Western Governors: Improved
Cost Control Measures Needed in Fighting Large Wildfires

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
April 26, 2005
Contact: Paul Orbuch (303) 623-9378

DENVER -- Western governors said today that large wildland fires represented a fraction of the total number of fires last year, but consumed more than 94 percent of the fire suppression funding. They are calling on Congress to support recommendations made by a national panel that will reduce large fire costs, and allow resources to be better spent on creating healthier forests.

Govs. Janet Napolitano of Arizona and Dirk Kempthorne of Idaho serve as the Western Governors’ Association’s leads for forest health issues. The two governors’ staff Co-chaired the national Strategic Issues Panel on Fire Suppression Costs, and today they submitted their recommendations to the U.S. Senate’s Public Lands and Forests Subcommittee.

“Our nation and Western states have made great strides in addressing the risks for catastrophic fires by implementing many of the goals of the “10-Year Comprehensive Strategy,” Kempthorne said. “But we are limited in doing more, in part, because we are not doing a good job of managing suppression costs for the largest fires.”

Gov. Napolitano, who also serves as WGA’s Vice Chair, said fire suppression expenditures are overwhelmingly centered on large fires for a variety of reasons.

“The panel found that in many cases, techniques used to fight a large fire may be considered futile, but are implemented anyway because of the perceived ‘free’ nature of suppression funding and because of public and political expectations,” Napolitano said.

The Panel’s report substantively addresses the underlying causes of large fire suppression costs. Key recommendations include:

• Increase the level of accountability and interest for large fire costs and their impacts by allocating suppression funds on a regional or equivalent basis.
• Set policy and direction on agency land/resource management planning to incorporate cost management on large wildfires.
• Plan, budget, and manage resources effectively for large fire suppression, such that resources for effective initial response and extended attack are not compromised.
• Ensure initial responses are always aggressive and driven by the principle of utilizing the closest appropriate resources, including those of local and tribal governments.
• Incorporate fuels management and future fire management cost considerations when planning all resource management projects for public and private lands.
• Commit to improving the fire cost data infrastructure as a prerequisite step toward improving accountability and strengthening fire management performance.
• Develop and use a benefit cost measure as the core measure of suppression cost effectiveness.

Information on the Governors’ Forest Health Initiative and the testimony submitted to the Energy and Natural Resources subcommittee can be found on the WGA Web site at www.westgov.org.

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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