ms. christiansen: thank you, senator daines. i am quite pleased with my ms. christiansen: thank you, staff. we put together strike teams to work with communities and industry on what would be an ideal place to receive this aterial. using the emergency situation determination is a very important tool both for health nd safety and the imminent hreat of declining rapidly. i expect the sunrise project, i signed last week, regional orest, martin knows what i expect to see. i will have those with the next two weeks. >> that is refreshing and very good to hear. given the sometimes lengthy approval process, what can congress do to encourage faster and more extensive use of this? ms. christiansen: i think it is just understanding the process and the balance. obviously, we take the tool very seriously but we need to not abuse it. we want to be strategic and really look for the areas where the health and safety and critical decline of the project are safe. we would like early involvement in the scoping so we can move out with lee. we move this in a transparent way. your

ms. christiansen: we will. thishave no questions at time but if colleagues have submissions, you will see them. i know it is not a policy but maybe we just pray for rain this and we also pray for the safety of the men and women out on the front lines. i think we all know that it is lostdangerous and we have far too many as they have been out there on the front lines. hopefully, it will be a safe season. with that, the committee stands adjourned. [captioning performed by the national captioning institute, which is responsible for its caption content and accuracy. visit ncicap.org] [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2018] [indistinct conversations] today, theol hill house returns from an 11 day recess pyramid is meet at noon eastern time for generals teachers and 2:00 to start the legislative day. from the natural resource committee, seven bills will be considered, including making route 66 a natural historic trail. that starts at 4:30 eastern and you can watch that live here on c-span. education

ms. christiansen, this is an issue that we talked about in the past. over 74% of the area around lake tahoe is public land, managed by the for service. after decades of sire. -- fire suppression, it is highly vulnerable. catastrophic wildfires. they like the diverse -- to support a healthy forest ecosystem. this is essential to the safety of the community and the health of the forest. the threat of a catastrophic wildfire is the top concern for the entire community in both states. with the increasing outlook for above normal far potential in northwest nevada, you can see from the map, what precautions do you recommend as far as this area? >> thank you senator. let me make a quick comment on the work environment. it is not a one-day training. this is a starting point of a long journey. in regard to lake tahoe. it is an emblem of a community at high risk. high population and it is a good example of a community that is working across boundaries together. you know, i hate to say this but it is working quite up front at any fire and sometimes several years

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. w

ms. christiansen. we are here this morning to discuss the outlook for the 2018 wildfire season.