WildfiresCongress mulls declaring wildfires as natural disasters like earthquakes and hurricanes
Climate change has contributed to the increasing number of wildfires in the American West as temperatures get hotter and forests get drier. Congress is now considering treating wildfires like earthquakes and hurricanes, declaring the occurrences as natural disasters. That move would provide additional emergency funding to fight wildfires as they occur, so federal and state agencies would no longer have to transfer funds from fire-prevention programs.
Washington State has already spent $91 million to fight wildfires this summer, and as officials anticipate the fire season to extend into early fall, many are asking the federal government to allocate more funds toward the effort. When the state runs out of firefighting funds, officials often have to shift money from fire-prevention budgets, which tend to limit the thinning of forests — a strategy proven to help prevent fires from spreading. “The enduring problem is the under-appropriation of firefighting funding and the raid on these other accounts,” says Jim Ogsbury, executive director of the Western Governors’ Association.
Climate change has contributed to the increasing number of wildfires in the American West as temperatures get hotter and forests get drier. The eleven western states experienced about 140 large wildfires on federal lands in the 1980s, but about 250 wildfires were reported in the 2000s — a 79 percent increase. Additionally, the average wildfire season in Washington is burning more land. Roughly 70,000 acres burned is expected per fire season, but this year, wildfires from the Wenatchee National Forest to across Okanogan County and as far east as Spokane County, have torched more than 350,000 acres. TheSeattle Times reports that the Washington state Department of Natural Resources and other western states are urging the federal government to assist by allocating money for emergency wildfire fighting.
The U.S. Forest Service does not have an emergency fund for fighting wildfires, and a May 2014 congressionally mandated report projects that the agency along with the Department of the Interior will spend $470 million more than is available to fight wildfires this year. In fiscal 2012 and 2013, the Forest Service transferred more than $1 billion from other agency programs to fight wildfires. Congress is now considering treating wildfires like earthquakes and hurricanes, declaring the occurrences as natural disasters.
That move would provide additional emergency funding to fight wildfires as they occur, so federal and state agencies would no longer have to transfer funds from fire-prevention programs. The Wildfire Disaster Funding Act of 2014 has 131 co-sponsors and it is currently in the House Budget Committee. Rachel Cleetus, senior climate economist with the Union of Concerned Scientists welcomes the proposed bill but warns that the Wildfire Act is “one part of this puzzle,” counteracting climate change and putting in place better development policies is still vital.
