Tester, US Forest Service brass talk wildfire spending

“We need to set aside a pool of money in FEMA (the Federal Emergency Management Agency) that’s not spent unless the Forest Service needs it, specifically for fighting forest fires“, Tester said.

According to the Forest Service, the U.S. spends $ 100 million per week when it is at wildfire preparedness level 5, as it is now. They have been doing controlled burns to get rid of any wood or fuel that would encourage the fire to spread north. The US fire service expects the Kettle Complex fires to grow over the next few days as hot, dry weather is forecast.

Tester met with Regional Forester Leanne Marten and her staff during his Missoula stop, with the discussion once more highlighting how the firefighting, or suppression costs are actually taking money that should be used for fire prevention. That’s more than the total for either the 2013 or 2014 fire seasons.

Fire season lasts 78 days longer than it did 40 years ago, according to the USFS. Currently, the maximum fine for tossing a cigarette is $173, but anyone found to have caused a fire may be ordered to pay firefighting costs.

Even though the Forest Service is spending more on fighting fires, more acres are burning with each passing year.

We heard a lot about that idea at the Large Fire Conference in Missoula last summer, with Forest Service Chief Tom Tidwell saying the pace of wildfires is projected to triple.

“Our sincere thanks to all our hardworking fire fighters”. The deployment brings to 129 the number of Florida forest-fire personnel working in other states. The Forest Service, which operates under the Department of Agriculture, put out the warning, but other agencies said they feel the pinch, too. Those companies could be left without pay at the end of the year if fire expenses raid their contract accounts.

Fox said he believes some help could come from bills in Congress designed to create healthier forests that would be less prone to fires, including one from U.S. Rep. Bruce Westerman, R-Ark.

Inside Florida, since January, the Florida Forest Service has responded to more than 2,000 wildfires that have burned more than 70,000 acres in Florida.

The U.S. Global Change Research Program predicted that wildfires will increase, especially in the Southwest.

Wildfire risks aside, the transfers have impaired funding for Forest Service programs that benefit a host of stakeholders, including conservationists, sportsmen, loggers, miners and ranchers, all of whom have backed legislation to fund some wildfires with disaster funding.