PerspectiveNevada Leaders Trying to Stay Ahead of Wildfire Destruction

Published 13 November 2019

In 2016, a little over 265,000 acres in Nevada burned from wildfires. In 2017, around 1.3 million acres burned, and in 2018 a little over a million acres burned, according to the National Interagency Fire Center. Nevada’s political leadership is continuing to develop measures to combat the increasing threats posed by wildfires across American West and in the Silver State.

In 2016, a little over 265,000 acres in Nevada burned from wildfires. In 2017, around 1.3 million acres burned, and in 2018 a little over a million acres burned, according to the National Interagency Fire Center.

State Senator Heidi Swank (D-Henderson) told John Sadler writes in the Las Vegas Sun that “We’re not burning homes and we’re not having the massive casualties that California had, but we are burning a lot of our rangeland that our ranchers rely upon,” Swank said, citing the Martin Fire in 2018 that burned around 435,000 acres.

This destruction, she said, can have a big effect on local economies.

Sadler writes:

Nevada’s political leadership is continuing to develop measures to combat the increasing threats posed by wildfires across American West and in the Silver State.

A committee of state lawmakers will begin meeting next year to discuss the effect wildfires have on Nevada, and to develop ideas for legislation to introduce in the 2021 session.

In the meantime, U.S. Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto, D-Nev., continues to draw attention to the issue. She hosted a summit in August in Reno to discuss strategies to fight wildfires, and she continues to seek out additional federal funding to help in the aftermath of the blazes.

She said she thought Nevada could be a leader in fire prevention efforts.

I believe that what we do here in Nevada can become a model across the West to increase cooperation and coordination on wildfires,” Cortez Masto said. “Gov. Steve Sisolak and our Legislature made terrific progress in our last legislative session by creating an interim committee dedicated to studying wildfire reduction and early responses to fires.”