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May 6, 2008 7:42 am US/Mountain
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Allard Pushes For Pine Beetle Help At Hearing
EAGLE, Colo. (CBS4) ―
Sen. Wayne Allard, R-Colo., hosted a Senate field hearing in Eagle Monday to bring more attention to the bark beetle epidemic which he calls a national problem.
The pine beetle is affecting the entire West and states as far north as Alaska. In the next 15 years, as much as 22 million acres of pine across the West will be affected.
"We've facing a forest health crisis in this country unlike any I've seen in my lifetime," Allard said.
In Colorado, all of the lodgepole pines are expected to be dead in the next 5 years.
The U.S. Forest Service is proposing 50 percent cuts to its forest health plan for the next fiscal year.
Allard said he wants to prevent those cuts and secure federal funding for logging projects.
"This sub-committee is going to restore those cuts to the Forest Service budget," Allard said.
He secured $12 million earlier this year for thinning projects in Colorado. Four-million dollars of that will be available in the form of grants to communities.
The Forest Service said it can't stop the beetles. The focus is on protecting communities, water sheds and other valuable resources by cutting down the dead trees around them. Those trees can also be serious fire hazards.
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