RESOURCE MANAGEMENT AND FIRE 

 CONTROL POLICIES 



THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 12, 1996 



U.S. House of Representatives, Subcommittee on 

 National Parks, Forests and Lands, Committee on 

 Resources 



Washington, DC. 



The Subcommittee convened at 3:10 p.m. in room 1334 of the 

 Longworth House Office Building, the Honorable James V. Hansen, 

 Chairman of the Subcommittee, presiding. 



Chairman Hansen. The Committee will come to order. 



STATEMENT OF THE HON. JAMES V. HANSEN, A U.S. 

 REPRESENTATIVE FROM UTAH 



Chairman Hansen. The Subcommittee on National Parks, For- 

 ests and Lands will now convene its oversight on the Forest Serv- 

 ice's resource management and fire control policies. This issue cer- 

 tainly deserves more time than we can provide today. However, the 

 severity of the current fire season and a number of related land 

 management issues compel us to take an initial look at how we got 

 to the current condition and what is needed to reduce fire danger 

 in the future. 



I am particularly interested in learning how the new Federal 

 Wildland Fire Policy will enable the Forest Service to reduce the 

 magnitude and severity of wildland fires in the future, and how the 

 agency will integrate that policy into its land management process. 



Who will determine where and when fires should be allowed to 

 burn, or where prescribed fires will be introduced? Who will deter- 

 mine what actions should be taken to reduce fuel loads before they 

 go up in smoke? 



Will District Rangers have the authority to determine when 

 burned or damaged timber may be salvaged, and whether condi- 

 tions warrant emergency actions? 



A 1994 study of customer satisfaction on the Dixie National For- 

 est in Southern Utah, where bark beetle infestations have de- 

 stroyed much of the forest, found that most people feel that timber 

 harvest should be used to maintain healthy forests and that dead 

 and dying trees should be salvaged. 



As the Forest Supervisor has explained to me, prescribed fire as 

 an alternative would be most difficult to use on the Dixie because 

 of the heavy vegetation and large amounts of dead fuels. Instead, 

 I am told that salvage sales remain the first and best option for 

 removing large quantities of flammable fuels from timber stands, 

 and that the use of prescribed fire would be viable only after sal- 

 CD 



