the u.s. forest service and the wildland fire director jeff ruppert represented the interior department. there were also questions about antiharassment training at these agencies, the committee hearing is about an hour and a half. >> good morning everyone the community will come to order. we would like to welcome back the committee. christiansen, welcome. mister rupert, welcome to you. we are here to discuss the 2018 wildfire season. based on what we already know today, it doesn't look good. last friday the national agency fire center which is a joint operation between the department of interior and u.s. forest service released to their monthly fire potential outlook for june through

september. warmer and drier than average conditions are anticipated in the southwest in particular is at very high risks for wildfire due to elevated drought condition and strong gusts. the fire sparked on april 27 in arizona marked the first wildfire of the season. there are several significant active fires in the west including massive blazes in colorado and new mexico. almost 24,000 wildfires have burned about 1.7 million acres across the country. this is just june 5. the number of wildfires and acres that ultimately burn in 2018 depends not only on wildfires potentially enforced conditions but on the timing of lightning strikes and human caused admission. nationwide people are responsible for 84 % of wildfires. and by starting so many fires,

many through human carelessness, people are essentially lengthening the fire season into the early spring and later fall portions of the year when lightning could certainly play a major role. the eagle creek fire that raged through the columbia river gorge in oregon in 2017 started by a teenager that was messing around with firecrackers. this is one of many examples. for the 2018 fire season upon us i want to start with a plea to keep -- to people everywhere, please be smart about fire. we could make a measurable difference in what the fire season looks like and it begins with being careful. it's time to execute a multiple strategy to meet increasing challenges. first is innovation. our community does make our committee discusses this at length. we have significant opportunities to respect the land and wildfire management. we held an entire hearing on

wildfire technology last fall. i'm particularly interested in the use of the aircraft systems for drones which are playing a great role in wildfire management response, detecting, mapping, needing help to contain the wildfire. operating and maintaining the training for the personnel in reducingis for the pilots, crews, and firefighters. early adopters in the use of these and not just for wildfires. interiors using the drones across the management functions, including to monitor the ongoing volcanic eruption in hawaii. we can and should do more to embrace land management including wildfire management. i know the center is very interested in this so hopefully this will be an area where we could make some progress. after that we need to look for opportunities to increase efficiency and wildland fire operation at the federal level. the forest service and

apartment -- department of interior have long run the special programs through the national agency fire center in collaboration that could improve in information technology. one program to focus on is the forest aviation services, i still do not fully understand why the forest service and interior have their own separate programs. i've also said over and over, that wildfire is not just a budget problem but a management problem. we must actively manage our forest. in the last to -- in alaska we've seen the reduction of fuel reduction before the fire starts. in 2014, a large fuel break between the national refuge in this area saved homes and lives during the massive river fire and in 2015, the fuel reduction treatment conducted few times

earlier reduced wildfire risks for the community during the car street fire. there was significant funding to address wildfire and we also provided new authority not necessarily at the level that i believe is necessary but what we could characterize as a start. they wanted these authorities so we certainly expect them to put them to good use. i want to end by saying that to effectively fight fires and manage the land, you must read your agencies of harassment, bullying, and retaliation. workplace misconduct can't be tolerated, especially on the fire line in the field. focus on the mission, be professional about it, we will be ready to face the consequences. with that, again i would like to welcome the interim chief of the forest services and the director of the office to the

committee. thank you both for being here with us today and i look forward to our discussion as we work to reduce wildfires across the country. >> thank you for this very strong statement. i wholeheartedly agree with you on the issue of sexual harassment and what the agency needs to do to better manage and train people in response to these issues and i appreciate yourro statements about this as we approach the fire season, making sure that those on the fire line have the best possible information, it's going to be critical. on the weather conditions, on information about fire movement, on all of that, recently, attending a breakfast where the secretary of add was centering into the mo you, the department of interior did

unbelievable work on the drones, the drone system. they add away, re-creating something to see the implementation. i hope that they will work on that. i wanted to get started on the release over the weekend by the inner agency fire center, for years now the committee has heard over and over that wildfires are getting worse, climate scientists have been telling us the fire season is more long and hot. the new forecast specifically in the northwest, will have a july-august fire season on this side of what we have seen in the past to be even potentially worse. those to the west, they see 50 % of the average participation, precipitation for may, it will likely result in the amounts

becoming critically dry by late july. my colleague senator were discussing this which -- with what that means for us. sooner in the environment in which we have to be very mindful. all of the country experienced temperatures that were 2-6 degrees above average last month, central washington temperatures were 10 degrees above average. because the conditions are supposed to last through september in places like southeast washington, they will likely experience large fires more so than they had in previous years starting in july. with got a couple of fires already started in our state, hopefully we will work quickly to put those out but it's a very early reminder of how challenging that the season could be. areas in washington, and in

oregon, i know my colleagues, probably from idaho and in idaho, east of the cascade crest will likely experience large fires compared to what we've seen in the last few years starting in august. given that we are looking at this summer, i want to make sure we are ensuring firefighters have every tool available to them to fight these fires. they need to be as safe as possible and as efficient as possible. everyone here has heard me talk about the fire that we had in washington where 149,000 acres burned up literally, in a single day. the following year the fires in washington were a little bit worse and we witnessed firsthand the disaster in the aftermath and what it means for those living in those communities. our heroic men and women firefighters did all that they could to be ready and we need to do all that we can in order to be ready for this fire season. fires are becoming more lethal. part of the speech during last

week's wildfire plan conference one of the facts she mentions, it struck me. since 1910, more than 1000 deaths have been from wildlife fires. the more sobering numbers more than a quarter of those, 255 have occurred in the last 15 years. we could see that they literally are becoming more lethal. when we get to questions, i'm definitely going to ask about our efforts on modernization. we want to make sure that every tool is there for the wildland firefighters. as i've said with more information. we want to make sure that our modernized fire shelters are developed and implemented in such a way that we know that the safety and training of those wild land fire fighters have an understanding of their equipment, we had an unfortunate death in this wildfire in which the then

deployment of shelter was not really successfully deployed and it was a tragic loss of life in the pacific northwest. is now you deploy new shelters and firefighters with very few hours were little training compared to our permanent firefighting force, we want to make sure that everyone is trained and adequate and also not an over expectation of being in a place that they should not be so we want to work with you on that. response for wildfires, firefighters need to be able to use the technology to give them the most efficient resources. we want to be strategic about protecting the communities that are in the wildfire, within the space as soon as possible. in march, we addressed the problem, members of this committee worked very hard on

bills dedicated to wildfire, and many of the people here in this room worked hard on that, we had the forest service for resources with wildfire. doing the necessary work and provided a significant amount of funding for firefighting over the next 10 years. i hope that there is enough funding for the non-fire program that could affect our communities as well as the increase of funding, that will help us that will help us with treatment in advance and prevent the loss of. what was included in the package, our state agency like they were able to partner with the forest service. we take advantage of that, they were called out last time i think the first time in decades

that they were called to the line, which is how bad the fire season was there was a good neighbor project implemented in the vegetation management and powerline is implemented and the 20 year contract to do thinning, was implemented. we hope that the forest service will do all that they can to reduce fuel in advance. i would like to highlight that this interesting article showed up in this month's journal of forestry which basically allows -- shows that the research shows that per acres burned, it was more than five times as much as a controlled burn in may and in june. i know that this might makes -- make sense, this is one of the ones we've been fighting, if you ask people in puget sound, would you tolerate a little bit of slopes in those months to reduce the constant summer wide

hades, they would say yes, let's do the prescribed burning in the month, that helpless controls the burns in the most significant way. obviously we've got more work to do on that but i think this article shows us that this is the most wise thing we could do. we just need to push through on this. i will be asking also, about the shift to contract for 35 % of the air tankers. i want to make sure that you've got every tool available to you. i want to make sure that we

aren't going with one source of resources just because it's a larger plot of money. i would feel better sleeping at night that you had every tool available. we know that the water doesn't put out the fire, the larger retardant does but, with this many fires in this season, the communities that are so stretched that when the entire upper portion of northern washington, northeast washington was on fire basically, the community was defending themselves having that kind of sheer ability to help mitigate was so important to the community. i understand, we will get to this because i've been long here but i wanted to say that, last year fire manage request they did not receive an air tanker 321 times.

they weren't available. i get that the goal is to have the most resources and i want you to have the most resources to but i don't want you to have to give up one for the other so let's work together on figuring out how we could get you both and how this will continue to be a challenge for the fire season. we can't work fast enough, the change in climate and environment is making fire more challenging for the environment , for the forest service. for our community. we put a down payment on this but we need to do much more. i think everyone -- i think everyone for having this important hearing today. >> we will now turn this over to ms. christiansen. welcome. we appreciate you being here and your leadership. if you could try to keep your comments to about five minutes to have the opportunity for questions. to begin at 11:00. we will power through them to allow members to ask their

timely questions in a timely manner. >> madam chair, members of the committee, thank you for inviting me back to testify. i would like to touch on three topics today. the wildfire, the wildfire outlook in the preparations, to increase forest conditions and reduce the fire risks. an upte on our actions to create a safe and respectful workplace. above average wildfire activity, it appears to be our new normal. forecasters predict 2018 will rival last year's historic season when the federal government has $2.9 billion for fighting fires. in 11 western states, various times between now and the end of september as senator cantwell displayed.

firefighting is not voluntary work, no one organization would do it alone, we rely on the cooperation and shared resources for the states, local partners, and federal agencies. with our collective resources we maintain what we need to effectively respond, the board of services itself has 10,000 firefighters, 900 engines, and 100 available aircraft. our efforts suppressed 98 % of all fires at 10 acres or less. we are also taking steps to better manage costs for fire response. we know that there is no playing catch. we will make decisions to ensure we spend hours into the right place to make a difference. we are evaluating and spacing cost centers to ensure that we are most effective and

efficient with taxpayer dollars. in addition to the wildfire response our work is equally, improving the forest conditions and providing the uses and experiences of services with the help of congress we are equipped with new tools to get more done. it is our time to deliver and we are making steady progress. by june 8, our regions will submit to your plans that will demonstrate how they will employ a new authority. they will include the modified agreement and the use of categorical exclusions for wildfire resilience, and optimal locations for the 20 year stewardship contract. we also look forward to submitting a blueprint through the reduced renewal and high- risk area. we are already seeing an increased result. we will sell 3.4 million birdseed in timber this year

while improving resiliency for 3 million acres. we've increased the numbers of acres by 36 %. timber harvests growth 13 % from last year. we are delivering this earlier in the year. at this point, we've harvested nearly 30 % more timber than we did last year. hour 2018 timber target is the highest in two decades. we've also strengthened cooperation with the states and other partners to do more work. our increased work is focused and 150 good neighbor agreements in three-4 states. one agreement in utah resulted in 36 projects that will treat over 50,000 acres. meanwhile, we are fundamentally reforming our eternal process in paying off, we are streamlining our planning over

the last eight months for the increased time of authorized budgets. this has reduced costs for the last eight months by $30 million. we are updating our technology and our work has increased to build on our momentum. there's much more work to do but we are also trying the effective start. our mission to success depends highly on the skills motivated in the workforce. we will continue to work in the forest service. next week over 30,000 employees will take part in a full day's session to stand up for each other. employees will receive a code of conduct and mandatory and interaction training with broad new policy.

>> welcome to the committee. >> good morning, members of the committee, thank you for the opportunity to appear before you this morning to discuss the 2018 outlook and this portion of the interior fire management program. we've already heard this morning 2018 is shaping up to be another challenging year. the cumulative impact for the steady accumulation of vegetation is creating landscapes more susceptible to

large devastating costly wildfires. so far this year, we've seen large fires in the midwest and especially in the southwest. they are all indications which could expect the fire season in the west to become terrible to the recent years, it's an outbreak for the recent -- for the major wildfires. together with our partners we will continue to mobilize personnel to deploy engines, single engine air tankers, and other firefighting in the court of fully inoperable firefighting efforts. as their secretary -- as the secretary recently reaffirmed leadership in both areas, to detect -- protect public safety, this is the top priority for all of the wildfire activity and decision management. the responses also built on trust.

on teamwork, and on collaboration amongst firefighters and their partners. a workplace that's free from harassment and were all members of the firefighting community have a strong trust relationship with their colleagues, critical to achieving a safe and effective response. the department of the interior recently complemented -- has a comprehensive step to address harassment, stepping up training and establishing a clearly defined link and resolution process so that all employees including those on the fire line could focus on the mission. to reduce the threat of wildfires, it's critical to take a more active approach for the management of vegetation, for the nation's forest rangeland, a directive for all department interior personnel

to emphasize the importance of active management as a way to reduce hazards and establish fire resilient landscapes in the community. a cornerstone of this policy is the integration of vegetation management, and all resource management planning, it's a way to reduce fuels and improve the forest range for health and protect people's lives and their communities and prevent catastrophic wildfires. vegetation management either done collaboratively with their partners or done directly by bureaus on department manage lan is one of the most effective strategies for mitigating the wildfire risk. coupled with more aggressive vegetation management, technology is helping us manage catastrophic wildfires, the use for the aircraft systems or uf, it's a perfect example of technology and leveraging it to fight wildfires in safe and more efficient ways. department conducted over 700

uis missions on more than 70 wildfires and we are on track to surpass that this year. the versatility is making a big difference in the way that we are fighting wildfires, they are providing real-time data and information that's used to improve surveillance and reconnaissance by assisting firefighters with detecting hotspots and improving the mapping and increasing the effectiveness of monitoring, we are exploring a number of new technologies including applications in alert systems to improve both firefighter safety and collaboration with department of defense. i would like to point out the department is widely using the resource management emphasis.

the ua f, and was able to navigate the individual to research crew that ultimately led the person out of harms way. we look forward to collaborating with our partners to continue to build on these and other efforts in ways that support firefighters and the public. we can enhance our firefighting capabilities and strengthen relationships with partners. it goes without saying, thank you for the sustained support of this committee that the entire wildland fire community. thank you for the opportunity to discuss programs. i am happy to answer questions. >> thank you both. >> let me begin with the questions here. i appreciate that both of you have addressed the issue of workforce misconduct, harassment

, etc. i like what you are doing to bring about the very necessary changes to the agencies of sexual harassment in all forms of workplace misconduct. miss christiansen, you mentioned that you have a code of conduct that has been introduced. you have mandatory training. mr. rupert, you have indicated that you have a new anti- harassment policy. you referenced those that the training includes. that's on the fire line crew. chief christiansen is the outreach for the training and the full day session you have referenced. does this include those within the firefighting ranks?

are these people within your administrative offices? who are we covering here? what is the extent of the new file -- policies? >> thank you very much. yes, this is for every one of our permanent and seasonal employees. that is why we waited until the second week of june. the majority of our seasonal folks are on board now. we are shutting down business for one day. we are rolling in different units to focus on this training , and the importance of breaking the silence. we are talking about what it will take to shift our culture sustainably. we started with listen and learn sessions across the entire organization. that did not include as many of our seasonal staff. we needed to demonstrate, as leaders, what was really being felt in the work force.

that fueled the design for our stand up for each other days next week. about 18 months ago, we passed a very broad antiharassment policy. we have been working on the agency specific training with real agency examples with real employees. we have recorded our own training. there will be discussions in every working group across the organization. we have administrative staff, fire staff, field staff, etc. we have the headquarter staff as well. each work unit will identify what they need to make commitments to each other to improve the work environment. we have started with an enhanced reporting center. we have built that up in the fall of 2017. then the fear of retaliation,

we are minimizing that. we want to hear if anyone has any concerns. we have seen an increase of reporting. >> what action is taken if it's reported? this is a situation that out in the field. you have an active fire, and people are working. how do you enforce this? it's nice to be able to say that we have a one-day training session, and then you go out for the season, but it's not like you are reporting to somebody in an office. this has been one of the most significant concerns. out in the field, it is a different environment. there is more that is accepted out in the field. >> that is absolutely right. there are things that are very clear about what is not

accepted. we are changing those behaviors. and then there are structural things that will allow reporting in different ways. even for out in the field, if there is cell service, we have a phone number that will pick up someone. they can report complaints. we have timelines where action must be taken within 24 hours to look into an investigation and evaluate the situation. than corrective actions taken.>> just on the doi side, do you have a similar process for reportingand required action? >> the policy at was put into place is a very rigid expectation for manager and supervisors for timelines.

there is a tremendous focus on ensuring that the process really explores and understands , and provides the investigation. it is rigid. the expectations go along with it for follow-through. in the field, especially these areas and incidences where we have a very diverse organization. they are all contributing as both departments have started to put in much more rigid expectations for how inappropriate behavior will be treated. we are anticipating that it will generates more interaction when these things occur. we have had dialogue at the senior management level.

this is not just between interior and agriculture, but with our partners across the entire community. we have state and local organizations, tribes, and the inter-agency settings. they are insuring that these incidents occurring, where we have this real diverse community working together, we do not lose track of the complaints. we are following them back to the home organization to ensure that people are being held responsible for their behavior.>> from an oversight perspective, we will be back to you to make sure that this is more than just a one-day training. we want to make sure that this is about changing the culture that has been allowed to take

over our agencies. it has been an extraordinarily black mark that we need to correct. you know that. we want to keep monitoring this. >> thank you madam chair. chief christiansen, we were together at the department of agriculture to discuss this mo you between the department of interior and the forest service. i saw that last week, the department of interior awarded four contracts the company to operate medium-sized unmanned vehicles for wildfires. i am proud to say that one of those was from southwest washington and northeast. this is a company that is from columbia and is on a both sides. we are proud of that technology. most importantly, we are proud that interior is being very aggressive about using this tool on wildland fires.

we want to make sure that there are no barriers between the forest service and interior working together to implement this. this is so critical for information about fires starts, stops, and safety. is there anything is holding us up from being very aggressive about this deployment during this fire season? do you have to do anything else to make sure that these tools are now used across agencies, or implement it?>> senator, thank you for the question. i am pleased to say that this is an example that we are really coordinating together. the forest service is clearly looking to the early adapters and innovations that doi has stepped out on. we applaud that. instead of a six ending -- spending the dollars that they have done, we are committed.

we are working with them with policies and procedures. we are making sure that we have interact ability. that way we don't have policies and procedures that are different from theirs. the office of aviation services at doi has been extremely helpful in our policies and procedures. they have done train the trainer for our staff, and we can access their contracts when needed at any time as well as the states and others. we are not ashamed to say that we applaud our department of interior colleagues. we also see a very strong use and innovation, and safety aspects of using these unmanned vehicles. we look forward to when they

have additional capacity beyond surveillance. >> anything else? >> thank you. thank you to vicki as well. i will just say, the easy answer to the question is yes. the call when needed contract is available, not only to the forest service, but it is being administered as a national asset . it is available across the community on those large incidents. :i assure you that we will need them. thank you.>> it is on call when needed for the air tanker issue. i am concerned that we are shifting 35% of the current air tanker contracts to: needed. we had a chance to talk about this before. the fact that colonnaded contracts are more expensive per day, but to get them, you will have to call them every day and say you are on call.

what i am trying to understand is how we will plant that for the resources that you can have. i'm trying to understand, this about going deep to where the resources are for a budgeting perspective? do you believe that call when needed, as it relates to the services is the most cost- effective way for taxpayers? >> that is a really good question. as i said earlier, we will monitor the balance between the upfront expenditures that we use for exclusive use, and how much we actually need them, versus the more expensive, but we pay for them when we use them colonnaded.

it is an art and a science. the science part is informed looking backwards. we have to look forward. to be honest with you, we would like to rebalance in coming years. we think we need to have a bit more balance between exclusive use and colonnaded. we are in transition right now from getting the legacy and the contract being done. this is a transition year. >> i appreciate you saying that. i want you to have every single tool you need. i want you to have air tankers. i know you had one acquired from the department of defense. i don't know if you will use it. i want you to have these waters coopers. i want you to have every single asset. i hope you will work with us to figure out how to make this a non-transitional season.

i want this to be a season where you have every tool at your just puzzle. that's what people in the west want us to be doing. they want us to give them every tool possible to fight the fire season. >> thank you. >> thank you very much madam chair. thank you for being with us today. i have a couple of questions. the national interagency fire center outlook for the summer of 2018 largely contain positive news for wyoming. we know how quickly on the ground conditions can change. across wyoming, we have above average no pack, which has contributed to below normal fire potential. we have the higher precipitation which can mean rapid grasp growth. by august, we could have trouble. was speaking to our wyoming forster, he says about every 6 years in 2018, this is the sixth year. wyoming will see

fire this year. questions remain about forest health, and the effective use of resources. we are trying to figure out how to best to do this. this comes up to the millions of acres of the ecosystem across the west affected by bark beetles. we are no stranger to die offs. we have a lot of standing dead trees. they pose significant threats. you have both identified the need to reduce hazardous fuels. both agencies have the tools to take preventative action, including those provided in the latest funding bill. in places like wyoming where a lower intensity fire season is expected, but it may happen otherwise, dear agencies have the flexibility that you need to take advantage of certain years, and adapt treatments as the year goes on in real-time to increase preventative measures? that way we can get ahead of the curve with all the standing fuel. >> senator, thank you for that

really good question. i do not mean to burst your bubble, but the white on the map that the senator put up does not mean that it's below normal, it means that these are normal conditions. we will see fires there. yes, you do not have as much red in wyoming. you are exactly right. we have to use every tool in the toolbox for treating the hazardous fuels. that is mechanical treatment, and it is using fire when we are in control of fire. fire will help reduce fuel and many of these ecosystems. sometimes they need both. we have more favorable conditions, we need to take advantage of those operating windows both with fire severity and smoke management. we had great comments by the senator in the opening statement about working with the public on how we keep the smoke under

control. we want to improve conditions. we just had a two hour call with all of our leadership across the country about how we do play resources, not just for fires, but for hazardous yule and other important treatments. we are on top of it. the states are critical part of that discussion as well. >> you do have the flexibility.>> for the interior, the efficiencies for example we are focused on forest authorities. we are largely still operating in the framework that we have operated in with interior. as far as planning a project, and ultimately working to put them on the ground, we are very much focused on interior. we are streamlining those

existing frameworks and the existing process. we are making good headway. ultimately, with projects, there is an aspect of this that needs to have the planning to drive them. we are still doing that. by the same token, conditions on the ground, in addition to values that are a risk, and their exposure to wildfires, weather conditions, and having the right conditions to get in there and be proactive vegetation management is part of the equation every year and season to season. >> ms. christiansen, the black hills national forest formed a number of years ago to have an advisory board. the board is currently experiencing a number of vacancies in the nominations. they have to be approved by the secretary. it takes time. without approval pending nominations, the march, april,

and may meetings have needed to be canceled because there are not enough members. the board is planning to meet in june. again, with this many vacancies, the meeting will have to be canceled. are there any updates on the situation and the nominations?>> we hear this concern very clearly. we are making this a priority to get the willing nominations in and have the vetting process done. we are working closely with the secretary's office. he is committed. being a good neighbor is having everyone at the table to have a voice in how they are managing their lands. it is a priority. >> inc. you.>> thank you madam chair. thank you for your leadership. we have the fire borrowing language on the books. i think it will be helpful for the long-term.

we look forward to getting the plan at the end of june on how you will deal with the backlog on hazardous fuels reduction. that's what we talked about in this committee. i appreciated the fact that you have been in discussions with us about how you will be attacking that. i look forward to that as well. i think the country very much wants to know what the game plan is for reducing of hazardous fuel. for the country, sometimes it feels like all of us as individual senators are running with the bureaus. our citizens are very concerned about this. the country, may is the ominous month for fire season. that traditionally gives you a sense of where things are. like many of my colleagues, it looks like we will have real challenges in oregon the summer. by the way, our friend senator

heinrich is exhibit a. the reason why she does like he is not with us is because he is in new mexico where he is dealing with buyers. this is not an abstract theory. let me talk to you about this air tanker issue. in my state, as was the case in many places, they felt they did not have enough tankers last summer. i think that a lot of people will listen to this and say, they plan to have a shell game in dc. they will have this tinkerer that tinker, and i know that's not your intention. let me ask, you have this plan. let's say there are not enough tankers to go round. lives are on the line, lives can be affected by hours instead of days.

what you do in that situation?>> well, senator, we really appreciate the concerns of the citizens. i would be delighted if we could have a little window into the intelligence and predictive services, and the 24 hour decision-making that is done at the geographical area and at the national area. when we are in the high preparedness not -- levels, 4 and 5, we have to prioritize the resources. each geographic area, we have the pacific northwest, the executives and the chief fire leadership our meeting hourly and updating the situation.

that goes into the national interagency fire center. than the national group -- >> that's very constructive. it's also in english. so much of what goes on in fire is hard to comprehend. i believe what you just said is that you use your predictive service, and then on an ongoing basis, hourly, are able to deploy the assets that you have. what if you do not have enough assets? in order words -- in other words, you made a judgment, you had the best planning, you do not have enough assets, what you do?>> it is a matter of priorities. that's what i was getting at. there is a tiered system of the most critical threats to humans and communities first.

you have critical watersheds, and the like. then we have additional search capacity that we can bring on. >> where does the search capacity come from? are these just a tkers that are somewhere else, that are not part of the 2 categories that you told the senator about? this is a third category? it's a surge category? you can bring them in if you do not have enough? to make yes. >> where did they come from? >> the department of defense. this is the mobile aviation unit. >> how many of them are there? >> we have seven. we have seven of those. generally, by the time we are in the significant part of the fire year, we can bring our partners down from canada. we have 2 additional search capacities from there. we are putting out additional

call when needed, later in the summer. when we anticipate having five more call when needed options. >> i am over my time. i just want to close by saying, i think you are working very hard at this. you are playing offense. that is the key. i would like it if you could all speak or give a written answer to what i just asked about, when there are not enough tankers. i had never really heard a whole lot about this search capacity, group of tankers. i knew a little bit about the defense. i was at the committee center and we used to talk about this. if you could get that to us in writing, i would like to understand. you are working very hard at this, and your information is very constructive.>> i want to

make sure that nasa is the partner you want on those hourly updates. we want to make sure that nasa is giving you the satellite information that you need on an hourly basis. >> yes, we are working with nasa. >> thank you both. >> it's good to see you all again before this committee. the last fire season in montana , it was nearly 1.4 million acres burned. it 680,000 acres of national forest. we were left with a great deal of dead and dying timber. it causes serious public safety risks. we are seeing significant delays associated with completing the analysis of these burned areas. this is preventing the salvage and post fire restoration from being completed in a timely manner. folks in montana cannot get into burned area to salvage the timber. we know the clock is ticking.

cheap christiansen, i have heard from many in montana who want the forest service to use your emergency situation determination authority to get more post fire work done sooner. as you know, i encourage you to approve these requests for the fires in montana last year. can you provide an update of my request for these esd approvals? >> thank you senator. i have to say, i'm quite pleased with our staff in montana. they activated quickly. we put together strike teams to work on the salvage and work with the communities and industry on what would be the ideal place that the industry could receive salvaged material. using the emergency situation determination is of very sincere importance. for health and safety, and the imminent threat of the product

declining rapidly, i have signed the first one of those. i expect the sunrise project, on the low national forest, i signed last week. forster martin are no -- knows what i expect. i will have the next four within the next two weeks.>> that is refreshing. that is very good here, chief. given the lengthy approval process, what can congress do to encourage faster, and more extensive use of this tool by the agency?>> thank you, senator. i think it is understanding the process and the balance. obviously, we take this tool very seriously. we need to not abuse it. we want to be strategic and really look for the areas ere the health and safety, or

critical decline in the product are in place. your voice and the communities, we would love there early involvement in scoping. that way we can move out quickly. we do this in a transparent way , with communities and citizens that care. your help in getting communities to work with us quickly will help down the line. we also need your continued support of the tools that we can sustain and uphold it as it was intended to be used. >> thank you chief. mr. rupert, can you can just got the economic and environmental benefits of carrying out restoration efforts as quickly as possible, following large fires on doi lands? >> sure. restoration is to identify these being different than the

emergency stabilization options. we have, in a lot of ways it is location, location, location. there are many areas across the country where getting in there immediately, this is a local driven need that we have here. there are places where getting in there immediately and getting work on the ground, getting the trees replanted is necessary to get it back into a healthy state. there are other parts of the country where, quite frankly, we probably do not want to get in there immediately, because the conditions that will lead to successful restoration may not be in place until later in

the year, or a different season. we might need to wait until we get rain. there are a variety of circumstances. it depends, based on location. there are many examples where the faster we can do it, the faster we can get in there, the better. >> chief, way you address what impact litigation has for these targets?>> litigation takes focus away from getting our work done. it prevents critical restoration to create fire resiliency that we are all trying to achieve. quite frankly, it gives pause to our staff. if we could work with folks early on in the collaborative process, if everyone came to the table, we

are always willing to hear everyone and work it out. litigation on the back and really slows down the important, critical work. >> it is expensive as well. wrapping up, as you know, the most recent forecast from the national interagency fire center predicts above normal fire potential for montana. here we are in montana experiencing snowpacks well above average. we are flooding in many parts across the state. as you mentioned a few weeks ago, there are many variables going into the outlook. it looks like we need to buckle up for another tough fire season. congress provided new authorities for the forest service. much more needs to be done to address the significance of wildfire. i look forward to working with you to build additional support for litigation protections and reductions in red tape.

that way restoration projects can get done sooner. >> thank you. >> senator cortez? >> thank you ranking members, and both of you for being here. let me associate myself with the comments that the chair made with respect to to -- sexual-harassment. addressing this issue in both agencies, i cannot agree with you more. this is a cultural change. we had to be vigilant and constant. we have to have policies and procedures in place. i look forward to working with you and supporting you to make sure we are constantly addressing this issue. let me talk about lake tahoe. lake tahoe is important for nevada and california. i know ms. christiansen, this is an issue that we have talked about in the past. 74% of the area around lake tahoe is public land management by the fire service.

the overstocked forest is highly vulnerable to insects, disease, and catastrophic wildfire. they lack the diversity. these projects are essential to the safety of the community and health of the forest. the threat of a catastrophic wildfire is a top concern for the entire community and both states. with the increasing outlook for a wildland fire in nevada, what precautions are being taken to safeguard this area in particular?>> let me make one quick comment on work environment. this is not a one- day training. this is a starting point of a long journey. in regards to lake tahoe, this is an emblem of a community at high risk. to have a high

population. it is a good example of the community that is working across boundaries together. i hate to say this, it is working way of front of any fire , and sometimes several years of working across boundaries to get the resiliency of the land in better shape, as adjusted. the communities need to be prepared to have fire and being fire adaptive. the tools added in 2012, and what was recently passed are a great step forward for us to be able to move more swiftly, and get more done. we can stabilize when the fire funding goes into effect. we can do the best work on the

ground. the reforms we are doing ourselves, internally, will help us to get more work done. i am proud of the increase -- increased work across the land. we are doing this with our interior, state, and local partners. the principles of what we call the national wildland fire cohesive strategy, where we need to create the resilience of the communities. we will have an effective risk- based response the fire. i have an imitation, or i want to get out to lake tahoe. i have been there a couple of years ago. leadershipeaexample. there. >> we appreciate you being participants in the focus of that area. this is an area where california

and nevada has come together to address this issue. we appreciate you being there. let me jump back to the topic of conversation which is pays. i don't think people realize that when there are fires going on in the northwest, is not just addressing and impacting the state. if there are fires in california, we see the smoke and haze in southern nevada and reno. it has an impact on the region. her that, i am curious, what do you look to address as far as the health effects when it comes to the hayes? let me bring this up, i know you have an office of environmental health that studies the events and impacts on people's health. my understanding is that it is being defunded. is that correct? >> from where? is >> the office and advancement does my environmental health?

is that not true? >> i'm sorry i'm not familiar with that. i can speak to a partnership that the greater wildland fire community has entered into with the center with rec center for disease control. there helping us study the fuel types from prescribed fire and wildfire, in the time of year. we're showing that not only the quantity of smoke is different as senator cantwell expressed in this report, but the type of particulate matter, looking that closely between wildfires and prescribed fire smoke, we are pleased that we have such a solid partnership with the cdc. >> thank you.

i know the department is in exterior. you have any comments? >> i'm not familiar with this. i am happy to look more specifically into it and give you a good response to that question. i would just say, if we look at where we are now, and where we are wanting to go in the future to start to deal with this issue, there is a lot of interaction between the wildland fire community and air managers. essentially, the shared vision is that we are much better off under prescribed fire scenario, where we control the circumstances, and the volume. we can control the character of the smoke in the air. as opposed to an uncontrolled wildfire were we have no control whatsoever. >> i agree. thank you both. >> thank you senator. let me ask about the vegetation

management that we included. can you give me a status report on the implementation of these provisions that we had included? i think we recognized, and were thinking about the physical integrity of transmission and distribution. this is key to protect the security and reliability of our energy grid when we talk about a wildfire. can you give me an update? >> certainly. we have moved swiftly. we have done a full analysis of these provisions. we have given very specific direction to our region. as you know, they will give us our plans by the end of the week

on the utility right-of-way and vegetation management. that's more opportunistic. i have asked every one of our regional and for services to describe how they are prepared to meet the response times that the utilities will require. that way we can be timely in allowing the vegetation management projects to move forward. this is direction to our region to be ready and show us how they are prioritizing when the requests come in from the utilities. they can work with them in advance to know what the workload will look like. >> mr. rupert, the folks at blm and for service, are they coordinating on the effort?>> there has been active, ongoing coordination to come up with

consistent approaches. blm as well and the process. they are very close to releasing an information memorandum. it will reinforce sideboards, timelines, and expectations for implementation. >> good! there has been discussion with regards to the unmanned aerial systems. how does doi and the office of wildland fire coordinate with forest service in terms of the drone program? do you operate them separately? is there some level of communication or coordination that goes on with these assets?>> i will start. in interior, you -- drone

operations are not strictly wildfire. the majority of the drone missions that are flown are resource missions. these are surveys in the case of wildfire, we have a fleet approaching 500 drones. we have several hundred certified operators. many of the operators are qualified to operate on a wildland fire incident. as the coordination occurs with the wildfire focus is similar in terms of establishing the standards that allow us to go into these incidences so we know we have certified operators that are capable of

piloting the drones in that environment. they can support the incident response. in a lot of ways, it's very similar to how we coordinate all other assets. that's been one of the successful parts of this drone implementation. we have taken the wildfire community implement -- implementation standard and crated our approach. >> do we have any sense to the savings that we might be able to obtain by using drones? from a safety perspective, that is clear. in terms of using the traditional aircraft versus drones for the traditional wildfire tasks, do we have a sense of what the cost savings

might be? >> we do not have a civic dollar figures. like any built-up investment, we imagine what we can get to. as mr. rupert said, with the resources, the health detections that we do across this nation, when we can get that to having drones instead of aerial surveys, the potential savings is huge. we are in an innovative state. we are learning how we can replace people with cameras, we imagine it can be great. we will incrementally work ourselves there.>> let me ask about that. i was in south-central alaska. i was struck by the amounts of

bark beetles. it went up toward denali. this is an area that i had not noticed that kill. the kenai peninsula had been decimated some years back. unfortunately, we are saying some evidence through the aerial surveillance, the beatles may be back. it is my understanding that this beetle has decimated over 6 million acres. 1.3 million acres, more than 30 millions verse trees on the kenai peninsula alone. again, we are paying very close attention to this because of the potential for increased

fire threats on the kenai peninsula. this is not just the kenai peninsula. i was looking at my clip this morning. justin this morning, the newspapers around the state, we had a fire down in davis. this was in the tongass national forest. there was another one this morning. there was another big fire off of rosie creek road. that is just up from the area i grew up. it's fire season for us. i know we are projected to have a normal one here. for us, normal is sometimes 1 million acres. this is something that we watch with great interest. what are the agencies doing to work together, not just within

doi and for service, but working with the state as we are dealing with some of the beetle kill issues? we are seeing a resurgence. whether we are seeing it on kenai or moving into south- central and anterior? >> at the recent aerial detection survey in 2017, there was 27 million acres flown in alaska. there were 840 thousand acres that were recorded as damaged. you are correct, it has been south-central. there were 400,000 in this recent survey. it's largely in this valley that you described. it is across all lands. we are working collectively. we have put together a working group that does the research in

alaska with the division of forestry. >> as i understand, that task force was focused on the kenai peninsula. are you expanding this to a broader area? >> yes. that is my understaing. there is a spruce beetle website that is up. we have also awarded special technology development grants to develop lands that have a broader look both spatially at detecting the past and the present disturbances across alaska. this will help us monitor the insects and disease activity on a larger scale. it helps us to get behind this. we are working in southeast alaska, the largest area, there

are small pockets of spruce beetle activity. the largest area is in glacial bay national park. we have a protection program collaborating with park staff to monitor this through the summer. we are working across boundaries in the park as well. >> as we all know, it's not just alaska, we have the beetle issue raised by other colleagues. again, i want to make sure that these forest management tools that we have provided you in the omnibus, to do more when it comes to prescribed burning. we want make sure were making every effort to reduce the fire risk. also, we really want to work to address the management reforms that we believe are critically important.

we have one more vote. but the absence of other colleagues this morning, if folks do have questions for the record, we will make sure that they come to your attention and would ask that you reap the smack respond to their concerns. i do want to ask one more question. this relates to the tongass. you know my position. i've always said that i did not think that the road made any sense. it's an area that is made up of islands. it's a 32 island community. as we are looking to access within the tongass, the big focus has been on the limitations that are provided by this area. you have a petition from the state of alaska that asks for

that exemption in the tongass. last time you were here, we had a conversation about this. we talked about the forest service plans. it can you give me an update on the status of the petition? can you tell us when the forest service might act on that petition?>> i can. secretary purdue and governor walker spoke on friday. they agree to pursue estate specific rule to address the concerns as swiftly as possible on the tongass national forest, and access for timber and energy

development. they had other forms of access on the tongass. we are working closely with the state to align the resources to get started immediately. the forest service has identified funding and resources with people and staffing to get started. we are in close contact with the state. we will be glad to keep you up- to-date. >> i appreciate that. perhaps what we might want to do is schedule a meeting with yourself and the secretary, if he's available. we can further discuss this. i am cognizant that with the state position -- petition, my friend from idaho led to that in his state. he has made clear to me that

this is not an easy process. it is not a quick process. it is not a cheap process. i want to make sure that there is a good understanding as to what this process for moving forward with the state position is. i want to know how it's outlined. it is my hope that whatever the process looks like, it does not result in anything that is less than a full exemption. i would like to be able to speak with you and the secretary about that petition. again, i understand how we can move forward in a way that does

acknowledge the reality of the situation that we face within the tongass. i would look forward to more discussion on that. with that, i think, as i am looking through this, i don't believe this question was asked when i was on the boat. have you provided the status on the aerial firefighting use and effectiveness? that was back in 2012. it's my understanding that the agency launched the use and effectiveness study. that was 5 years ago. is my understanding that we really have not seen any information that has been released from that work.

that does not make sense. that's not acceptable. if we requested a and 5 years later, we have not seen that. i don't know if you have addressed this already. if you have, i apologize. can you just tell me where we are with that?>> i have not addressed it yet. as you know, it's a study to look over a variety of different fire situations, with the use and effectiveness. we are using it appropriately. we are discussing how effective retardant is. the major investment. retardant is a critical tool. we want to know if we are using it correctly. like any study, i get frustrated as well. it takes a certain amount of time, and the variety of fires and types of fires to have a

reasonable study. it was always intended to be 5 years of data. they are collecting that into a report. we will see a draft report in the coming months with the final report in 2018. mac i understand what you are saying about how we wanted to be comprehensive. we also recognize that we have worked to provide you with resources and tools that you have been asking for for a long time. you acknowledge in your own statement that this is not a blank check. we want to make sure that we are doing right by these reforms. we want to make sure we are doing right by these additional dollars and resources coming your way. we want to be guided by things

that will make sense. one of the thingsthati hear is that when it comes to aircraft to it achieve suppression objectives, it's like what we have over here. that is not cost-efficient. that is not using our money smartly. i would hope that you are trying to get this into alignment. we will not just a blow through the resources that we have this year because we have it. next year, will promise to do it more intelligently because we have the results of the study. if you have information that can help point you in a better direction now, i would hope that you are setting yourself up to do just that. >> yes, we are. we implemented last year, and

the longer study is ongoing. we look for to those results. i am getting briefed soon. we also the technology now, with the scientists, within a 12 hour turnaround, we have real-time maps to our teams. they can see the effectiveness of the window of response. we know if it was effective. did we just burn through the retardant drops that we thought would be effective? we are doing real-time learning as well as the long-term study. with both of those, we are making adjustments. we will have more information and be glad to work with you on that. >> i would appreciate that. i think you heard similar concerns from both senator cantwell and senator wyden on this.

we see that these are important assets. we want you to have the aviation assets. we also want to know that we are being smart with all of this. thus the request for the study back in 2012. actually, if my math is correct, if we did put this in place in 2012, we are beyond our 12 -- 5 years.>> the first season wasin 20. a >> okay. i have no further questions at this point in time. again, if colleagues have submissions, you will see them. i know it's not a policy, but maybe we just pray for rain this summer.

also, we pray for the safety of the men and women who are out there on the front lines. we all know that this is very dangerous. we have lost far too many, as they have been out on the front lines. hopefully it will be a safe season. with that, the committee dan's adjourned.

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with news and policy issues that impact you. coming up on wednesday morning, inside elections reporter will be on to talk about the results of tuesday's primary. paul discusses provisions within the republican conference on immigration policy. and democratic congressman from rose island -- rhode island talks about heading into the midterm election. join the discussion. live on wednesday on the c- span network, 10:00 a.m., the house returns for work on a combined spending bill for energy, water projects, etc. on c-span 2, they return for debates on judicial nominations , and on c-span three at 9:40 5 am, health and human resources

secretary testifies before the house education and workforce committee about his agency's policies and priorities. 2:30 p.m., kentucky senator rand paul defends a subcommittee hearing on the financial impacts and constitutional implications of the u.s. military action under the existing authorization for use of military force. a new report examines the ways radical groups like isis munich eight online. we are showing how authorities can interfere with her online communication and recruitment. jesse morton, a former g hottie who became an informant for the f vi took part in a discussion at new america. this is about one hour and a half. >> thank you for coming this afternoon. thank you for those who are watching this today. this is the