USDA ee United States Department of Agriculture Office ofthe Secretary ‘Washington, 0.6. 20250 February 19, 2019 ‘The Honorable Raul Ruiz ULS. House of Representatives 2342 Rayburn House Office Building Washington, D.C. 20515 Dear Congressman Ruiz: Thank you for your letter of February 1, 2019, cosigned by your colleagues, concerning the impact of the Government shutdown on wildfire preparedness, prevention, and other wildfire mitigation activities in California and other western States. ‘The U.S. Department of Agriculture's Forest Service agrees that fire prevention and preparedness efforts are critical to both communities in California and throughout the country. The Forest Service Continues to take significant steps to ensure fire preparedness remains a top priority. While the Forest Service is currently assessing the full impacts from the temporary work disruption, some operations continued including hiring and critical training for firefighters and aviation-contractor suppression response. In addition, some hazardous fuels treatment work in California continued — including developing new contracts and preparing units for prescribed fire treatment. Many of our contractors sustained field work that contributed to wildfire mitigation, We also maintai coordination with the U.S, Department of the Interior and states to reinforce our joint com fire preparedness, We continue to move forward with fire preparedness efforts and intend to implement crucial prescribed fire and hazardous fuel reduction work during the most productive spring months. We look forward to working with you all to find ways to increase and expedite these crucial efforts to protect at-risk communities and watersheds, We appreciate your interest in the Forest Service’s fire preparedness and mitigation activities. If you have any further questions, please have a member of your staff contact the Office of Congressional Relations at (202) 720-7095. A similar response is being sent to your colleagues. Sit rely, Sonny Secretary ‘An Exual pportinty Employer