Trump Officials Cite Calif. Fires in New Call For Forest Logging

"The Trump administration is pointing to the deadly California wildfires to renew its call for Congress to boost the administration’s ability to remove more brush and trees from federal forests.

Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke and Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue told reporters Tuesday that the fires, which have killed more than 80 people so far, should spur lawmakers to adopt more “active forest management” policies — a term that refers to increased logging, removing brush, conducting planned burns and other activities.

“The issue, really, right now is: What are we going to do about it?” Perdue said. “These are disasters that we can do some things about. We need to be about doing things that we can do, but we need the authority to do that.”"

Timothy Cama reports for The Hill November 20, 2018.

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Source: The Hill, 11/21/2018