| The 2000 and 2002 fire seasons were, by most standards, among the worst in the prior 50 years. In the years |
| 2002 through March 2006, six of the western states have experienced the worst wildfires in their histories. |
| Really big, disastrous fires of this nature, that previously had been spaced decades apart, are now occurring |
| every few years. We are losing thousands of homes, millions of acres of forest and grasslands and all the |
| amenities that these cultural assets represent -- at increasing rates! Currently no single agency has the |
| combination of authority, resources and expertise to orchestrate the solution to this growing problem. |
