US lawmakers seek revamp of wildfire fighting

FIRE STORM

by Staff Writers
Washington (AFP) March 26, 2009
US lawmakers on Thursday overwhelmingly approved legislation designed to ease the financial burden of fighting catastrophic wildfires like the blazes that ravaged California in 2008.

The House of Representatives passed the measure, which would create a special contingency fund for battling major blazes, by a margin of 412-3. It must next clear the Senate before President Barack Obama can sign it into law.

Environmentalists applauded the move, saying that in past years firefighting costs depleted funding at agencies like the US Forest Service, harming projects like forest restoration efforts than can forestall wildfires.

"Thankfully, today the House of Representatives has recognized the need to address this dangerous problem," a spokesman for the Sierra Club environmental group, Michael Degnan, said in a statement.

The bill "will allow land management agencies to focus on protecting at-risk communities from wildfire while maintaining a commitment to other programs that restore wildlife habitat and make our lands more resilient to climate change," he said.

Share This Article With Planet Earth

del.icio.us Digg Reddit

YahooMyWeb Google Facebook

Related Links
Forest and Wild Fires - News, Science and Technology

Memory Foam Mattress Review

SPACE MEDIA NETWORK PROMOTIONS
Solar Energy Solutions
Tempur-Pedic Mattress Comparison ...

Newsletters :: SpaceDaily :: SpaceWar :: TerraDaily :: Energy Daily
XML Feeds :: Space News :: Earth News :: War News :: Solar Energy News

FIRE STORM

SAfrica fires fuel air pollution in Cape Town

Cape Town (AFP) March 17, 2009
Summer wildfires, which raged for days around Cape Town and laid waste to historic vineyards and other property, has raised levels of hazardous air pollution in the city, an official said Tuesday.

ENERGY TECH Analysis: Nigeria oil strike called off Brown Chemists Create More Efficient Palladium Fuel Cell Catalysts Analysis: Brazil oil strike continues PetroChina profit falls 22 percent in 2008	CIVIL NUCLEAR France's Areva signs uranium deal with DR Congo Vote on IAEA chief inconclusive after first three rounds IAEA to vote for new chief Chairman of French nuclear group resigns: letter
BLUE SKY Australia issues warning on Hong Kong's dirty air Rendezvous With HALO SKoreans buy air purifiers amid "yellow dust" warning More Reasons To Hate Humidity	WOOD PILE Big Productivity Gain For Australian Pine Plantations Papaua New Guinea forests reveal 56 new species Prince Charles in Brazil to deliver eco-warning Prince Charles pushes eco-agenda in Latin America
FARM NEWS China milk scandal retrial begins: court China court rejects appeals in tainted milk scandal: state media China court accepts first milk scandal lawsuit: state media A Quarter Of The World's Population Depends On Degrading Land	CAR TECH China wants to restructure auto industry China's Chery delays joint venture with Fiat Tesla to unveil electric 5-seat sedan next week Engineer finds ways to improve gas mileage
AEROSPACE State takes control of China's first private airline: report Troubled private Chinese airline says president missing Cathay Pacific lost 1.1 billion dollars in 2008 National hypersonic science centers named	NUCLEAR SPACE Nuclear Power In Space - Part 2 Nuclear Power In Space Outside View: Nuclear future in space

The content herein, unless otherwise known to be public domain, are Copyright 1995-2007 - SpaceDaily.AFP and UPI Wire Stories are copyright Agence France-Presse and United Press International. ESA Portal Reports are copyright European Space Agency. All NASA sourced material is public domain. Additional copyrights may apply in whole or part to other bona fide parties. Advertising does not imply endorsement,agreement or approval of any opinions, statements or information provided by SpaceDaily on any Web page published or hosted by SpaceDaily. Privacy Statement