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House adopts wildfire resolution; amendment clarifies state tools for fuel‑load reduction
Summary
HCR5, urging policies to reduce wildfire damage, passed after the sponsor won adoption of an amendment clarifying state forest‑management actions (prescribed burns, mechanical treatments, salvage logging) and federal coordination. Debate touched on climate‑change language removed in committee.
The Utah House on Feb. 20 approved HCR5, a concurrent resolution urging policies to reduce damage from wildfires and directing attention to fuel‑load reduction and forest‑management tools.
Representative Ray Ward, sponsor of HCR5, described a pattern of longer and hotter fire seasons and urged action on fuel reduction tools such as prescribed burns, mechanical thinning and salvage logging. Ward argued the state must work with federal partners to remove procedural delays that prevent timely treatments. "Our forests are already warmer and drier than they were 50 years ago," he said, citing temperature and CO2 trends and urging lawmakers to consider scientific context in policymaking.
An amendment (No. 3) clarifying what the state's Agriculture and Natural Resources Committee could pursue — including changes to state implementation plans and coordination to permit prescribed burns at lower risk times — was adopted without opposition. Supporters across the aisle highlighted the scale of the problem, including the lack of active sawmill capacity and the cost of treatments.
After floor debate and a successful amendment vote, HCR5 passed 72–0 and will be transmitted to the Senate for further consideration. Sponsors said the resolution is intended to guide interim work and federal engagement to reduce catastrophic wildfire risk.
