00:00to be able to do that.
00:08Chief welcome. A number of us
00:10on this committee worked
00:11really hard on the great
00:14American outdoors act that
00:15gave 5 years of extra funding
00:18to tackle the maintenance
00:19backlog at a number of public
00:22land agencies, including
00:23yours. It's fixing up places
00:24like San Diego Crest
00:26recreation area. It's fixing
00:28up campsites in the Haymas
00:29area. It's fixing up
00:32infrastructure. It's fixing up
00:34the percentage of poor service
00:36funds from fiscal year, 21
00:38and 22. The first 2 are
00:39actually under contract now.
00:49Senator can get you that
00:50information. Can you get that
00:54for the record? Because I want
00:56to make sure you know, the
00:58first 2 are actually under
01:01contract. They're not
01:03necessarily to the ground
01:04because they they really open
01:05up opportunities for local
01:10communities in terms of in
01:11terms of the economic
01:11opportunities that come with
01:15public land recreation. The
01:17wild land fire mitigation and
01:19management Commission and the
01:21G O found that there's not
01:22enough affordable available
01:23and adequate housing to
01:24recruit and retain wildlife
01:24and to protect them from
01:29these catastrophic
01:29catastrophic wildfires is the
01:32funding that you requested in
01:34this budget enough to clear
01:36the backlog on firefighter
01:38housing maintenance. No, sir,
01:40not by a long shot. How much
01:43of a dent will it make? So the
01:46backlog is about 350 million
01:48acres. And so anything less
01:50than that is not going to
01:51really get at the backlog.
01:52So in terms of housing. The
01:56additional funds that you for
01:58quested what scale of progress
02:01are you going to make in terms
02:02of making sure that our
02:03firefighters have access to
02:04adequate and well constructed
02:08house.
02:09So so in the in the funds that
02:11we're requesting now, we I
02:12think we have about 25 million
02:14dollars that we're planning to
02:15put toward improving the
02:18situation. In fact, we're
02:21going to be spending a lot of
02:22that money. And then making a
02:23lot of necessary changes to
02:25many of the other barracks and
02:27and and houses. Can you can you
02:29get us a full list of those
02:30because this is it's a cart
02:33before the horse thing. If we
02:34don't have adequate housing
02:35them, we're not going to have
02:36the firefighting force to be
02:37able to actually deal with the
02:39challenges that some of my
02:40colleagues have described. I
02:42would agree wholeheartedly.
02:44When we last talked the Forest
02:46Service was finalizing a
02:47contract to repair the Santa
02:50Cruz River that keeps cattle
02:52from trespassing onto the
02:54neighboring property, which is
02:55the bias called our national
02:57preserve. What's the status of
02:59that contract at this point? So
03:01we've agreed to put up a
03:03million dollars toward the
03:04construction of the fence. And
03:05we've also agreed to go halves
03:07on maintenance of the fence
03:08once it's done. And is the is
03:11the is that contract actually
03:15the not the maintenance
03:16contract, but the repair
03:18contract has that been
03:20completed?
03:21Yes.
03:22Where we're going to we have a
03:23meeting set up with the Park
03:24Service. We have an agreement
03:26in place, but we have not
03:28signed off on that agreement.
03:30But the agreement would be
03:32halves on both the actual
03:34construction of the fence and
03:35the maintenance of the fence.
03:39This has been a long time
03:40coming. So I would just urge
03:42you and director Sam's to
03:43figure this thing out because
03:45it is it's a continual source
03:49of concern.
03:51Thank you.
03:52Thank you.
03:55Last week, the Lincoln
03:56National Forest shut down
03:58sitting Bull Falls recreation
04:00area. It's a popular spot
04:02about an hour from Carlsbad
04:03that families enjoy over the
04:05summer in particular. Why is
04:08sitting Bulls Falls closed and
04:09what's the Forest Service plan
04:12to get it reopened.
04:13Yes. So I my information says
04:16that that is not closed. Even
04:18if it is closed, there's also
04:19maintenance needs for that
04:20facility. But Senator,
04:22it's my understanding, at least
04:24from what I've heard from the
04:25public is that it's closed. So
04:27we need to get our staffs
04:28together on that and figure out
04:29what the plan is to make sure
04:31that especially as we get into
04:32the summer season, when demand
04:34is particular, particularly
04:36high that we maximize that
04:38facility.
04:39In fact, my information tells
04:40me that they're ready for the
04:42Memorial Day weekend. And so I
04:44will double check that.
04:45That would be a pleasant
04:46surprise. So let's let's work
04:48on that. Thank you, Chief.
04:49Thank you.
