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| Lawmaker Wants More Inmates To Help Thin Forests |
| By Arizona Capitol Times |
| Published: 12/01/2003 |
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More inmates in Arizona's prisons could be used to help thin forests, reducing the risk of catastrophic fires, a lawmaker says. Rep. Cheryl Chase, D-Dist. 23, is co-chair of the Joint Legislative Healthy Forest Task Force, a 12-member group that includes five other lawmakers and six members of the public. Ms. Chase said she and co-chair Sen. Marilyn Jarrett, R-Dist. 19, expect to wrap up the work of the task force in one more meeting next month. The task force won't announce specific recommendations until its final meeting in December, but one proposal could include increasing the number of Department of Corrections inmates who are working on clearing overgrown forests. Although inmates have worked as wild land firefighters for a number of years, it was only in the wake of the Rodeo-Chediski Fire in the summer of 2002 that the Department of Corrections sent inmates into the woods to help reduce the brush that serves as the initial fuel for fires. Mike Arra, spokesman for the Department of Corrections, said that more than 80 inmates from four prisons are involved in the brush abatement program, which is coordinated with efforts of the U.S. Forest Service, the Arizona Land Department and the Arizona Department of Transportation. Inmate crews have worked at a number of sites, including the Pine and Strawberry areas, the Coronado National Forest in southeastern Arizona, the Pinaleno Ecosystem Management Project in Graham County, on Mount Lemmon in Tucson, and along highways in Cochise County. George Weisz, Governor Napolitano's special assistant for criminal justice, told the Forest Health panel at its Nov. 18 meeting that the inmate crews have been valuable assets in tackling a monumental task. Ms. Chase said Nov. 20, "the need to thin out our state's forests provides a valuable opportunity to use inmate labor, and I'd like to see that expanded." The inmates are paid no more than 50 cents an hour, but working in the forests is considered a prestigious job among the inmates, Mr. Weisz said. |
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