Vermonters rallied on Wednesday to ask Sen. Peter Welch to fix his vote after he voted to advance the Fix Our Forests Act to the Senate floor last year.The Fix Our Forests Act, known formally as H.R. 471/S. 1462 is a bipartisan bill aimed at strengthening wildfire resilience and improving federal forest management.Advocates in Vermont have called the act dangerous, saying it takes aim at national forests.To protest Welch’s decision, advocates from groups Standing Trees and Stop Vermont Biomass and others rallied outside the senator’s office in Burlington.Earl Hatley, an environmental activist who attended the rally, said the group is concerned about the potential impact it could have.”We would like to do this for the protection of our sacred sites all through the Green Mountains … sacred sites for our peoples. And we want that protected,” Hatley said.Welch told NBC5 that while there may be debate over the best approach, the risks of wildfires are a real problem.”The fact that we have such a real problem with wildfires, it’s controversial how best we can deal with that. But what isn’t controversial is that these wildfires could come to Vermont,” Welch said. “What isn’t controversial is that when you have wildfires, there’s a massive amount of carbon emissions.”Welch said wildfires are a growing threat across the country. He said his goal is to improve the legislation in committee, balancing forest protection with wildfire prevention before it reaches a vote on the Senate floor.
Vermonters rallied on Wednesday to ask Sen. Peter Welch to fix his vote after he voted to advance the Fix Our Forests Act to the Senate floor last year.
The Fix Our Forests Act, known formally as H.R. 471/S. 1462 is a bipartisan bill aimed at strengthening wildfire resilience and improving federal forest management.
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Advocates in Vermont have called the act dangerous, saying it takes aim at national forests.
To protest Welch’s decision, advocates from groups Standing Trees and Stop Vermont Biomass and others rallied outside the senator’s office in Burlington.
Earl Hatley, an environmental activist who attended the rally, said the group is concerned about the potential impact it could have.
“We would like to do this for the protection of our sacred sites all through the Green Mountains … sacred sites for our peoples. And we want that protected,” Hatley said.
Welch told NBC5 that while there may be debate over the best approach, the risks of wildfires are a real problem.
“The fact that we have such a real problem with wildfires, it’s controversial how best we can deal with that. But what isn’t controversial is that these wildfires could come to Vermont,” Welch said. “What isn’t controversial is that when you have wildfires, there’s a massive amount of carbon emissions.”
Welch said wildfires are a growing threat across the country. He said his goal is to improve the legislation in committee, balancing forest protection with wildfire prevention before it reaches a vote on the Senate floor.
