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<br />WHEREAS, In August 2002, President Bush established the Healthy <br />Forests Initiative, directing the Department of Agriculture, the Department <br />of the Interior, and the Council on Environmental Quality to improve <br />regulatory processes to ensure more timely decisions, greater efficiency, <br />and better results in reducing the risk of catastrophic wildfires by restoring <br />forest health; and <br /> <br />WHEREAS, The citizens of Colorado would benefit immensely from <br />an increased level of forest management that would help reduce the risks of <br />insect and disease epidemics and catastrophic wildfire to all of the national <br />forests in Colorado; now, therefore, <br /> <br />Be It Resolved by the House of Representatives of the Sixty-fourth <br />General Assembly of the State of Colorado, the Senate concurring herein: <br /> <br />(I) That the General Assembly supports the administrative procedures <br />proposed as part of the President's Healthy Forests Initiative, particularly <br />those procedures that would expedite decision-making pursuant to the <br />National Enviroumental Policy Act and those that establish standing <br />requirements requiring persons to provide specific written public comments <br />during the preparation stage of a wildfire mitigation project in order to file <br />an administrative appeal or lawsuit. Such changes are necessary to enable <br />the land management agencies to make scientifically based, <br />environmentally sound decisions on hazardous fuels reduction projects, <br />while encouraging early and effective participation in the development of <br />those projects by the interested public. <br /> <br />PAGE 3-HOUSE JOINT RESOLUTION 03-1020 <br />