McClintock Authors Bill To Immediately Suppress Fires In Federal Forests

Photo taken by: Jay Powers

Washington, DC — Mother Lode Republican Congressman Tom McClintock has authored federal legislation that would direct the US Forest Service to immediately suppress wildfires on National Forest System lands.

Forest managers would no longer allow fires to burn out naturally in selected areas for ecological benefit.

McClintock says, “As we have tragically witnessed firsthand, it is dangerous nonsense to ‘monitor’ incipient fires in today’s forest tinderbox. The U.S. Forest Service was formed to remove excess growth before it can burn and to preserve our forests in a healthy condition from generation to generation. It’s time they did.”

The co-author of the bill is California Republican Congressman Doug LaMalfa, who argues, “The Forest Service’s monitoring policy and ‘watch and wait’ has allowed multiple catastrophic fires to unnecessarily escalate and devastate our wildlands and rural towns.”

We reported earlier that the Tuolumne County Board of Supervisors sent a letter to the National Association of Counties, making a similar request, at the urging of board chair Anaiah Kirk. Click here to view the earlier story. That letter was approved with a 3-2 vote.