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Chairman Khanna to Hold Hearing on Wildfire Response with U.S. Forest Service, Environmental Experts and Advocates

Washington, D.C. (March 10, 2022)—On Wednesday, March 16, 2022, at 10:00 a.m. ET, Rep. Ro Khanna, Chairman of the Subcommittee on Environment, will hold a hearing to examine the urgent need for the federal government to adopt better wildfire preparation measures, and discuss the human toll of wildfires that are becoming larger and more severe due to drought, global warming, and other climate stressors.

Forests stretch across approximately one-third of the land in the United States and hold important cultural significance, protect biodiversity, and promote recreation. Forests also mitigate climate change by sequestering and storing carbon, offsetting approximately 15% of annual U.S. carbon emissions from fossil fuels.

While wildfires are an important part of maintaining healthy forest ecosystems, careful prevention work is crucial to mitigating the damage from increasingly dangerous fires. The hearing will examine several strategies the Forest Service employs to prevent wildfires including prescribed burns, thinning, and commercial logging, as well as the challenges the Forest Service faces, such as a tight budget and an influential commercial logging industry.

Allowing Tribes and traditional ecological knowledge-holders to play a leading role in forest management can improve wildfire resilience and protect cultural resources. The Forest Service increasingly partners with Tribes on restoration projects through the Tribal Relations Program, but challenges persist in securing permits and local support for cultural prescribed burns.

This hearing will examine the Forest Service’s efforts and plans to mitigate and respond to wildfires, and hear from experts and environmental advocates, including internationally renowned singer and songwriter Carole King, about the urgent need to adopt better wildfire preparation measures in the face of intensifying fires due to climate change and human development.

 

WHAT: 

Subcommittee on Environment hearing entitled, “Fighting Fire with Fire: Evaluating the Role of Forest Management in Reducing Catastrophic Wildfires”

 

WHEN:

Wednesday, March 16, 2022, at 10:00 a.m. ET

 

WHO:   

Mr. Randy Moore

Chief, U.S. Forest Service

U.S. Department of Agriculture

 

Ms. Carole King

Celebrated Singer-songwriter, Land Conservation Advocate

 

Ms. Ali Meders-Knight

Mechoopda Tribal Member

Traditional Ecological Knowledge Practitioner

 

Dr. Michael Gollner 

Associate Professor of Mechanical Engineering

University of California, Berkeley

Deb Faculty Fellow

Berkeley Fire Research Lab

 

Dr. Dominick A. DellaSala

Chief Scientist, Wild Heritage

Project of Earth Island Institute

 

Additional witnesses to be announced

 

WATCH: 

A livestream will be available on YouTube and the Committee on Oversight and Reform website.

 

MEDIA:  

The Committee strongly recommends that members of the media view the hearing proceedings remotely. Seating in the hearing room is extremely limited and as a result, credentialed media must RSVP to the Oversight Committee Democrats Press Office at oversightpress@mail.house.gov no later than 5 p.m. ET on March 15, 2022.