WVFA Spring 2019

I N D U S T R Y N E W S www.wvfa.org Spring 2019 |  West Virginia Forestry Association Mountain State Forestry 13 Recently, the Forest Management Review Commission caused the introduction of Senate Bill No. 291 and House Bill No. 2438. These amend the Act to guarantee that Division employees are eligible emergency responders whose families are entitled to benefits under the West Virginia Emergency Responders Survivor Benefit Act should he or she be killed in the performance of their emergency response duties. I would like to take this opportunity to thank all the members of the Forest Management Review Commission for their support of this legislation. I would be remiss if I didn’t take this opportunity to extend a special thank you to FMRC citizen member and West Virginia Forestry Association’s Immediate Past-President, Mark Haddix, for his continuous efforts to amend the proposed legislation to expand benefit eligibility to our employees beyond wildland firefighting to include duties related to emergency or disaster response. I’ve always heard that old saying “if you can read this, thank a teacher. If you can read this and freely express your opinion, thank a veteran.” And I couldn’t agree more with both those statements. However, I leave you with one final thought: If you can do both those things from the safety of your front porch, surrounded by magnificent woodlands, you should thank your first-responder forester. DOF Survivor Benefits Bill In the Legislature, at this writing: The purpose of a proposed bill that may the introduction in the upcoming session of the Legislature that would allow WV Division of Forestry employees, killed while engaging in wildland firefighting, the same death benefits coverage that certain other state employees already have.