senate energy and natural resources committee on wildfire response efforts. the national interagency fire center's 2018 forecast said nearly a dozen western states would experience an above-normal, significant wildland fire potential between june and the end of september. witnesses also answered questions about new technologies to fight dfir, managt regies, and interior department workplace antiharassment training. this is 90 minutes. >> good morning, e he comttee will come to order. it's nice to be able to welcome back to the committri, welcome. mr. rupert, welme to you. we're here this morning to discuss the outlook for the 2018 wildfire season. just based onat we already know to date, it doesn't look good. last friday, the national interagency fire center, which is a joint operation between the

department of interior and the u.s. forest service, released its monthly wildland fire potential outlook for june through september. warmer and drier than average conditioreanticipated, and the southwest in particular is atery high risk for wildfires due to elevated drought conditions and strong winds. i feel like a weather reporter here.e tinder fire sparked 27th in central arizona marked the first large-scale wildfire of the season in the west. there are now several significant active fires, including massive blazes in aeady forcing evacuations.at are already this year, almost 24,000 wildfires have burned about 1.7 million acres across the country. and this is just june 5th. the number of wildfires andacre 2018 depends not only on wildfire potential and forest conditions, but on the timing of lightning strikes and human-caused ignitions.

nationwide, people are responsible for starting 84% of the wildfires, and by starting so many fires, many through human carelessness, people are essentially lengthening the fire seas into the early spring and later fall times of the year when lightning just doesn't have 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 andwi many examples. so, with the 2018 fire season plea to people everywhere --h a justle srt about fire. we can make a measurable difference in what this wildfire season ends up looking like, and it starts with being careful. it's also time to execute a multipronged federal, state, local strategy to meet the increasing challenges presented by wildland fire in a cost-efficient manner. first is innovation. our committeedius innovation at length on the energy side of the policy shot,

but we also have significant opptunitieswith rspect t land and wildfire management. last fall, we held an entire hearing on wildfire technology. i'm particularly interested in the use of unmanned aircraft systems or drones, which are playing a greater rolein wme respse from detecting, mapping, and even helping to contain itar ceaper to operate, maintain, and train personnel on drones, and it also helps reduce risks for pilots, crews, and firefighters. the department of the interior in the state of alaska had been early adopters in the use of drones, and not just for wildfire. interior is using its drones across its management functions, including to motor the ongoing volcanic eruption in hawaii. we can and should do more to embrace technology and land management, including in wildfire management. i know senator cantwell is very interestn as wel, hopefully, this will be area where we'll be able to make some

bipartisan progress. after that, we need to look for opportunities to increase efficiencies in wildland fire operations at the federal level. the forest service and department of interior have long coordinated aspects of their suspension programs through the national interagency fire center, but collaboration could still improve in procurement, budgeting, information technology, and human capital. one program to focus on, of course, is aviation services. i still don't fully understand why forest service and interior have their own separate programs. i've also said over and over that wildfire is n just a budget problem. it is a management problem, meaning we must actively manage our forest. in alaska, we've seen the benefits of up-front investments in hazardous fuel reduction and fire breaks before fires start. back in 2014, a large, strategically placed fuel break between the kenai national

refuge anddatna saved lives fire. and in 2014, hazardous treatments around sterli years earlier reduced the wildfire risk to that community during the card street fire. in the fy '18 omnis, congress provided significant funding to address wildfires. we also provided some new authorities, not necessarily at the level that i believe are necessary, but what we could characterize as a start. the agencies wanted th authorities, so we certainly expect them to put them to good use. so, no excuses there. i want to end by saying effectively fight fires and manage the lands, you must rid your agencies of sexual hament, bullying, and retaliation. workplace misconduct cannot be tolerated, especially on the fire lines in the field. focus on the mission, and be

professional about it or be ready to face the consequences. withthat, a, i would like to w c cki christnson, and the director of the office of wildland fire athertme ofter r, jeff rupert, the committee. i thank you both for being with us today. i look forward to our discussion this morn as we work to reduce wildfires across the country. senator cantwell. >> thank you, madam chair. d thank you for that 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 and skill people in responding to these issues. i also appreciate your very strong statement about drones. as weoa thi son, fire line have the best possible information is going to be critical. on weather conditions, on information about fire movement, on all of that.

i recently attended a breakfast where the secretary of ag was entering into an mou. the department of interior has done unbelievable work on our drone system. i don't want the department of ag to waste one minute recreating something that could just be the same implementation that the department of interior has done. in order to get started on the release over the weekend by the interagency fire center. for years now, the committee has heard over and over that our wildfires are getting worse, and climate scientists have been telling us the fire season is getting longer and hotter. and now this new forecast in the pacific northwest will have a july-august fire season on sidee past being even potentially

worse. most of the west received less than 50% of its average precipitation for may, which will likely result in fuels in the mountains becoming critically y by lte july. my colleague, senator wyden and i were just discussing this as it relates to what that means for us time that less precipitation, just a sooner, sooner, drier environment in which we all have to be very, very mindful of. nearly all of the country experienced temperatures that average last month. central w teer we degrees above average. and e these conditions are supposed to last through september, places like southeast washington will likely experience more large fires than they have in previous years, starting in july. areas in washington -- and i know that we have a couple of fires already started in our state. hopefully, people will be working quickly to put those

out, but it's an early reminder cld be.engingseas areas in washington and in oregon nd i know my colleague will be here probably, from idaho -- and in idaho, et of the cascade crest will likely experience more large fires than we have seen in the last few years, starting in august, so, given that we are looking at thissue i want to make sure that we are ensuring that firefighters have every tool available to them to help fight these fires. they need to be as safe as possible and as efficient as possible. everyone here heard me talk about the carlton complex fire in washington wh 139,000 acres burned up literally in a single day. the following year, the fires in washington were even worse, and we witnessed firsthand the disaster and what thefter means for people living in these communities. our heroic men and women irers did everything they

could to be ready, and we need to do everything we can to be ready this fire season. fires are becoming more lethal, and part of the speech chief christensen gave last weekdurin oof the facts struck me, and that is that since 1910, we have had more than 1,000 deaths from wildland fires, but the more sobering number is more than a quarter of those,255, have occurred in the last 15 years. so, we can see that they terally are becoming more lethal. so,n 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 our wildland ion.figh, said,h want to make sure that our modernized fire shelters are developed and implemented in a

way that we know that the safety and training of those wildland firefighters have an understanding of that equipment. we had an unfortunate death in the 30 mile fire in which the then deployment of shelter wasn't successfully deployed, and the tragic loss of life in the pacific northwest. so, as you now deploy new shelters and wildland firefighters with very few hours of literal training,om ourpeireghting force, we want to make sure that everybody is trained and adequate and also not an overexpectation of being someplace that they shouldn't be. so, we want to wk with you on that. we also want to have more response to wildfires. firefighters need to be able to use those technologies that give them the most efficient resource. and we also want to be very strategic about protecting these communities that are in the

wildld urban interface as soon as possible. in march, aggreon took an -- congrs too an important step in addressing the problem and this mmitt worked on an on the bill dedicated to wild fire and many of the people here in this room worked very hard on this. it helps the forest service have adequate resources to respond to wild fires and do their necessary work. we provide significant funding for firefighting for the next ten years. and to get out of the fire borrowing. so i thather enough funding that is there on the nonfire programatan enur comti as well. especially the increase in funding that will help us do prevention and treatment in advance and prevent the loss of the forest service nonfire accounts. so what was included in the package we thinkakehi eie obviously our state agencies

like washington dnr are able to hthe forest hope you take advantage of that. they were called out last time, i think the first time in decades that dnr was called to the line. that's how bad the fire season was. we hope that the good neighor projects are implemented. we hope that the vegetation management andwer lines is implemented. we hope the 20-year contracts to thinning on timber are implemented and the forest service it will do all it can to reduce fuels in the advance. i want to highlight the interesting article that showed up in th month's "journal of forestry" it shows per acres burned on a acre in august puts more than five times in a controlled burn in may and june. i know it probably makes sense to people but at the same time it's one of the problems w

been fighting. i guarantee if yousk peopn puget sound would you tolerate a little bit of smok e in tmonths redu thensntsu mers prent because of fire, i guarantee you they would say yes. let's do the prescribed burning in the months that are wet that help us control these burns in the month significant way. so, obviously, we haveore work to do on that, but i think that article showed us that this is the most wise spending we can do. and we need to push through on this. so i will be asking, also, chief christianson aft to tsor 35% of the ai tankers including aeroflight in when needed. i want to make sure you have every tool available to you.

i would sleep better night kn every tool know that the water doesn't wh the fire starts in this dry of season and communities that are so stretched and when the entire upper part of northwest washington and northeast washington was on fire, basically, you know, communities were defending themselves. atki air ability to help mitigate is so, so important to these communities. ind weet the air tankers. i want to say that the lyear of fire managers requested but did not receive an air tanker 371 times because none were available.

so i get that your goal is to i want you to the most resoces, too. but i don't want you to have gi. ltogeer on figuring how we get you both and what is going to ce toe a challenging fire season. madam chair, we just can't work fast enough. we need to do so much more. thank you for having this important hearing today. >> thank you, we'll turn to our witnesses this wel th inrim chief fo the u.s. forest service at the department of agriculture. we appreciate you being here and your leadership. please proceed. please keep your comments to about five minutes sowe have

opportunities for questions. we do have two votes that are scheduled to begin at 11:00, but we'lporgh tem so we can allow members to ask their timely questions to the very timely issue. welcome. >> madam chair, members of the commouor invitinme back to testify.i wou topics today. wild fire outlook, preparations to respond, reducing fire risk, and an undate on our actions to create a safe, respectful workplace. above average wild fire activity ap to be ourew normal. forecasters predict 2018 will rival last year's historic season when the federal government spent $2.9 billion fighting fires. they predict above-average

significant fire potential in 11 western states and various times now and the end of september as senator well displayed. firefighting is not solitary work. no one organization can do it alone. we rely on the cooperation and shred resources with states, tribes, federal agencies, and . with our collective resources, mainin what we need to effectively respond. the forest serviceit has 10,000 firefighters, 900 engines, and hundreds of available ai our firefighting efforts suppress 98% of all fires at ten acres or les we're also taki steps to etter ma costs for fire response. we know there is no blank check. we will make decisions to ensure we spend dollars in the right place that will make a

difference. we're evaluating anding cost centers to ensure we're most effective and efficient with taxpayer llars. in addition to wild fire response, our work is equally about improving forest ions and prorin uses and experiences and services. with the help of congress, we are equipped with new toolsto lp us get more done. 's time to delivere are making steady progre. by neth ll detrw ty're in to employ the new authorities. they'll include the agreements, use of new category exclusions, -year contracts.tions for g ou blueprint toard to du fls in

high-risk areas. we're already seeing increased results. we have increased the number of acres we treated b timber harvest grows 13% from lastea and we are delivering it earlier in the year. at this point, we have harvested nearly 30% more timber than we did last year. in two18 timber target is the our increased wi states has resulted in 150 good neighbor agreements with 34 stas. one agreement in utahed in 36 projects that will treat over 50,000 acres.

meanwhile, we are fundamentally reforming our internal processes and it'syi atreamlining our planning over the last eight months and its decreased the time to aurize ojects. this has reduced costs in just the eight months by $30 million. we are updating our technology to expedite ti sales and our shofl-ready work has increased to build on the moment for 2019. there is much m work to do but we are off to a produc start. finally, our mission's success depends highly on a skilled, motivated work force. we'll continue toct urgency. next week over 30,000 employees will take part in a full-day session called stand up for each

other. employees will receive a new code of conduct and antiastraining. you have my personal commitment to do whatevert takes to bring about change in the forest service. this level of commitment goes for all the work we do. we'll ensure your investments make a difference to americans foo deserve healthy, productive sts and a government that works for them. thank you, madam chair, and members of the committee. i'm happy to answe your questions. >> thank m up welcome to the committee. >> good morning. thank you forthe otunityo appear before youhi morn to discuss 2018 outlook in the department of the interior fire management program. as we've heard this morning, 2018 is shaping up to be anher

challenging year. lacts drought, eady accumulation vegetation are creating landscapes that are more susceptie, devtiwild fires. so far this year, we've seen large fires in the south, the midwest, and especially in the southwest. eect the fire season in the west to be comparable to recent years. as the outbreak of major wild fires over the weekend in new mexico and colorado demonstrate. together with our partners, we'll continue to mobilize pers other firefighting assets in support of a fully interoperateble firefighting effort. as secretary zinke and purdue recently reaffirmed to all fire leip in both departments, the protection of firefighters and public safety is the top

priity for every firetivity an management decision. effective wild fire responses also fell onru.onteamwork, and he partners.n among firefighters a workplace that is free from harassment and where all members of the firefighting community have a strong trust relationship withei colleagues is critical to achieving a safe and effective response. the department of the interior recently implemented comprehensive i-hassment olakes meaningful stepto address harsment by stepping up training and establishing a clearly defined complaint and resolution process so that all employees, including those on the fire line can focus on the mission. to reduce the threat of wild fires, it's critical we take a more active approach to the

managementf on nation's forests. secretary zinke emphasized the importance of active management a way to reduce hazards and ire resilient landscapes and communities. the corner sne ofhisy is the integration of vegetation management in all resource management planning. it is a way to redu fuels and improve forest and protect people's lives in their communities, and prevent catastrophic wild fires. vegetation management either done collaboratively, with our partners, or done directly by s one of the most effective strategies for mitigating wild fire risks. coupled with more aggressive vegetation management, technology is helping us to prevent and manage catastrophic wild fires and the use of

unmanned aircraft systems is a perfect example of technology and leveraging it to fight wild fires in safer and more efficient ways. last year the department conducted over 700 usa missions on more than 70 wild fires and we're on track to surpass that this year. the versatility of uas is making a big difference in the way that we're fighting wild fires. provide real time data and information that used to improve surveillance and recog sans with assisting firefighters of detecting hot spots. we're exploring a number of new technologies an alerts that improve firefighter safety in collaboration with the department. i would like to point out that the department is widely using uas to support natural resource management and for search and

rescue missions. km for example, last week uas- u.s. geological survey carried out a search and rescue mission at the kilauea volcan they spotted a individual cornered. the remote pilot using the uas wa t safely navigate the individual to a search crew that ultimately lead the person out of harm's way. so we lookwa t worki lavely with our partners throughout the wild fire community to continue to build on these and other efforts in ways that support the safety of firefighters in the public, enhance our firefighting capabilities, and strengthen relationships with our partners. i hope it goes without saying, but i'll say it anyway, thank you for the sustained support of this committee for the entire wild fire community and thank you for the opportunity to discuss the department's program. happy to answer any

questions. >> thank you. you have addressed the issue of work force misconduct harassment, and what you're doing to bring about a very, very necessary changes to rid the agencies of sexual harassment and all forms of workplace misconduct. you mentioned that you've got a de poce christianson, that has been introduced. you indicated you have a new anti-harassment policy, mr. rupert. and you referenced those that are trainin includes on the fire le.chi christianson, is th outreach here for the training

and this full day session you referenced, does this also include those within the firefighting ranks, people within your administrative offices? who are we covering here? and what is the extent of these new policies that have been put in place? >> yeah. thank you very much, senator. yes, it is for every one of our permanent and seasonal employees. that's why we waited until this second week of june when the majority of our seasonals are on board now. we are, you know, shutting down a business for one day lling each week in different units one day to focus on this training and importance of breaking the silencendhat it i going toakeo shift our culture sustainablely. westarted across our

organization. it did not include many of our seasonals. that was we needed to demonstrate as leaders what was really being felt in the work force. that really fuelled the design for our stand up for our stand up for each other days next week. and about 18 months ago, we passed ry broad anti-harassment policy. we've been working on this agency-specific training with real agency examples. with real eloyees. we've recorded our training. there will be discussions in every work group across our organization. from the administrative stf, field staff, fire staff, headquarters staff, and each work unit will identify what itmenteed to makeco ea other. to improve the work environment.

but that, you know, we've started with an enhanced reporting center. we opened that up in the fall of '17. so that the far retaliation -- we're trying to minimize the fear of retaliation. we want to hear if anyone has any concern. >> what action, then, is taken ituaon outd.trted and this is a youot an active fire underway. people are working. how do you enforce this? because it's nice to be able to say we've got a one-day training session and you go out there for the season. it's not like you're reporting to somebody an office back here. ry significant concerns is that out in the field it is a different environment. and there's more, quote, accepted. >> you're absolutely right.

that's about getting under what is in our culture. there's both being very clear about what is not accepted and changing those behaviors. then there are structure things that will allow reporting in different ways. so even if you in the field, if there's cell service, that someone that has a ck up -- complaint can report it to and then we have timelines, action must be taken within 24 hours to look into annvestation and to evaluate the situation and to take corrective action. >> do you have a similar

process? >> the policy recently put in place sets very rigid expectations for managers and supervisors and timelines to respond to complaints. so there's a tremendous focus on ensuring that that process that really explores and understands and, you know, provides that inquiry and investigation is rigid in expectations go along with it to follow through. i think to the point of, you know, in the field, especially in, you know, these areas these inidents whereave ve sort of diverse organizations that are all contributing, as both of our departments, i think, have started to put in much more rigid expectations for how behaviors, inappropriate behavior will be treated with. and we're anticipating that that

will generate more interaction when these thing s occur and we've had dialogue at senior management level. not only between interior and ag but also with our partners across the entire community. local organizations, tribes, in those inner agency settings to ensure that, you know, these incidents occurring where this occurs on these incidents where we have this ready verse soiv that we don't lose track of the complaints and that we are following those back to the whole organization so essentially ensure that the people are being held responsible for their behavior >>well, i know from an oversight perspective we will be back to

you on this to make sure, again, that this is more than a one-day training. that this really is aout changing the culture that has been allowed to take over our agencies. that hasee extraordinarily black mark. so we need to correct that. you know that. and we want to keep monitoring this. senator cantwell. >> thank you. we were all together at the department of ag to discuss this mou between the department of interior and forest service. i saw that last week the department of interior awarded four contracts to companies operate medium sized unmanned aerial vehicles for wild fires. so i'm proud to say one of those was an instance from southwest washington and northeast oregon. a company that spans the columbia and the company is on

both sides. literally. we're proud of that technology. but most importantly, we're proud that interior is being very aggressive about using this tool on wild fires.ant to make rvice a interio working together to implement this. this is so critical for information about fire size, , of our firefighters. abt bein aggressive during this fire season? do you have to do anything se to mau tools are used across agenci or implemented? >> thank you for the question. i'm pleased to say this is an example of we're coordinating together. the forest service is clearly looking to the early adopters and the innovation that doi has

stepped out on and we applaud that. instead of us in spending the dollars and theme to do the innovation and the testing that they've done, we are absolutely committed. we drafting them, if i might say, our policies, our procedures to make sure that we have interoperability so we don't have policies d procedures that are different. 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 thca needed. contracts at any time as well as the states and others.

we are seeing a strong use in innovation and safety aspects of using uas on fires and look forward wn they can have capdiity bu the surveillance. >> thank you. >> anything else? >> thank you. i would say the easy answer to the question is ys. the call when needed uas contract is available. not only through the forest service but its being administrated as a national agency set the way with administrate other assets. it's available across the community on those large incidents >>well, i assure you, we're going to need them. thank you. on call when needed to the air tanker issue. so i am concerned that we're shifting 35% of the current air tanker corato call when eded. we had a chance to talk about this before about the fact that

mo expensive per day.racts are but yet i think to get them, you ha to call them evy day and say you're on call. and what i'm trying to understand is how we're going to sub plant that for the resources that you could have. i'm ting to understand is this about going deep where the resources from a budgeting perspective or you truly believe that call-when-needed as it relates to these services are the most cost effective way for taxpayers. >> that's a good question. llhe expenditures we use for exclusive use and how much we actually need them

ersuthe m expsi pay for them when we use them call-when-needed. this is an art and a science. and the science part isn't formed looking backwards. we have look forward. to be honest with you, senator, we wuld like to rebalance that in the coming years. we think that eed toave a little bit more balance between the exclusive use and call-when-needed. we were in transition this year, frankly, from getting the legacies or that contract is done. and 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 that you had one acquired from the department of defense and i'm not sure if you are going to use it. i want you to have the large

retardants. i want you to have every single asset. i hope given what you sa llrkus not a transitional season here but like a season where you have every tool at your disposal.tha want us to be doing. they want us to be giving them every tool possible to f ig thire season. thank you. >> thank you. >> thank you very much, madam chair. thank you so much for being with us today. thetion inner agency outlook for the summer of 2018. largely contained positive news from wyoming. we all know how quickly ground conditions can change. across wyoming we've had above average snow pack and spr ing r which contrut to be labelled below normal fire potential but higher precipitation can mean rapid grass growth and augus have

trouble. the rule of sixes. it seems ery six years in 2018 is the sixth yearoming is going to see fire this year. the questions remain about the fost health. effective use of resources. improving coordination among agency partners and how we can best do that. a lot comes down to the millions of ecosystem affected by beetles. we've had no stranger to die offs and the dead trees pose signifiant threats. you both identified the need to reduce hazardous fuels. both agencies have tools to take preventive action including those provided in the recent bill. so in places like wyoming where a lower intensity fire season is expected, but it may happen othee, your agencies have the flexibility that you need to take advantage of certainrs and adapt fuels treatments as the year goes on in real time to

increase preventive measures to kind of get ahead of the curve terms of all this standing fuel. >> thank you for the really good question, senator. i don't mean to burst your bubble, but the white on the map doesn't mean it's below normal. it's normal conditions. so we still will see fires. yes, you don't have as much red in wyoming. we have to use every tooln the toolbox for treating these hazardous fuels. that's mechanical treatments and using fire when we're in control of fi because fire will help reduce fuel in many ofhese ecosystems. sometimes they need both. we have more favorable conditions, we need to take advantage of those operating windows both on fire severity

and smoke management and very good comments by senator cantwell in herpeng statement about we are working with the public on how we take our smoke. under terms none of us care for ersus those that improve conditions. we had a two hour call with our leadership across the country about how we deploy resources not only for fires, for wild fire response but hazardous fuel and other treatments. we're on that. states are a critical part of that discussion, as well. >> thank you. for interior we focus on forest authorities. so we're largely still operating in framework we have operated in in interior in terms of, you know, planting, projects, and

then ultimately working to put them on the gun we're very much focussed in interior on streamng g that existing framework and that exist progress excess and we're making good headway there. ultimately projects there's an aspect of projects needing to have that planning to help drive them. still very much doing that. by the same token conditions on the ground in addition to, you know, values at risk and their exposure potential exposure to wild fire and weather conditions and having the right conditions to be able to get in there and do proactive vegetation management is parte equation year to year, season to season. >> thank you. >> the black hills national forest formed a advisory board.

the board is currently experiencing a number of vacancies and the nominations have to be approved by the secretary. it takes some time. without appval ofending nominations, the march, april, and may meeting have been cancelled. the board is expected to meet in june but with this many vacancies ms it has to be cancelled. any update on the situation and the nominations? senator, we clearly hear the concern and we, too, are making this a priority to get the nominations in and have vetting done and working very closely with the secretary's office. he, i know, is also committeings having everyone at the table to have a voice in how their lands are managed. it's a priority for us. >> thank you very much.

>> thank you for your leadership. we, of course, have the fire borrowing language on the books. i think that is going to be helpful for the long-term. we look forward to getting the plan at the end of june on how you're going to deal with the backlog on hazardous fuel reductions that we talked about here in this committee. and i appreciated the fact that you've been in discussions with us about how you're going to be attacking that. and i look forward to that, as well. i think the country very much wants to know the game plan is for reducing those hazardous fuels. for the country, and sometimes it feels like all of us as individual senators are running weather bureaux because our cs are so concerned about this. for the country, may the month for the fire season.

we're going to have some challenges. our friend is exhibit a for this proposition. the reason he is with us today is because he's in new mexico where he's dealing with is not an abracthr let me, if i might, talk to y about the air tankerssue. in my state, as is the case in many places, they felt they didn't have enough tankers last summer. so i think a lot of people are going to listen to this and say, well, they plan to show game back in d.c. they'll have this kindf tanker and that kind of tanker. i know that is not your int. let me ask you this way. you've got this plan. let's say there are not enough tankers.

period. lives are on the line. what do you do in kind of situation? >> well, you know, we really appreciate the concern of the citizens and i would be delighted if we could have a little wind into the intelligence, the predve services, and the 24 hour decision making that is done at the geographical area and the national area. when in those high preparedness levels. we call them preparedness levels four and five. where nationally we have to prioritize the resources. eacheic for senator cantwell and you it's the north

pacific northwest geographical area. their executives and their key fire leadership are meeting hourly and updating the situation. that feeds into the national interagency fire center where the national group -- >> can i stop you right there. i think that's very constructive. i think also in glish. because so much of what goes on in fire is hardto comprehend to people. i believe what you just said is you use your predictive services and then ongoingas really hourly are then able teploy the assets you have. what if you don't have assets? in other words you made a judgment you just don't have enough assets, which has been the case over the years. or even the best planning. i mean, people's intentions. you don't have enough assets. what do you do then? >> yes.

it's a prioritization that is what i was getting. it's a tiered prioritization of the most critical threats to humans and communities first. generally critical water shed in the like. and then we do have additional surge capacty we can bring on. >> where does the surge capacity come from? this is a category you can bring in if you don't have enough. >> yes. >> where do they come from? >> the department of defense the mobile aviation units. >> how many of them are there? >> we have seven.

yeah. seven. generally we're in the part of the significant fire year, we can bring our partners in from canada. two additional search capacities and we're putting out additional call-when-needed and we later we anticipate to h at least fiv ca. so up to 30. >> i'm over my time. i want to say i think you're working very hard in this and you're playing offense. ld lke it if you can also fu to the committee through senator murkowski and senator cantwell a written answer of what i asked about when there aren't enough tankers. i center nev really heard a whole lot about this sort of surge capacity group of tankers and i knew a little bit about the defense and i was chair of the committee. senator murkowski and i used to get it to us in writing. i think you're working very hard at this.

and your relations of keeping us informed has been appreciated. >> 15 seconds. partner you want on those sas hourly updates. okay. we want to make sure nasa is giving you the satellite information you need on an hourly basis. >> absolutely. we' wki with nasa. >> okay. thank you both. >> senator dane >> thank you. last fire season montana was nearly 1.4 million acres burned. we were left with a great deal of dead and dying timber which caused a serious public safety risk. we see significant delays associated with completing analysis of these burned areas and they prevent the salvage and other long-term post fire restoration from being completed in a timely manner.

montana scratched their heads trying to get into burned areas to salvage the timber. we know the clock is ticking. i've heard from many montanans who want the forest service to use your emergency situation determination authority to get more sooner. as you know, i encourage you to improve the requests for the fires in montana lastyear. can you provide an update on my requests for the ese approvals? >> thank you, senator daines. i'm quipleased with our staff i montana. they activated quickly. we put tgether strike teams to k salvage and work with the communities and with industry on what would be. >> we're going to break-away from this program to take you live to capitol hill for a senate subcommittee hearing. you can see there the hearing ou