Dr. Bradley Colman, President-Elect of the American Meteorological
Society; Director of Weather-Strategy, Bayer & The Climate Corporation
Dr. Kevin R. Petty, VP, Weather and Earth Intelligence, Spire Global,
Inc.
Dr. Fred Carr, Professor Emeritus, School of Meteorology, University
of Oklahoma
Dr. Scott Glenn, Board of Governors Professor Center for Ocean
Observing Leadership of the Department of Marine and Coastal Sciences,
Rutgers University
On Tuesday, June 14, 2022 at 10:00 a.m. ET, in room 1324 Longworth House
Office Building and via Cisco WebEx the Subcommittee on National Parks,
Forests, and Public Lands will hold a hybrid legislative
hearing
on the following bills:
H.R.
1548(Rep.
Matt Cartwright, D-PA) To establish a pilot program for native plant
species, and for other purposes. Native Plant Species Pilot Program
Act of 2021.
H.R.
4658
(Rep. Ted Lieu, D-CA) To designate the Encinal Trailhead on the
Backbone Trail in the Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area
as the “Anthony ‘Tony’ Beilenson Trailhead.” Beilenson Trailhead
Designation Act.
H.R.
6364(Rep.
Matt Cartwright, D-PA) To amend the Delaware Water Gap National
Recreation Area Improvement Act to extend the exception to the closure
of certain roads within the Recreation Area for local businesses, and
for other purposes.
H.R.
6442(Rep.
Russ Fulcher, R-ID) To amend section 101703 of title 54, United
States Code, to include Tribal Governments and quasi-governmental
entities, and for other purposes. PACTS Act.
H.R.
7496(Rep.
Stacey Plaskett, D-VI) To direct the Secretary of the Interior to
install a plaque at the peak of Ram Head in the Virgin Islands
National Park on St. John, United States Virgin Islands, to
commemorate the slave rebellion that began on St. John in 1733.
H.R.
7615(Rep.
Blake Moore, R-UT) To authorize the Secretary of the Interior to
enter into partnerships to develop housing, and for other purposes.
LODGE Act.
H.R.
7693(Rep.
Bruce Westerman, R-AR) To amend title 54, United States Code, to
reauthorize the National Park Foundation. National Park Foundation
Reauthorization Act of 2022.
H.R.
7952(Rep.
Madeleine Dean, D-PA) To authorize the Secretary of the Interior to
issue a right-of-way permit with respect to a natural gas distribution
pipeline within Valley Forge National Historical Park, and for other
purposes. Valley Forge Park Realignment Permit and Promise Act.
House Natural Resources Committee
National Parks, Forests and Public Lands Subcommittee
The Committee on Rules will
meet
on Monday, June 13, 2022 at 2:00 PM EDT in
H-313, The Capitol on the following measures:
H.R. 2543—Federal Reserve
Racial and Economic Equity Act [Financial Services Racial Equity,
Inclusion, and Economic Justice Act]
H.R. 2773—Recovering
America’s Wildlife Act of 2021
H.R. 7606—Meat and Poultry
Special Investigator Act of 2022 [Lower Food and Fuel Costs Act]
H.R. 7606 includes
language
to waive Clean Air Act restrictions on ethanol blending and new support
for ethanol and biodiesel.
H.R. 2773, which will fund multi-stakeholder efforts to conserve and
monitor at-risk species, known in states as Species of Greatest
Conservation Need (SGCN), is supported by The Wildlife
Society.
The Environmental and Energy Study Institute (EESI) invites you to a
briefing on policies and practices to address
wildfires.
Billions of dollars are spent fighting wildfires every year, and the
cascading economic, health, and societal impacts of wildfires are
enormous. Compounding these challenges, wildfires also release
greenhouse gases and harmful aerosols into the atmosphere. Over the last
century, battling wildfires after they have started has been the main
approach to address this threat. Yet, with record-setting fire seasons
happening almost every year, more proactive and preventative steps are
needed.
Panelists will discuss policies and practices that would allow the
United States to reduce the overall risk of wildfires, including how
innovations in community-centered wildfire protection can improve
resilience for humans and ecosystems.
Speakers
Rep. Joe Neguse (D-Colo.)
Carly Phillips, Western States Climate Team Fellow, Union of Concerned
Scientists
Kimiko Barrett, Wildfire Research & Policy Lead, Headwaters Economics
Margo Robbins, Executive Director, Cultural Fire Management Council
Steve Bowen, Managing Director and Head of Catastrophe Insight, Aon
The purpose of the
hearing
is to examine the President’s budget request for the U.S. Forest Service
for Fiscal Year 2023.
Witness:
Randy
Moore,
Chief, U.S. Forest Service, U.S. Department of Agriculture
The FY 2023 President’s Budget for the
USDA Forest Service discretionary
appropriations totals $9 billion, including $2.21 billion for the
wildfire suppression cap adjustment (in the Wildfire Suppression
Operations Reserve Fund). In addition to discretionary appropriations,
the request includes $743 million in mandatory funding for Permanent and
Trust funds. To address the wildfire crisis we are facing, the
FY 2023 request focuses on risk-based wildland
fire management; compensation for wildland firefighters; tackling the
climate crisis; improving infrastructure, providing economic relief and
supporting jobs; and advancing racial equity. To improve the conditions
we are seeing on the ground, it will take use of the best available
science; hard work shoulder to shoulder with partners; use of all the
tools in our toolbox; and a robust workforce.
Climate change is causing historic droughts in the West and placing
water supplies and other natural resources at risk. Carbon sequestration
is vital for combating climate change. Forests take up vast quantities
of carbon in trees and soils—in fact, forests are America’s largest
terrestrial carbon sink. Our forests, plus harvested wood products and
urban forests, offset almost 15 percent of the Nation’s total carbon
dioxide emissions and almost 12 percent of all greenhouse gas emissions.
The National Forest System alone stores almost 14 billion metric tons of
carbon, or about a quarter of the Nation’s carbon storage in forests.
Each year, the National Forest System adds about 31 million metric tons
of carbon of net gain.
Many ecosystems nationwide are degrading and losing habitat for our
native plants and wildlife. Climate change is altering environmental
conditions nationwide. Drought has contributed to outbreaks of insects
and disease that have killed tens of millions of acres of forest across
the West. Changing environmental conditions have lengthened fire seasons
into fire years and worsened wildfires across the West. At the same time
our forests are becoming more overgrown and unhealthy. Expanding
development into the wildland urban interface puts more homes into
fire-prone landscapes. One American home in three is now in the
wildland/urban interface, increasing wildfire risk to these communities,
because 80-90 percent of all wildfires are human-caused.
