{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://www.risch.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/2017/10/the-hill", "The Hill: Senators introduce bipartisan bill to combat wildfires", "2017-10-19", "2017", "2017-10", "Republican", "House", "ID", "Jim Risch", "R000584", "www.risch.senate.gov", null, null, "legacy", "A bipartisan group of senators introduced a bill Thursday to address severe wildfires in the West.\r\nThe legislation establishes a strategy for combating future wildfires like those that have burned millions of acres of forest so far this year.\r\nThe bill provides $100 million to help at-risk communities prepare for wildfires and requires firefighting agencies to use unspent suppression funds for preparedness activities ahead of future wildfire seasons.\r\nIt also establishes a pilot program for the Forest Service and the Department of Interior in which the agencies would \u201ctreat\u201d the top 1 percent most at risk and least-controversial forest lands for future fires. That means removing excess trees, wood and shrubs that generally serve as fuel for wildfires.\r\nFive senators from western states introduced the bill: Sens.\u00a0Maria Cantwell\u00a0(D-Wash.),\u00a0Jim Risch(R-Idaho),\u00a0Ron Wyden\u00a0(D-Ore.),\u00a0Mike Crapo\u00a0(R-Idaho), and\u00a0Patty Murray\u00a0(D-Wash.).\r\n\u201cIt's time to create new tools to reduce fire risk and help better protect our communities\u200e,\u201d Cantwell said in a statement.\r\n\u201cBy targeting our most vulnerable pine forests, this science-based pilot program gives the Forest Service tools to address wildfire in our most vulnerable forests and prioritizes cross-laminated timber.\u201d\n2017 has been an especially busy year for wildfires. According to government statistics, more than 50,000 fires have burned nearly 8.8 million acres so far this year, the most since 2015 and well above the 10-year average of 6 million acres.\r\nThe House last week\u00a0approved\u00a0a disaster relief package that includes $576.5 million for wildfire recovery efforts.\r\n\r\nLink to article.", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["https://www.risch.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/2017/10/the-hill"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 0.7773679681122303, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}