and forest health treatments to address the escalating crisis of wildfire danger that threatens millions of acres and numerous communities across the United States.

The strategy highlights new research on what Forest Service scientists identified as high-risk “firesheds” – large, forested landscapes with a high likelihood that an ignition could expose homes, communities, infrastructure, and natural resources to wildfire. Firesheds, typically about 250,000 acres in size, are mapped to match the scale of community exposure to wildfire.

“The days of ‘monitoring’ fires must end – Northern California is burning up at a record rate. The Forest Service’s monitoring policy and ‘watch and wait’ has allowed multiple catastrophic fires to unnecessarily escalate and devastate our wildlands and rural towns,” LaMalfa said. “In 24 hours, what starts out as a small blaze can expand to consume thousands of homes, municipal facilities, and businesses. Drought-stricken, unmanaged, overgrown forests are a ticking timebomb for another massive fire. In addition to aggressive initial attacks on fires, we must properly manage our forests by thinning near towns and infrastructure, clear a wider buffer zone around power lines, as well as use roads as firebreaks. Our forests are overgrown, the long-term solution is to return to proper management and aggressively thin them. Why is America the number 2 importer of wood while our own forests burn to the ground - causing untold damage to families, pollution that chokes half the country, and destroying the environment?”

Congressman McClintock and Congressman LaMalfa sent a letter to Chief of the U.S. Forest Service Randy Moore urging him to implement these policies for the upcoming wildfire season. McClintock's district covers the Lake Tahoe Basin and portions of the Sierra south through Yosemite and the Sequoia National Forest.

The bill has been referred to the Committee on Agriculture and Committee on Natural Resources for review by the Speaker of the House.