30 mayors from across Iowa sign letter to ensure Iowa has same resources as other states dealing with invasive beetle

Washington, D.C. - Rep. Bruce Braley (IA-01) today wrote Secretary Vilsack to ask that the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) allow Iowa to receive the same amount of funds that other states have received as they combat the emerald ash borer?an invasive species that could potentially cause billions of dollars in damage in Iowa.

Mayors from 30 Iowa municipalities, representing over 900,000 Iowa residents, have signed on to Braley's letter including mayors Bill Gluba of Davenport, Shane McCampbell of Burlington, and Bob Gallagher of Bettendorf.

"Communities all over our state are, or soon will be, dealing with costs associated with the ash borer?and these mayors know firsthand that these pests don't just harm trees, they harm city budgets as well," Braley said. "Resources were available to communities in other states when they were battling the ash borer infestation and I'm going to do everything possible to ensure that Iowa is treated fairly."

"The city of Davenport has aggressively begun surveying and treating ash trees across our city, but this preparation comes at a significant cost," Davenport Mayor Bill Gluba said. "Federal resources would ensure we can survey, treat, and remove infected ash trees to protect our city and its residents from the effects of the ash borer."

States that found cases of the beetle in years past were given resources to aid in the mitigation and removal of infected trees, but federal funding has since been drastically cut, leaving states like Iowa with limited resources to combat the problem.

"We hope that you will work to expand efforts to control and eradicate the emerald ash borer, and restore funding for this effort," Braley's letter reads.

Iowa is home to over 3 million ash trees. Each infected ash tree must be removed to maintain safety on public and private land, costing roughly $1000 for the removal and disposal of each tree.

The ash borer has now been confirmed in more than 20 states. Just days ago, Johnson county became the tenth Iowa county to identify the ash borer. The first infestation in Iowa of the emerald ash borer was found in Allamakee County in 2010 and has since spread to Des Moines, Black Hawk, Cedar, Jefferson, Union, Bremer, Wapello, Jasper, and Johnson counties. It is widely expected to spread to other parts of the state in the near future.

In February, Braley introduced legislation restoring funding to a program that helps combat the emerald ash borer. His legislation also funded two grant programs that would be available to communities facing significant costs from tree removal.

In March, Braley wrote a letter to congressional leaders urging that the funding be included in the 2015 appropriations bills.

The letter to Secretary Vilsack signed by Braley and the 30 mayors can be found HERE.

• Develop a comprehensive approach to Mississippi River health and sustainability
• Encourage cooperative action for Mississippi River system health and sustainability
• Coordinate a national approach to Mississippi Watershed governance
• Engage the public to build political will

Green Buddha Life Sustainability Center Only Dedicated Environmental Justice Center For Chicago Focused On Environmental Health & Justice In At-Risk Suburban Communities

AURORA -- Founder, scholar-activist Dr. Sylvia Hood Washington hosted a ribbon cutting ceremony on Thursday, June 5, 2014 for the grand opening of the Green Buddha Life Sustainability Center, Bookstore & Eco-Arts Gallery (The Center) in Aurora, the region's first dedicated sustainability center focusing on environmental health and justice for all suburban residents, particularly low-income, minority communities.

• Sustainability Center: Meeting and training space for local, regional and national environmental sustainability groups;
• Green Buddha Life Books: Green business to expand recycling "loved books" while creating safe, green jobs through an online bookstore; and,
• Eco-Arts Gallery: Community space featuring the work of artists produced by recycled books and other recycled material.

The grand opening featured speakers, sustainability workshops in the Eco-Arts Gallery, and eco/sustainability film screenings and discussions.

Green Buddha Life Sustainability Center, Bookstore and the Eco-Arts Gallery are the vision and brainchild of longtime environmental scientist, consultant, scholar and activist Dr. Sylvia Hood Washington. Located in downtown west suburban Aurora, Ill., the mission of Green Buddha Life is to spur environmental justice and promote environmental health. For more information please visit www.e3hra.com or on Facebook at www.facebook.com/EHRALLC.

WASHINGTON, June 9, 2014 -- The U.S. Department of Agriculture today released information showing how limited federal firefighting budgets have impacted states over the last two fiscal years (FYs 2012 and 2013).  The state-by-state report provides examples of how funding for local wildfire preparedness, forest restoration, and other activities in nearly every state across the country has been used to instead fight fires when wildfire suppression budgets did not fully cover firefighting costs.

The President's FY15 Budget proposed a new approach to addressing wildfire suppression costs, modeled after bipartisan legislation introduced in both houses of Congress.  The new proposal would set aside an emergency fund, similar to emergency funds already available for other natural disasters, to cover costs for the most catastrophic of wildfires, avoiding the pattern in recent years of raiding other critical programs.  This new approach provides certainty in addressing growing fire suppression needs while better safeguarding preparedness, maintenance and forest health programs from fund transfers that have diminished their effectiveness.

"With  longer and more severe wildfire seasons, the current way that the U.S. Forest Service and the Department of Interior budget for wildland fire is unsustainable," said Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack.  "Until firefighting is treated like other natural disasters that can draw on emergency funding, firefighting expenditures will continue to disrupt forest restoration and management, research, and other activities that help manage our forests and reduce future catastrophic wildfire."

The wildfire season is 60-80 days longer and burning twice as many acres as compared to three decades ago. In the early 1990s, the Forest Service spent less than 15 percent of its budget on fire suppression. Today the agency spends 40 percent or more for fire suppression. Over the long term, this has meant the agency has shifted resources away from forest restoration and management, research, state and private forest assistance and other activities that help maintain our forests and reduce future catastrophic wildfire.

The Obama Administration's 2015 budget proposal creates a special disaster relief cap adjustment for use when costs of fighting the most extreme fires exceed Forest Service and Department of the Interior budgets, as is expected to happen again this year. A May report showed that the median projected cost of fighting fires is nearly $1.8 billion this year, more than $470 million over the Forest Service's and Interior's firefighting budgets. In fact, these costs could reach as high as $1 billion more than the agencies currently have budgeted.

When actual firefighting costs exceed firefighting budgets, the Forest Service has to engage in what's known as "fire transfer," where funding for fire suppression is transferred from non-fire programs, including forest management activities that treat areas impacted by insects and disease and reduce the incidence and severity of future wildfires.

The table below provides examples of impacts that limited funding had on forest management activities in nearly every state across the country in FY 2012 and FY2013. During those two years, the Forest Service had to transfer $440 million and $505 million respectively from other accounts to pay for fire suppression. Over the last 12 years, a total of $3.2 billion was shifted from other programs that accomplish important forest management objectives.

The information provides examples from each state and do not include all state impacts or region-wide or national level impacts of fire transfer.  In addition, the table lists many activities that were "cancelled."  These activities may have been funded in subsequent years, but the delay still has a considerable impact on Forest Service operations.

In a small number of states, Forest Service operations were not directly impacted by forest borrowing in 2012 or 2013, but there are still long term impacts of the Forest Service's fire budget challenge.  Over the last several decades the Forest Service has had to frequently shift resources towards firefighting and away from other programs, impacting State forestry programs and outreach to private landowners.

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