President Obama is keeping the following promise:
"Will place a high priority on implementing cooperative projects to remove brush, small trees and other overgrown vegetation that serve as fuel for wildfires. Barack Obama will focus the Forest Service and Bureau of Land Management's efforts on working with local communities on hazardous fuels projects to make communities safer and forests healthier." — Obama-Biden: Committed to Wildfire Management & Community
Source: http://www.barackobama.com/pdf/issues/Fact_Sheet_Wildfire.pdf
Other promises regarding energy and environment.
UPDATES:
Updated: February 25, 2009
Stimulus bill allocates millions to fighting wildfires
During the presidential campaign, Barack Obama campaigned vigorously in the Western states, where wildfires are a major public policy issue. The economic stimulus package that he signed during his first month in office gave him an early start on keeping this wildfire promise.
The bill funds "Wildland Fire Management" to the tune of $500 million. The conference report designates $250 million for "hazardous fuels reduction, forest health protection, rehabilitation and hazard mitigation activities on Federal lands" and another $250 million for "cooperative activities to benefit state and private lands." This covers both points on the above promise.
Sources:
Library of Congress, The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 , Sec. 1241
Speaker of the House Web site, Joint Explanatory Statement: Section A, Feb. 12, 2009
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That was a fascinating article to research and report. I'll post a link to it on my page later tonight…
Living in the wooded Sierra Nevada's of California, with a BLM owned river swath of land directly behind our parcel, my family understands well the dangers of forest fire. We get nervous during each lightning storm, but we have cleared underbrush from a large portion of our property, and we have cleared extensively near our home and buildings.
That said, there were more important promises made by Obama during his campaign. The local communities and States have a vested interested in maintaining their forests, and the Federal Parks are pretty well maintained. While California (for one) has been doing a poor job in the past of forest maintenance due to awful policies including clear cutting and then total neglect, the State of California has begun making changes to this by increasing maintenance. Would this be happening if Obama had not passed the Wildfire Management Bill, I cannot say - I hope so.
But let me ask you this: Don't you think closing Guantanamo and dealing with the prisoners should have been a bit more high priority than this one? Gee, and how about keeping Lobbyists out of the White House? That one doesn't even take any money, just discipline and research and honesty.
"Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry, and narrow-mindedness, and many of our people need it sorely on these accounts. Broad, wholesome, charitable views of men and things cannot be acquired by vegetating in one little corner of the earth all one's lifetime." ~Mark Twain
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