News
ENLARGE
It was a long time coming. U.S. Senators Mark Udall and Michael Bennet recently announced that Colorado will receive $30 million to address the impacts of the bark and spruce beetle epidemics.
The funds will be focused on the Medicine Bow and Routt, Arapaho and Roosevelt and White River national forests, which together are home to almost 3 million acres of dead lodgepole pine trees.
Udall's staff said that it took a lot of drumbeating to make Colorado's cause heard, and while it's not the first time money has been dedicated to the bark beetle fight, it's certainly the largest amount.
The funding comes nearly a decade after the outbreak was first recognized in the state's national forests. Udall, along with Bennet, former Rep. Joel Hefley other Colorado lawmakers, has been working to raise national awareness and bring funding to the issue ever since:
“You almost need an act of Congress to focus scarce resources on issues related to forest health,” Udall said, noting that the Forest Service's budget has been stretched thin in recent years, especially as wildfires around the nation have gotten worse.
“I'm gratified that we're making progress,” he said. “There is a public safety concern here, there is an economic concern, there's also an environmental concern, and they're all linked together.”
Udall and Bennet wrote a letter last fall to U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vislack, who oversees the U.S. Forest Service, urging him to provide emergency funding to Colorado to address the threat to public safety, infrastructure and the environment.
On Dec. 8, Vislak dedicated $40 million to the cause. Two months later, Udall announced that the bulk of that would go to Colorado. Protecting people and property against fire hazard and falling trees will be the funding's principal purpose.
“Colorado communities have been at the epicenter of the bark beetle epidemic,” said Udall, who also serves on the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee. “These funds will help enable communities to better protect property, people and facilities, help keep trails and campsites open and create and sustain jobs.”
Bennet, who serves on the Senate Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry Committee added that the bark beetle has not only impinged on the health of the state's forests but also on the viability of its water supply and local economy.
“I am delighted that so much of the funding designated to fight this epidemic has come to Colorado,” he said, adding that the priority will be to help protect critical infrastructure and communities that are at risk from fire.
While the Forest Service has yet to determine how it will distribute the funding amongst the three targeted national forests and multiple districts, Udall and Bennet have said that the money will be distributed to the neediest areas first.
Sites with dead standing trees along trails, roads, campgrounds, powerlines and other infrastructure will be dealt with first, but projects have not yet been prioritized nor is there a process or timeline in place for divvying the funds amongst districts, said Tammy Williams, public affairs specialist for the Arapaho and Roosevelt National Forest.
“Generally speaking, the money will help fund our hazard fuels reduction program,” Wiliams said. “We don't know the final amount (Arapaho and Roosevelt) is getting yet. We are in the process of prioritizing projects for the affected forests.”
Udall also has authored legislation to tackle the state's beetle kill problem. “The National Forest Insect and Disease Emergency Act of 2009” (S. 2798) would designate emergency “beetle kill disaster” areas, allowing the federal government to compensate individuals for removing dead trees. The bill would create incentives for converting dead trees into biofuels, authorize the Forest Service to expedite work in areas full of dead trees and create a “good neighbor authority” that would allow the Forest Service to contract with state foresters to reduce threats next to homes and private property.
The bill has been stuck in the Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources since it was introduced in November.
The funds will be focused on the Medicine Bow and Routt, Arapaho and Roosevelt and White River national forests, which together are home to almost 3 million acres of dead lodgepole pine trees.
Udall's staff said that it took a lot of drumbeating to make Colorado's cause heard, and while it's not the first time money has been dedicated to the bark beetle fight, it's certainly the largest amount.
The funding comes nearly a decade after the outbreak was first recognized in the state's national forests. Udall, along with Bennet, former Rep. Joel Hefley other Colorado lawmakers, has been working to raise national awareness and bring funding to the issue ever since:
“You almost need an act of Congress to focus scarce resources on issues related to forest health,” Udall said, noting that the Forest Service's budget has been stretched thin in recent years, especially as wildfires around the nation have gotten worse.
“I'm gratified that we're making progress,” he said. “There is a public safety concern here, there is an economic concern, there's also an environmental concern, and they're all linked together.”
Udall and Bennet wrote a letter last fall to U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vislack, who oversees the U.S. Forest Service, urging him to provide emergency funding to Colorado to address the threat to public safety, infrastructure and the environment.
On Dec. 8, Vislak dedicated $40 million to the cause. Two months later, Udall announced that the bulk of that would go to Colorado. Protecting people and property against fire hazard and falling trees will be the funding's principal purpose.
“Colorado communities have been at the epicenter of the bark beetle epidemic,” said Udall, who also serves on the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee. “These funds will help enable communities to better protect property, people and facilities, help keep trails and campsites open and create and sustain jobs.”
Bennet, who serves on the Senate Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry Committee added that the bark beetle has not only impinged on the health of the state's forests but also on the viability of its water supply and local economy.
“I am delighted that so much of the funding designated to fight this epidemic has come to Colorado,” he said, adding that the priority will be to help protect critical infrastructure and communities that are at risk from fire.
While the Forest Service has yet to determine how it will distribute the funding amongst the three targeted national forests and multiple districts, Udall and Bennet have said that the money will be distributed to the neediest areas first.
Sites with dead standing trees along trails, roads, campgrounds, powerlines and other infrastructure will be dealt with first, but projects have not yet been prioritized nor is there a process or timeline in place for divvying the funds amongst districts, said Tammy Williams, public affairs specialist for the Arapaho and Roosevelt National Forest.
“Generally speaking, the money will help fund our hazard fuels reduction program,” Wiliams said. “We don't know the final amount (Arapaho and Roosevelt) is getting yet. We are in the process of prioritizing projects for the affected forests.”
Udall also has authored legislation to tackle the state's beetle kill problem. “The National Forest Insect and Disease Emergency Act of 2009” (S. 2798) would designate emergency “beetle kill disaster” areas, allowing the federal government to compensate individuals for removing dead trees. The bill would create incentives for converting dead trees into biofuels, authorize the Forest Service to expedite work in areas full of dead trees and create a “good neighbor authority” that would allow the Forest Service to contract with state foresters to reduce threats next to homes and private property.
The bill has been stuck in the Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources since it was introduced in November.
