2007 Avalanche News

HR 1751 Introduced in US House of Representatives, 110th Congress
‘‘Federal Land Avalanche Protection Act of 2007’’

Rep. Young of Alaska has introduced this bill to fund avalanche control. This is the third Congress in which such a bill has been introduced. In the 108th and 109th congresses the primary bill was introduced in the Senate by Sen Stevens of Alaska.

The bill introduced by Sen Stevens in the 109th Congress requested $15 million per year for 2006 through 2010 ($60 million total). An "Analysis of Needs" towards the end of the Congress requested about $2.8 million per year for 2007-2011, less than 20% of the initial request in the bill. The current bill would appropriate $4 million per year for 2008 - 2012 ($40 million total).

HR 1751 continues to provide for grants to be given out, despite testimony in the past by leadership of both the US Forest Service and the National Park Service that administration of such grants would be problematic.

Upon introduction the bill was sent to three committees, two of which sent it to subcommittee. This was the fate of the previous bills as well.

A copy of HR 1751, copies of the bills in the 109th Congress, the Analysis of Needs from the 109th Congress, and some relevant links can all be found in our Issues area of the News section.

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