Washington, D.C. – Senator Cynthia Lummis (R-WY) released the following statement regarding President Trump’s signing of an Executive Order to Empower Commonsense Wildfire Prevention and Response.
“Wyoming families know the devastating reality of wildfires – they’ve destroyed our ranches, threatened our communities, and burned through the landscapes we call home,” said Lummis. “This Executive Order marks an important shift toward practical forest management by eliminating regulatory obstacles, strengthening local authority, and utilizing innovative technologies, including artificial intelligence, to bolster our firefighting capabilities. We must eliminate every bureaucratic hurdle that delays our fire response and amplifies these disasters.”
Background:
- The Order directs the Secretary of the Interior and Secretary of Agriculture to consolidate their wildland fire programs.
- The Order supports local wildfire preparedness and response by improving Federal partnerships, as well as driving responsible land management and prevention at the State and local level.
- The Order directs the use of available technology, including AI, data sharing, innovative mapping, and weather forecasting, to enhance State and local wildfire identification and response capabilities.
- The Order directs Federal agencies to modify rules to facilitate preventive prescribed fires and appropriate fire-retardant use, promote innovative use of woody biomass and other forest products to reduce fuel loads that strengthen fires, and minimize wildfire ignition risks from the bulk-power system.
- The Order modernizes wildfire prevention and response by instructing Federal agencies to declassify historical satellite data to improve wildfire prediction and revise or eliminate rules that impede wildfire detection, prevention, and response.
- The Order directs the Secretary of Defense to prioritize the sale of excess aircraft and aircraft parts to support wildfire mitigation and response.
EMPOWERING STATE AND LOCAL LEADERS: President Trump is empowering State and local leaders to combat wildfires effectively.
- For too long, State and local wildfire responses have been slow and inadequate due to reckless mismanagement and lack of preparedness.
- Wildfires threaten every region, yet many local government entities continue to disregard commonsense preventative measures.
- Firefighters are forced to rely on outdated technology and face challenges in quickly responding to wildfires because of unnecessary regulation and bureaucracy.
- Immediate action is essential to ensure the devastation of the Los Angeles wildfires never occurs again.
- By streamlining Federal wildfire capabilities, States can leverage an efficient and straightforward approach concerning wildfire response and mitigation.
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