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2017 SESSION

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17105610D
SENATE JOINT RESOLUTION NO. 432 Offered February 20, 2017 Commending the Virginia Department of Forestry for its wildfire suppression efforts. ---------- Patron-- Chafin ----------

WHEREAS, the Virginia Department of Forestry was created in 1914 and has been actively preventing and suppressing wildfires for more than 100 years; and

WHEREAS, the Virginia Department of Forestry (VDOF) continues its core mission of preventing the destruction of forests by fire; and

WHEREAS, firefighters from the VDOF are responsible for protecting more than 16 million acres of forestland and the people who own that land; and

WHEREAS, the VDOF firefighters protect forest resources that generate an economic impact of more than $17 billion each year and employ more than 103,000 people in Virginia; and

WHEREAS, the VDOF special forest wardens battle more than 875 wildfires that burn a total of 12,260 acres of woodlands in the Commonwealth each year on average; and

WHEREAS, during calendar year 2016, the VDOF protected 2,510 homes and other structures, worth more than $144 million, from the 656 wildfires that burned more than 24,000 acres of forestland; and

WHEREAS, during the most recent fall wildfire season, the VDOF wildland firefighters responded to 190 wildfires that burned 16,836 acres of woodlands—mostly in Southwest Virginia—and protected 856 homes and other structures valued at $45 million; now, therefore, be it

RESOLVED by the Senate, the House of Delegates concurring, That the General Assembly hereby commend the Virginia Department of Forestry for its excellence in wildfire prevention and suppression; and, be it

RESOLVED FURTHER, That the Clerk of the Senate prepare a copy of this resolution for presentation to the State Forester as an expression of the General Assembly’s appreciation for the Virginia Department of Forestry’s effective and efficient wildfire protection efforts.