March 30, 2009

Today, U.S. Rep. Ed Perlmutter (CO-07) amended HR 1404, the FLAME Act to include a provision that makes wildfire less dangerous by clearing bark beetle infested forest land to contain the spread of the fire.

“One of the most pressing dangers posed by wildfires is the thousands of acres of dead trees caused by invasive species, particularly the Bark Beetle in the Rocky Mountain west,” said Perlmutter. “In Colorado, the bark beetle infestation has made our forests a tinderbox for dangerous wildfires. This amendment ensures that we can control the spread of wildfires by preventing the most dangerous fuels from igniting and destroying valuable property and lives in our state.”

The Perlmutter amendment clarifies that the FLAME Fund can be used for containment activities to prevent a burning fire from reaching dangerously infested areas, which poses a higher risk of the intensification and spread of the fire.

The effects of the bark beetle infestation is apparent in the transformation of our mountain landscape which has been described as turning “a blanket of green forest into a blanket of rust red.” In 2006, in Colorado and Wyoming, there were a million acres of dead trees. In 2008 it is expected to total over two million. These acres of dead trees trigger and perpetuate catastrophic fire risk and scope. The FLAME Act will play an instrumental role in helping to suppress these catastrophic fires as they arise.

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