22 



crease the likelihood of a more desirable species mix. Quite often 

 though material that needs to be removed is smaller and 

 unmerchantable, and that has been a problem for us in attempting 

 to move forward with our salvage sale program. 



Finally, let me turn to the wildland/urban interface issue. The 

 interface exhibits all of the forest health problems we've already 

 discussed and, because of the values at risk, magnifies the chal- 

 lenges we face in avoiding catastrophic fire. To address these 

 unique problems we are placing special emphasis on collaboration 

 between Federal and State management agencies, work with local 

 government entities and with private property owners to attempt 

 to protect lands and resource values in that interface. 



Now let me turn to the firefighting organization. I am extremely 

 proud of the central role the Forest Service plays and has played 

 in an interagency wildland firefighting effort. Upwards of 98 per- 

 cent of all wildfires in a normal year are suppressed upon initial 

 attack — 98 percent. More importantly, I can say that we are fight- 

 ing fire efficiently and effectively, but also in a safe manner. 



Even though the agency does an outstanding job of combating 

 wildfires, the program we believe can be made even better. One 

 area that clearly needs attention is the way in which resources are 

 allocated to fire activities, specifically the division between 

 presuppression and suppression activities. 



It is true that an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. 

 If we shortchange presuppression activities, we almost certainly in- 

 crease the overall expense of fighting wildfires. To this end the De- 

 partment of Agriculture in conjunction with the Department of the 

 Interior is contemplating proposing to Congress the establishment 

 of a permanent appropriation that would finance fire suppression 

 and fuel reduction activities. It would move the Forest Service to 

 a fire management posture where periodic fire is a regular part of 

 the fire management regime. It is very important that we acceler- 

 ate our efforts to develop defensible fire zones and to start reducing 

 the risks of catastrophic fire. If a permanent appropriation were 

 available, we believe work could proceed wherever the opportunity 

 existed. 



Also on the legislative front the Department of Agriculture this 

 week forwarded to the Congress proposed legislation that would ad- 

 dress the dire need for additional airtankers to assist us in 

 wildland firefighting. Large airtankers owned and operated by pri- 

 vate sector contractors have been a critical component of Federal 

 wildland firefighting forces since 1954. A shortage of suitable 

 airtankers is now evident. In 1996 the Forest Service was able to 

 contract for only 39 aircraft in the face of a need for 41. As few 

 as 35 of these planes may be flying at the end of the contract pe- 

 riod. 



Our proposed legislation is designed to ensure that a fleet of effi- 

 cient, safe and cost-effective airtankers is available to support fire- 

 fighting activities, and we're going to need your assistance in get- 

 ting that legislation enacted this Congress. 



I would like to mention one additional challenge to our firefight- 

 ing capabilities, and this was mentioned again by one of the panel- 

 ists before us, and that's our capabilities and our institutional abil- 

 ity to fight fire, specifically the availability of firefighters and peo- 



