Hearing to review the impact of wildfires on power, water
A House Natural Resources subcommittee this week will take up two aspects of forest management — clean water and reliable electricity — at risk in an era of worsening wildfires. The Subcommittee on Water, Wildlife and Fisheries will hear testimony on efforts to step up forest thinning and related work, highlighted in the “Fix Our Forests Act,” H.R. 471, that’s awaiting further action in Congress. The legislation — which is bipartisan thanks mainly to a Democratic push from California — would ease certain environmental reviews of forest projects aimed at removing vegetation from utility rights of way or protecting vital watersheds, among many other provisions.
