State Sen. Jason Rapert (R - Bigelow) and State Rep. Stephen Meeks (R - Greenbrier) flew with one of the Arkansas Forestry Commission's spotter planes Friday afternoon to survey damage caused by the recent wildfires.
"The scars left by the aftermath of the wildfires were plainly visible across the landscape," Meeks said. "While it was encouraging to see and dodge rain showers during the flight, we did see a lightning sparked fire southeast of Heber Springs. This emphasizes that even though some places have gotten rain from pop up showers it is not enough to alleviate the fire danger in these areas.
"This wildfire season has shown us the importance of having a strong and healthy Forest Service in Arkansas," Meeks said. "One of my goals for the next session is to restore the two Forestry mechanic positions lost recently in Greenbrier, as they provided vital services to volunteer fire departments statewide."
Meeks said it takes everyone to work against the spread of wildfires, especially in such a dry season.
"I appreciate the diligent efforts of our citizens to guard against wildfires, and the work our local fire departments and the Forestry Service is doing to keep wildfire damage to a minimum."
Comments (4)
Add commentthis reeks of look at me,
this reeks of look at me,
And their mission was????
What? And they accomplished??? A ride in a spotter plane, completed?
Tour
These flights occur across our state on a daily basis. The purpose of our going on the flight was:
1. To survey the damage in our area caused by the fires.
2. To see firsthand how this section of the Forestry Service is operating. What policies do they have in place? How do they execute them? Do they have the resources they need? Is it a good expenditure of tax dollars?
The purpose of the article was:
1. That we are involved in what is going on in our community.
2. I want you to know what I am doing (and planning on doing) to strengthen this agency, which has gone through turmoil this year. The flight was just the tip of the ice burg. I have also been on the ground during the fires, I have toured the local facilities, and I have recently asked for a committee review of the Forestry Service. Part of my job is to make sure this is a healthy agency.
3. To thank everyone for their efforts. When I'm told by officials that we are primed for a major wildfire disaster, I don't take that lightly. The reason it hasn't happened is the diligence of our citizens and response of our firefighters. For whatever it is worth, I want everyone to know I appreciate that.
4. To inform the public these guys are up there every day during the fire season, for long hours in hot planes.
I understand in this day and age people are critical of politicians and their motives. Any time we report what we are doing we can be accused of grandstanding, and admittedly it does occur. That was not my motive, I apologise if it came across that way.
a few questions if I may
"These flights occur across our state on a daily basis."
In aircraft large enough to hold two extra people on tours?
QUESTION---That seems wasteful, yes?
"1. To survey the damage in our area caused by the fires."
QUESTION---Did you notice anything unexpected in the damaged areas? My point is, you don't have to be in an airplane to know it's a bad situation.
LAST QUESTION---What was done to protect the firefighter jobs that the forestry service had to eliminate late last year and what was the misuse of funds alluded to in the article below?
http://www.chron.com/news/article/Arkansas-forestry-layoffs-include-fire...
LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (AP) — More than a dozen firefighters were among the 36 Arkansas Forestry Commission employees laid off Friday because of a $4 million budget shortfall, and volunteer fire departments said they're worried that could affect fire-response times in rural areas.
"We rely on the forestry in huge ways," said Toni Perkins, the president of the Arkansas Rural and Volunteer Firefighters Association. The agency provides equipment — such as bulldozers — as well as workers when helping the small departments fight fires, she said.
"All of that could be jeopardized with the shortcomings of having to lay off 36 people," Perkins said, adding that she's written legislators asking them to help the agency with its budget problems.
The layoffs, effective Friday, include 14 rangers who help fight wildfires in the state. Others laid off include administrative workers and mechanics. State Forester John Shannon admitted that the layoffs will affect the commission's ability to fight fires but said the agency needed to make the cuts.
"When you cut $4 million, you get to people pretty good," he said.
The Forestry Commission employs about 300 people and oversees fire protection and conservation in the state's forests. The agency initially said a drop in timber sales and severance tax revenue caused its $4 million shortfall, but officials said the commission's misuse of federal money exacerbated the problem.
Thank you for your response.
I'm glad you asked. One of
I'm glad you asked. One of my goals when i ran was to try and get more folks involved in their government. This gives me a chance to explain the issue at Forestry and the importance of the mechanics at Greenbrier.
Let's start with the flight...
One of the things I learned from the flight was the agency has 16 planes that it uses. This evidently is one of the bigger ones they have. It was a Cessna-182, single engine 4 passenger plane, that was several years old. As a legislator I try to avail myself of every opportunity to learn as much about state agencies as possible. (If you follow me on Twitter @RepStephenMeeks I try to share what I learn with our citizens so we are all better informed.) So, when I was invited I said yes.
From the air you can see damage and burn areas that are not readily visible from the roads. You can get a better idea of how the fires spread, and you can see them without having to take a day driving all over the countryside. One of the burn areas that was close to my house was in a forested area and from the ground I had no idea how far it had gotten or area it covered. This was readily apparent from the air.
Long story short on Forestry, agency was running out of money and instead of cutting back they started 'borrowing' money from federal grants. When that money ran out, they were out of general revenue and owed over $1m in grants. The director and financial officer are no longer there. Lack of money meant layoffs. In the fiscal session we were able to pass an emergency appropriation to rehire about half the laid off workers.
The Greenbrier Forestry mechanic shop does all the mechanic services for the forestry service statewide. They also do mechanic work for our volunteer fire dept. across the state. Another service they provide is retrofitting retired military vehicles for the volunteer departments saving them and our state thousands of $$$ a year. There were four mechanics and they had almost a year backlog, now they are down to two mechanics and our rural fire departments are paying the price statewide. This in turn can lead to higher fire insurance rates for home owners in rural areas. Thus my goal to try and get them re-instated.
I will be happy to try and answer any more questions.