Western Governors Call for Adequate Federal Funding for Both Wildland Fire Suppression and Prevention (2/7/08)

Western Governors Call for Adequate Federal Funding
for Both Wildland Fire Suppression and Prevention

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
February 7, 2008 
Contacts: Jay Jensen (303-445-4366) and Diane Dennenberg ( 303-445-4365), Council of Western State Foresters

Denver -- On the heels of one of the most costly wildfire seasons on record, Western governors are calling on Congress and the Bush Administration to provide adequate resources in the upcoming budget and beyond to not only fight future fires, but also improve forest health to prevent them.

The Western Governors' Association is calling for a funding fix to ensure fire suppression costs can be covered without taking money away from restoration and fuels reduction - the very programs that help prevent catastrophic wildfires. A letter outlining the governors' concerns was sent to leaders in Congress and the Administration. It was signed by Govs. Dave Freudenthal ( Wyo.), WGA Chairman; Jon M. Huntsman, Jr. ( Utah), WGA Vice Chairman; and Janet Napolitano ( Ariz.), WGA lead governor for forest health.

It is clear that we have entered a new age of wildland fires, the governors said, noting that three of the last six fire seasons have resulted in more than $1 billion in suppression costs. At the same time, funding for the other functions has decreased by over $200 million.

They said to solve the impact of suppression costs on agencies' budgets, we must take a reality check and realize that additional investment is a necessary part of the solution. The governors support full implementation and funding of the National Fire Plan and the 10-year Comprehensive Strategy and Implementation Plan that states, federal agencies and stakeholders developed in 2001 and updated in 2006.

We are fully cognizant of the extreme budgetary trade-offs that must be made in the coming years, the governors said. Wildfire success will not be had by any one entity tackling it alone. It takes a broad, collaborative partnership, such as the one behind the 10-year Strategy, to make it happen and the financial backing to support it.

This investment will diminish the risks posed by wildland fire and, in concert with a wildland fire suppression fix, work to reduce community risk from wildfire and help keep America's forestland forested.

A briefing paper on the issue prepared by the National Association of State Foresters recommends funding for suppression be set aside in a separate account, which would be flexible. The amount of funding available in this account would be influenced by controls put in place to contain costs, and it would provide officer incentives to implement those controls.

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The Western Governors' Association is an independent, nonprofit organization representing the governors of 19 states and three U.S.-Flag islands in the Pacific. Through their Association, the Western governors identify and address key policy and governance issues in natural resources, the environment, human services, economic development, international relations and public management.

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