Wildfires: A Hot Topic in Washington

Last year, the federal government spent more than $1 billion fighting wildfires, far surpassing the amount Congress actually budgeted for this work. To compensate for the tremendous cost, the U.S. Forest Service had to transfer $600 million from other programs.

This huge funding shift forced the U.S. Forest Service to halt several crucial programs that enhance the health of our forests and help prevent significant future damage. Impacted programs include:

• Forest Health Protection program: Halted projects that deal with forest pest and disease threats, including thousand cankers disease, sudden oak death and western bark beetle.

• Forest Stewardship program: Reduced resources to deliver technical assistance to landowners through state foresters and state forestry agencies.

• National Forest System: Halted restoration projects—meaning the U.S. Forest Service cannot afford to take steps to reduce the risk of future catastrophic fires.

There is no end in sight to the wildfire problem. Federal agencies are spending triple what they spent in the 1990s to protect lands and communities from fire. The six worst fire seasons on record occurred just in the past decade. And it’s expected to get worse.

The combined effect of a changing climate and increasing development further increase the risk of future catastrophic fires. “It’s just simply that today our fire seasons are longer, hotter and drier,” says U.S. Forest Service Chief Tom Tidwell, “and the reason for that is because of the change in climate.”

Additionally, more people are moving into the wildland-urban interface, where our forests and natural resources intersect with suburban sprawl. A 2008 estimate suggests that four in 10 single family homes were located in this area.

The American Forest Foundation (AFF) and its partners are tremendously concerned about this growing threat, particularly because vital forest restoration and forest health programs are threatened by the wildfire funding complication. That’s why AFF is helping to lead a fire policy coalition working toward finding a solution to this problem.

Fortunately, Congress appears receptive to finding a resolution. A Senate subcommittee hearing on wildfire held in November prompted a productive discussion on finding a more proactive approach to forest management to reduce the overall threat of catastrophic fire. In December, Senators Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) and Mike Crapo (R-Idaho) introduced the Wildfire Disaster Funding Act of 2013—a bill intended to change the approach for funding federal wildfire fighting in the U.S. Forest Service and the Department of the Interior. If passed, this should prevent future budget transfers from important, nonfire programs.

Whatever the eventual solution, AFF is committed to working with our partners to ensure the long-term health of our nation’s forests and our rural communities. “We must both ensure wildfire suppression activities have sufficient resources, while also working to maintain other important program services that improve the health and vitality of our nation’s forests and reduce the risk of future catastrophic wildfire events,” says Rita Hite, AFF’s Executive Vice President.