March 8, 2005 (Washington, DC) - When the House Forests and Forest Health Subcommittee takes up the Forest Service budget at their hearing tomorrow, we urge discussion about the diminishing resources available to states and communities for wildfire season preparations.
The current Administration has focused much of its rhetoric around the wildfire issue on protecting communities and yet, they continue to make dramatic cuts to State and Local Assistance programs. Even though up to 85 percent of the land around communities at the highest risk is state or private, resources going to non-federal lands continue to decrease.
Funding for State and Local Assistance programs in the Forest Service’s and Department of Interior’s budgets aimed at assisting state, volunteer and rural firefighting efforts have been cut dramatically in the past several years. In fact, since the inception of the National Fire Plan in 2001, State and Local Assistance programs have been cut by $91 million or 57 percent overall.
“Communities out here are bracing for a tough wildfire season,” said Bend City Councilman John Hummel. “We need all the help we can get. This is no time for the Administration to cut the funding that allows us to do the work we need to do to protect lives and property.”
For many Western states, this will be the seventh straight year of drought, which exposes them to heightened wildfire risk. The federal government won’t release its official forecast for the 2005 wildfire season until April, but many news articles have already been written about the severe to extreme conditions across most of Oregon, southeastern Washington, western Idaho and Montana.
“Communities simply can’t afford cutbacks in the funding they receive for wildfire assistance,” said Montana State Senator Jesse Laslovich. “The prolonged drought only reinforces the urgency to direct resources to communities and homes in high risk areas.”
This past weekend Montana’s Governor, Brian Schweitzer, said that his state is plagued by continuing drought, a shortage of mountain snow, and forests full of dry timber. In expressing his concerns for the upcoming summer wildfire season, he also referred to Montana as a powder keg.
