Bentz bill would give Forest Service more clout
By Terry Murry on Friday, July 23rd, 2021 in Columbia Basin News More Top Stories
WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Rep. Cliff Bentz (R-Ontario) took to the floor of the House of Representatives Thursday to talk about the Bootleg Fire, burning 12 miles northwest of Beatty, Oregon. The fire is just under 400,000 acres and has destroyed 67 homes so far. It is 38 percent contained.
Bentz has introduced the Commonsense Coordination Act, which would exempt the U.S. Forest Service from National Environment Policy Act regulations when it launches activities designed to prepare for wildfires.
“This bill will cut through some of the red tape that agencies must overcome to complete critical forest management activities,” Bentz said.
The freshman congressman who is an attorney said that the blame for the huge fires that are now burning throughout the West does not belong to any one person or group, but he wasn’t that charitable to some of his fellow lawyers.
“I must call out the massive special-interest-lawsuit industry that profits from the operation of the Access to Justice Act by legally knee-capping almost every attempt to manage our Western forests,” he said.
