June 13, 2024 4:00 a.m.

On Wednesday, Senator Ron Wyden urged bipartisan support for two of his bills highlighting the need to combat disastrous wildfires by using prescribed burns, while ensuring local communities have access to reliable drinking water.

A release said the pieces of legislation are the National Prescribed Fire Act and the River Democracy Act.

At a hearing of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Subcommittee on Public Lands, Forests and Mining, Wyden said, “These fires are not your grandfather’s fires, and we as Westerners know what’s really at stake here”. Wyden said, “When lightning strikes, the fires go from being small to being an inferno real fast, especially during hot and dry seasons”.

Wyden said that for years he has worked with industry groups and environmental advocates to reduce the risk of wildfires. Wyden said, “My National Prescribed Fire Act received support from Westerners and people around the country to fight fire with fire. My other bill, the River Democracy Act, took ideas from Oregonians across the state to protect our treasured water sources such as rivers from threats, including wildfires”.

Wyden’s release said the Bureau of Land Management and National Forest System affirmed Wyden’s National Prescribed Fire Act, which would unlock additional flexibility and opportunity for wildfire risk reduction through the $300 million it would provide federal agencies to implement prescribed fire.

A video of Wyden’s remarks is linked https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T3WcJTdLIY0