/Capitol Media Services
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The governor in particular is calling on Congress to boost funding for programs to clear brush, small trees and waste from the forests, most of which are federally controlled. She also wants federal dollars to help local communities.
But Napolitano acknowledged there also is a role for the state to play. For example, she specifically is asking the Legislature to appropriate $5 million each year for community fire protection plans.
Sen. Tom O'Halleran, R-Sedona, said that is $20 million less than he and some of his colleagues say is necessary to aid communities at high risk of fire danger. They want some of that money for a "fuels reduction'' program to eliminate burnable materials around populated area.
But he acknowledged that is $4 million more than lawmakers funded this budget year.
The governor's requests actually come from a consolidated report submitted to her by two advisory committees she formed in 2003 t study ways of managing the forests and cut through some of the rhetoric and claims by groups ranging from timber companies to environmentalists. Members of the committees concluded what the state needs is a long-term strategy to improve forest health.
Not everything the governor wants involves money.
For example, she wants state regulations dealing with building construction in the "urban-wildland interface,'' where homes are nestled up against - or directly in - the forest. She also wants cities and counties to not only adopt their own codes but also to push developers of new subdivisions to have "appropriate buffer zones'' based on fire risk.
Nor is Napolitano letting individual homeowners off the hook, saying they, too, are responsible for protecting their homes from fire. But she said government can help by providing some sort of incentives to landowners who maintain a "defensible space'' around their property.
O'Halleran, who chaired one of the committees, said one key to healthy forests is finding ways to make it more financially feasible to clear out the small trees, those not considered marketable for lumber. He said that can be done by promoting ways to convert the wood into commercially useable fuel.
That, the report says, can be aided by communities providing some tax incentives to companies that are capable of using small-diameter trees. But he said federal action also is necessary because it can take up to 30 years for a firm to recoup its capital costs; the federal contracts for wood removal now last just 10 years.
Napolitano said the state can help: She wants to convert heating systems in existingbuildings to use biomass. And she said the state Department of Transportation can use products made in Arizona from wood waste for things like guardrail posts.
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