mr. chris treese. i recognize the distinguished senator. >> thank you, mr. chairman and thank you to you senator to allow me to introduce chris treese. he serves as the manager for the colorado river water conservation district, he oversees issue that is affect the colorado river and over the years we've worked with chris on a number of issues important to this committee. you should know, mr. chairman, helped developed portions of the conservation title of the 2014 title, he helped ensure that it ensured on water quantity on the partnership program. he also helped this bill around the forestry reforms, this includes the new treatment program for forest suffering from insect and disease epidemics which is so important to our state of colorado. so i would like to welcome chris treese and thank him for the opportunity to be here today. >> thank you, senator. our next witness is chris wood. currently serves as president and ceo of trout unlimited which is a conservation to protect and restore north america's water sheds. mr. wood has also served in a variety of p

mr. treese, it's been great to work with you over the past few years. the farm bill was difficult but it resulted in a collaborative product that everyone can support. two projects are under way in colorado to treat 3,000 acres of foshests affected by insect and disease epidemics. it's clear that we have to fix this borrowing problem. but i wonder if you could explain to us from your per peck stif as a water provider why it's so critical to address that and how the projects are work in colorado. >> thank you, senator. the projects are in fact working but they're working on a limited basis. they're small acreages but they're critically important. it is the prevention. as the commercial says, pay me now or pay me later. this is an opportunity to treat the forest both through the categorical exclusion and in fact the program you mentioned also uses the extension of the good neighbor policy to work on both federal and private lands cooperatively and con joinedly in neighboring forests to address a larger watershed used by the city of grand junction and the

mr. treese. >> morning. thank you chairman roberts, breaking member stabenow for that generous introduction. members of the committee, i have the honor of representing the water conservation district and the national water resources association and its members across 13 western states. as the committee knows, the founding purpose of the national forest system was to secure favorable water flows. the correctly degraded conditions are the national forest adversely impacts water chemistry come about off timing and water yield. large-scale high-intensity wildfires are becoming more frequent and significantly larger. colorado allowed from the 2004 to 2007 and average of 40,000 acres of forest land was burned. the average jumped from 2007 to 214,240,000 acres per year. while wildfires can cause a significant loss of water and hydropower infrastructure, wildfires greatest impact to the community often comes after the fire is out. water flooding and debris flow represents the major and recurring threat post-fire. th

mr. treese, but talking about that, i think that was one of these successes of the last farm bill and willhopefully continue to be a positive tool. stuart: mr. tillis. you, mr.s: thank chair. i understand the fire borrowing, but i have a question related to some of the underlying costs. what thoughts do you have on things we can do to reduce the cost of suppressing large fires? need toan: i think we spend more with pre-suppression activities. it is the same approach as going to a dentist and getting your teeth cleaned. it is insurance, trying to help not get a cavity. the same principle applies in the forest. we have to actively manage these forests. if you look at the predominance of forests out in the western united states, these are fire adapted forest. fires,orests depend on and the problem out there now is our own making. over the past 100 years, we have been aggressive in putting out every fire that starts and not allowing a fire to have a natural role in the landscape and ecosystems, and because of this, we have had these large buildups of both ground fuels and standing fuel, so if