Jeff Bingaman United States Senator from New Mexico

WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Jeff Bingaman today chaired a Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee hearing about this year's already difficult wildfire season. Forest Service Chief Tom Tidwell told Bingaman he believes his agency will have enough federal funds, firefighters, and other resources to fight wildfires on federal public lands this year.

"We're already having a very bad fire season this year New Mexico. As we speak, fire crews are working hard to contain the Wallow, Track and Loop fires," Bingaman said. "Unfortunately, the fire season will be with us for at least two more months, so I am encouraged to hear that the Forest Service believes it has enough firefighting resources at its disposal."

Tidwell also praised Bingaman for writing into law an initiative, called Collaborative Forest Landscape Restoration Program, which funds landscape-scale forest restoration projects that cover 50,000 acres or more of National Forest and other lands. Just last week, New Mexico was awarded $2.4 million in funding from this initiative, which was enacted in 2009. The funding will be used to improve forest and watershed health in the Santa Fe National Forest and the Valles Caldera National Preserve, with an eye toward reducing the risk of severe wildfires.

"The more we do now to restore our public lands and watersheds, the more we will avoid severe fires down the road," Bingaman said. "I'm very glad that New Mexico already has received funding for extensive restoration work, and look forward to future investments like this in our state."