Senator Steve Daines speaks about wildland firefighting at Montana Professional Firefighting convention

USA – BOZEMAN, Mont. – The Montana Professional Firefighters Convention is happening in Bozeman this week and Sen. Steve Daines spoke at the event on Monday. 

Firefighters from across the state are meeting to discuss a wide variety of issues, like wildfire prevention, recruiting as Montana’s population grows and mental and physical health. 

Daines has been working on and cosponsoring several bills in the U.S. Senateand he said they are meant to help wildland firefighters manage fires and increase recruiting and training. 

Daines said he has been a part of a bipartisan wildfire caucus and working alongside other senators from states dealing with wildfires, like California’s Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D). 

“We’re working in a bipartisan way to pass some legislation that helps us better manage our forests. We’ve got to be out there thinning our forests, actively managing our forests, or else the risk of catastrophic wildfires becomes much greater as we see in Montana every summer,” Daines said. 

One bill is the bipartisan Senate Bill 1216 called the Civilian Conservation Center Enhancement Act. The Act would direct the USDA and U.S. Department of the Interior to offer wildland fire training to Job Corps. Civilian Conservation Center students. 

The bill would also set a goal for the USDA and DOI to hire 300 students per year for wildfire fighting or other workforce needs. 

Daines has also cosponsored SB 796, the Forest Protection and Wildland Firefighter Safety Act. This would allow federal land management agencies and state and tribal agencies to be exempt from certain pollution rules so they can continue using chemical fire retardants when fighting wildfires. 

Sen. Daines said environmental groups have been working to prevent the use of fire retardants, but he believes are necessary. 

“They’ve got claims that we disagree with it, that they’re harmful. And we want to make sure on fighting on behalf of our firefighters that they have the most effective tools available to combat these catastrophic wildfires,” he said. 

According to the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, there isevidence that they can cause illnesses such as cancer and reproductive and thyroid issues, among others. 

Daines also spoke about mental healthcare for first responders. He said in his speech he wants to increase resources and access to telehealth and mental health services for first responders