During a House Natural Resources Committee markup meeting before the Congressional recess, Rep. Teresa Leger Fernández (D-NM) spoke about an amendment to compensate ranchers who lost cattle in wildfires.
00:00I recognize the gentleman from New Mexico, Ms. Ledger Fernandez, for the purpose of offering an amendment designated Ledger Fernandez 53. Without objection, the amendment is considered red.
00:09Thank you, Mr. Chair. My amendment would provide compensation to Forest Service permittees. These are the ranchers who graze their cattle within the Forest Service.
00:22And as I mentioned earlier, many of these ranchers have been grazing their cattle in these lands for centuries, for generations, and sometimes before the land was even part of the Forest Service, it used to belong to them.
00:35So, my concern is that when there is a prescribed burn that exceeds its boundaries and destroys these cattle, that there is no way for these permittees to receive any kind of compensation.
00:58The Hermits Peak-Calf Canyon Fire destroyed 900 structures and killed livestock across northern New Mexico.
01:09In that instance, I was able to secure and pass the Hermits Peak-Calf Canyon Fire Act, which actually provided for compensation, because it was the United States' fault.
01:22In that instance, we had bipartisan support. President Biden flew out and watched and met with the survivors, and we had support for that kind of legislation to compensate on these landowners for their losses.
01:40I'm hoping that we'll get similar kind of bipartisan support now. I'm very hopeful.
01:46In the Laguna Fire, the images of charred and injured cattle are heartbreaking.
01:53I really didn't want my staff to give me this, because it shows how calves are missing their mothers, and some have hooves so burned, they can no longer stand.
02:06And these herds are not just a lively herd for the local ranchers, they represent a way of life in rural New Mexico.
02:17New Mexicans will feel the damage from these fires for generations to come.
02:21And I think that this concept of what justice should look like, when the United States is at fault, when it starts the prescribed burn, we should have a way of compensating those who are directly harmed.
02:42I should also point out that we have the Federal Tort Claims Act that would not apply unless we do something like this, because it doesn't apply to fires that are started.
02:57So it is something that a lot of other things that the United States does that it's at fault for, you can actually sue the United States.
03:04But there isn't a process for prescribed burns if it goes wrong.
03:10So we don't want another one of these to happen.
03:14But if it does happen, we think that there should be justice for those who are harmed of these kinds of act.
03:21So I'm hopeful that my Republican colleagues were in the same way that we had the bipartisan support for the Hermit's Peak, that we also have bipartisan support to include this amendment.
03:31And it only occurs with regards to prescribed burns, because that's when the United States took active, active decision to start a fire.
03:42And with that, I yield back.
03:45The gentlelady yields.
03:48Is there further discussion on the amendment?
03:52Mr. Huffman, you're recognized.
03:53Thank you, Mr. Chair.
03:55I'm going to talk in support of this amendment.
03:58First, I need to circle back to my colleague from the Sierra who presented a chart that is pretty misleading.
04:06I wish it were so simple that we could just return to the heyday of clear cutting when we were putting up, you know, big numbers in terms of board feet harvested.
04:16But there's a little more to that correlation on that graph than was suggested, because those of us that represent forest country know that a lot of that clear cutting left in its wake land that was dangerously combustible.
04:34Slash, scrub that took the place of forest land in many cases, it was replanted in a plantation forest that grew into a deeply congested and unhealthy condition.
04:48And a lot of those fires that began to occur in the decades after were the result of poor forest management from these timber companies that left dangerous conditions in their wake.
05:01So that's the first way in which it's misleading.
05:04The other one is the big thing that started happening in the latter part of that curve, and that is the climate crisis.
05:10I know that my colleagues across the aisle still want to pretend that is not a thing, but if you talk to anyone who works in this space of forestry and fire, they will tell you it is a big, big thing.
05:24These conditions are fundamentally different than they used to be, and it's harder and harder to contain these fires.
05:31Now, with respect to my colleague's amendment, her state has certainly dealt with a lot when it comes to wildfire.
05:38And it's important that ranchers and other residents are compensated for their losses when something goes wrong.
05:44The Hermit's Peak fire was a prescribed fire that exceeded prescription and did a lot of damage.
05:50And in that case, Congress passed the Hermit's Peak Assistance Act to ensure adequate compensation.
05:56Going forward, there should be adequate assurances in place like those put forward by Ranking Member Legev-Fernandez.
06:03I don't agree necessarily that this bill is the best place to do that kind of good policy, but I appreciate the sentiment of the amendment.
06:10I'm certainly going to support it, and I hope it leads to a serious conversation about this important issue.
06:16I yield back.
06:17Is there, the gentleman yields, is there further discussion on the amendment?
06:27I'll recognize myself in regards to this.
06:29I'm regrettably opposed to the amendment, which would compensate permittees on federal land for the loss of any structure or livestock due to prescribed fire.
06:37Where the amendment is vaguely drafted and does not include a framework around potential compensation.
06:44With that, I yield back.
06:49And is there any other discussion on this amendment?
06:53Seeing.
06:54Mr. Chair.
06:55If there's.
06:56If there were interest in working on improving the amendment.
07:05The gentle ladies.
07:06Okay.
07:06Has been recognized previously.
07:08Oh, was going to.
07:09So.
07:11Mr.
07:11Oh.
07:13Mr. Chair.
07:14May I yield my time to Ms. Ledger-Fernandez?
07:18I recognize the gentle lady from.
07:21From.
07:22Maryland.
07:22Maryland.
07:23Thank you so much.
07:24I yield my time to Ms. Ledger-Fernandez.
07:26Thank you very much.
07:27I mean, I'd be very interested in continuing to work with the sponsor to see if this was something that he was interested in working on, recognizing the importance.
07:39I mean.
07:40Yes, absolutely.
07:41Okay.
07:42If the gentle lady will yield it.
07:43Yeah.
07:44Yes.
07:45In a separate bill, absolutely.
07:48I do not want to get a cost tag to this bill that's going to jeopardize its consideration.
07:56You know, I will offer her the consolation of knowing that under this bill, prescribed burns have to be extinguished the moment that they get outside of their boundaries and cannot be allowed to spread at the discretion of the agencies.
08:12And backfires, and backfires during incidents cannot be set by inexperienced crews without the explicit approval of the incident commander.
08:21I think that will address a lot of the damage that the gentle lady is trying to compensate.
08:26But I do agree with her completely that the damage caused by prescribed burns, and it's been terrible in many cases, there needs to be a full liability from the agency that's responsible for that destruction.
08:41Okay.
08:42And in that case, if you'll continue, I mean, I think it would be great if we could have a bipartisan piece of legislation that looks at how we address the liability.
08:53I would love to do that.
08:54And whether we do it through the Federal Tort Claims Act, whether we do it in something like this, because I think we can explore that.
09:03I agree completely on that, but not in this bill.
09:05And so with that, I would withdraw my amendment.
09:08The gentle lady from New Mexico withdraws her amendment.
