LUTHERAN QUILTERS – Members of the Quilts for Comfort Group stand between pews draped with some of the 205 quilts they made, in the Sitka Lutheran Church Tuesday. The group made the quilts for five local non-profits and one in Anchorage. The remaining quilts are sent to Lutheran World Relief which  distributes them to places around the world in need, such as Ukraine, as part of Personal Care Kits. Pictured are, from left, Helen Cunningham, Kathleen Brandt,Vicki Swanson, Paulla Hardy, Kim Hunter, Linda Swanson and Sue Fleming.  (Sentinel Photo by James Poulson)

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Daily Sitka Sentinel

Murkowski Speaks Out On Wildfire, Inventory

By Sentinel Staff

Sen. Lisa Murkowski, chairman of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, held a hearing in Washington today on a draft of her “Wildfire Budgeting, Response and Forest Management Act.”

Murkowski released the draft bill on May 25, with ranking member Maria Cantwell, D-Wash., and Sens. Ron Wyden, D-Ore.; Jim Risch, R-Idaho; and Mike Crapo, R-Idaho. 

 “People across the country are realizing that wildfires are a growing crisis,” Murkowski said. “Alaskans, in particular, know how devastating wildfires can be. About half of the 10 million acres that burned last year were in my home state, and we have already seen over 200 more fires this season alone.”

Murkowski is particularly critical of the practice of “fire borrowing,” in which the Forest Service takes funds from other programs for wildfire emergencies. She said her act increases preventative measures to reduce the risk of wildfires, authorizes programs to fire-adapt vulnerable communities, and improves forest management in Alaska and across the nation.  

 “The wildfire problem is not just a budget problem – it’s also a management problem,” Murkowski said. “Healthy, resilient forests are fire-resistant forests. And yet, despite knowing the value of fuel reduction treatments in mitigating wildfire risks, increasing firefighter safety, and restoring the health of our forests, active management is still often met with a series of discouraging and near insurmountable obstacles.”

Murkowski was critical of the Obama Administration’s policy on forest management.

“The administration claims that it will use the hundreds of millions of dollars in funding that it wants to move off-budget for forest restoration and other measures that allow you to get ahead of the problem,” Murkowski said. “Regrettably, however, the President’s budget request for the Forest Service simply doesn’t bear this out. The bottom line is that the administration is saying one thing and doing another.” 

 Murkowski included $1.6 billion for wildfire suppression in last year’s omnibus, which is $600 million above the average cost over the past ten years, and may be enough to prevent fire borrowing in FY 2016.

Last week, Murkowski reported her FY 2017 Interior-Environment Appropriations bill to the full Senate with funding targeted at ending fire borrowing.

She also spoke today in support of a provision that she included to ensure that the Forest Service conducts a full inventory of young-growth timber in the Tongass National Forest in Southeast Alaska.

Murkowski’s office said last week that the inventory requirement is “not Tongass specific.” 

As chairman of the subcommmittee on Interior, Environment, and Related Agencies Appropriations, Murkowski said she will block adoption of the Tongass National Forest transition plan for a second-growth timber industry until a nationwide inventory of young growth timber is completed. She said her bill  has $77 million for the inventory, “and builds efforts to include Interior Alaska inventories.”

 

In today’s hearing Murkowki said, “This inventory needs to be real, and not just something that looks good on paper, because jobs and livelihoods are at stake. The Forest Service needs to do what’s right and undertake what the Tongass Advisory Committee called for in its recommendations – a comprehensive, stand-level inventory to address the uncertainties that exist in the supply, volume, and timing of the availability of young-growth to support a transition.”

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20 YEARS AGO

March 2004

Advertisement: Tea-Licious Tea House & Bakery 315 Lincoln Street Grand Opening! Freshly Baked Scones, Cakes & Pastries Innovative Salads, Soups & Sandwiches Harney & Sons Tea. Lunch * Afternoon Tea * Supper.

50 YEARS AGO

March 1974

Photo caption: National Republican Chairman George Bush takes a drink of water offered by Jan Craddick, Sitka delegate, during the Republican convention held here. Mrs. Craddick explained to Bush that the water was from Indian River, which means, according to local legend, that he will return.

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