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Rep. Costa Says Congress Must Provide Emergency Assistance to Fight Catastrophic Wildfires

June 24, 2016

Washington, DC - Today, Rep. Jim Costa (CA-16) released the following statement in response to the announcement made by the United States Forest Service that since October 2015 an additional 26 million trees have perished in California as a result of four consecutive years of drought and bark beetle infestation, bringing the total to at least 66 million dead trees since 2010.

“My fear is that the wildfires in southern California and most recently, the one burning in Kern County, which has already had devastating impacts, are only the beginning of what is to come this summer,” said Rep. Costa. “As of Wednesday, there are now at least 66 million dead trees in California’s forests, and we can no longer wait to address this issue. The dead trees are fuel for these wildfires, and if further action is not taken to clean up the forests, the Sierra Mountains will literally turn to a tinder box. I fully support U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack’s call that Congress allocates increased resources to fight wildfires. We must act swiftly and provide funding for emergency assistance to address the tree mortality crisis throughout California and all Western states.”

Costa continued saying, “I commend Governor Jerry Brown’s leadership on this issue by declaring a state of emergency and creating the Tree Mortality Task Force. The task force has worked diligently to keep communities safe from catastrophic wildfires, and earlier this month I hosted a Tree Mortality and Wildfire Workshop to discuss ways in which the federal government can continue and expand efforts to address the millions of dead trees in California. Furthermore, I worked with the House Agriculture Subcommittee on Conservation and Forestry to organize a hearing which will be held on July 14th to highlight what the state of California has done and plan the best course of action at the State and Federal level for saving recreation sites, homes and lives.”

For more information regarding wildfires in California, please visit the U.S. Forest Service website.