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Congressmen ask for money to fix up air tanker base U.S. representatives Greg Walden and Peter DeFazio on Thursday requested $1.5 million from the federal government to upgrade the Medford Air Tanker Base and $150,000 to continue its current operations. The U.S. Forest Service decided last year it would close the base and move all operations to the Klamath Falls Tanker Base to cut costs. The Forest Service later decided to maintain Medford's base as a resupply facility until 2003. However, proponents of the tanker base said it is an important resource for Southern Oregon. "Keeping the Medford Air Tanker Base is critical to maintaining the current level of lives and property in south-central Oregon," said Walden, a Republican. DeFazio, a Democrat, said the base played a crucial role in the fight against last summer's Quartz Fire, which consumed about 6,000 acres. "Transferring all operations to Klamath Falls Tanker Base would spread the U.S. Forest Service entirely too thin and we would risk precious lives, forests and wildlife," he said. The fire in the Little Applegate River drainage was expected to burn 28,000 acres; the Medford base's supporters say it was subdued at 6,000 acres, saving the Forest Service $28 million, mainly because of tankers flying out of the Medford base. Proponents have said maintaining bases in both Medford and in Klamath Falls is the most efficient way to fight fires in this region. U.S. Forest Service Chief Dale Bosworth said his department would continue to operate the base if there is federal funding. The tanker base has been in operation since the early 1950s, providing services to the area from the Cascade mountains to the coast, and from Roseburg to just beyond Yreka, Calif. Mail Tribune Home | Ottaway Newspapers, Inc. | Dow Jones & Co., Inc. | Privacy | Contact Us Copyright � 2001 Mail Tribune, Inc.