MALDEN Act would improve FEMA coordination with local wildfire recovery teams
WASHINGTON – U.S. Senators Jim Risch (R-Idaho) and Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.) today introduced the Making Aid for Local Disasters Equal Now (MALDEN) Act, which would improve coordination between local, state, Tribal, and federal agencies to deliver resources faster in the aftermath of disastrous wildfires. The MALDEN Act is named after a devastating wildfire in 2020 that occurred in eastern Washington. The devastation is an unfortunate reality for western states, including Idaho due to severe forest mismanagement.
“Idahoans know too well the near-constant danger wildfire imposes on communities due to federally mismanaged forests in the West,” said Risch, a trained forester.“When our rural communities need help with wildfires, they need it fast. Thus far, federal agencies have failed them. The MALDEN Act will require the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) to urgently respond to areas in need while coordinating with state, tribal, and local leaders, who know their communities’ needs best. We must pass the MALDEN Act before the 2024 wildfire season starts.”
“After the 2020 fire that destroyed the town of Malden -- and even after last year's Gray and Oregon Road fires in Spokane County -- federal assistance has been too slow to arrive. The MALDEN Act will help deliver disaster recovery aid to rural communities more quickly. The bill requires FEMA to get involved in rural wildfire response sooner, work with local, state, and Tribal emergency officials on a coordinated response, and to make case workers available even if victims are denied federal assistance,” said Cantwell.
The MALDEN Act would amend the Stafford Act, which constitutes the statutory authority for most federal disaster response activities, to:
- Ensure rural communities receive recovery assistance by requiring FEMA to work in coordination with state or Tribal leadership to provide guidance to local emergency managers on developing a recovery team. They must also assist in identifying short and long-term recovery resources, including resources to prevent secondary natural disasters like flooding, mudslides, and rockslides.
- Instruct FEMA to work with the state or Tribal emergency management agency to make case workers available for rural communities in the event that a request for Individual Assistance is made and denied.
Senator Risch, as one of the only trained foresters in Congress, has long sought to create meaningful, effective policies to build healthier, more resilient forests; better fight fires; and aid the communities hurt by these disasters. He has introduced numerous pieces of legislation in wildfire prevention, including:
- The Forest Improvements through Research and Emergency Stewardship for Healthy Ecosystem Development and Sustainability (FIRESHEDS) Act to expedite management projects in high fire risk areas;
- The Treating Tribes and Counties as Good Neighbors Act to fully recognize Tribal and county governments as Good Neighbor Authority (GNA) partners and provide improved incentives to conduct fuel treatment and conservation projects.
- A legislative fix to the 2015 Cottonwood decision, which tied up responsible forest management projects in red tape—trapping commonsense fuels reduction projects in endless cycles of activist litigation; and
- The Forest Protection and Wildland Firefighter Safety Act of 2023 to create a Clean Water Act exemption for federal, state, local, and tribal firefighting agencies to use fire retardant to fight wildfires.
Senator Risch has also encouraged the federal government use prescribed fires to reduce the risk of catastrophic wildfires and he has strongly advised the U.S. Forest Services to analyze and release standing sawtimber levels in priority firesheds. This will motivate and focus collaborative work between federal land management agencies and forest product companies, who work together to remove hazardous fuels.
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