{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["http://tipton.house.gov/press-release/house-passes-hastings-tipton-healthy-forest-bill", "House Passes Hastings-Tipton Healthy Forest Bill", "2013-09-20", "2013", "2013-09", "Republican", "House", "CO", "Scott Tipton", "T000470", "tipton.house.gov", null, null, "legacy", "House Passes Hastings-Tipton Healthy Forest Bill\nWASHINGTON\u2013Today, the House passed Reps. Scott Tipton (R-CO) and Doc Hastings\u2019 (R-WA) legislation to immediately address the hazardous conditions of Western forests by establishing a plan for healthy forest management to reduce the occurrence and severity of wildfire, protect watersheds, species habitats and ecosystems, and prevent the loss of life and property.\nRep. Scott Tipton\u2019s (R-CO) Healthy Forest Management and Wildfire Prevention Act (H.R. 818) was combined with Natural Resources Committee Chairman Doc Hastings\u2019s (R-WA) Restoring Healthy Forests for Healthy Communities Act (H.R. 1526) during a Natural Resources Committee markup in July. The resulting comprehensive Hastings-Tipton forest management package (H.R. 1526) was passed by the House today and now goes to the Senate.\nWatch Rep. Scott Tipton speak on the House floor on H.R. 1526.\n\u00a0\n \n\t\u201cIt is far more efficient and cost effective to proactively manage our forests. I\u2019ve said it before, but the old adage\u2014an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure\u2014rings especially true when we\u2019re talking about reducing the occurrence and severity of wildfire in our forests. Despite this, we\u2019ve seen a decrease in timber harvesting of 80 percent over the past three decades. It\u2019s no coincidence that during this time the severity of fires and number of acres burned has increased steadily. From 2000-2012, over 90 million acres burned in the U.S.\u2014nearly as many as the previous three decades combined. The status quo of reactive forest management is not working,\u201d said Tipton. \u201cI\u2019m pleased to have been able to work with Chairman Hastings and other members of the Resources Committee in crafting this proactive forest management strategy that would take immediate action to address the hazardous conditions of our forests.\u00a0 Time is of the essence and we cannot afford to wait for more fires and more devastation before we address this western emergency.\u201d\n \nRead Tipton\u2019s full statement here.\nH.R. 1526 (Hastings) addresses the shortfall in county revenue for schools and critical services caused by lack of timber harvest by requiring the Forest Service to produce at least half of the sustainable annual yield of timber required under law since 1908 and to share 25 percent of those receipts with rural counties. In order to meet this goal while providing for healthy forests, the bill includes the local management framework set out in H.R. 818 (Tipton) by directing the Forest Service to prioritize hazardous fuels reduction projects proposed by governors and affected counties and tribes. To expedite locally based healthy forest projects, the Hastings-Tipton package builds on the positive streamlining procedures implemented under the bipartisan Healthy Forests Restoration Act of 2003 (HFRA).\nView the full bill here. (Tipton language is under Title 2).\u00a0\nBackground:\nWildfires burned 9.3 million acres in 2012, while the U.S. Forest Service only harvested approximately 200,000 acres of timber. The cost of proactive healthy forest management is far less than the cost of wildfire suppression and cleaning up the aftermath. According to the Forest Service, the agency spent $296 million on hazardous fuels treatment nationwide in FY2012 while spending $1.77 billion on wildfire suppression during the same time.\nIn July, Colorado Deputy State Forester Joe Duda testified during a Natural Resources Committee hearing on wildfire prevention. He joined with Tipton in speaking on the need for more proactive management to restore forests to healthy conditions and reduce the severity of wildfire. Read more on that hearing here.\nThe Healthy Forest Management and Wildfire Prevention Act (H.R. 818) is supported by numerous Colorado counties, the National Association of Counties, as well as state and national environmental organizations and conservation districts. A list of endorsements and additional background on the Healthy Forest Management and Wildfire Prevention Act is available here.\nRead Tipton\u2019s op-ed in the Denver Post on SRS, timber harvesting and proactive forest management.", 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": ["http://tipton.house.gov/press-release/house-passes-hastings-tipton-healthy-forest-bill"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 3.2965680584311485, "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"}