GOP wants forest fire disaster fund
The Associated Press
WASHINGTON — With a House vote expected this week on legislation that targets overgrown national forests, Republicans are proposing that some forest fires be treated like federal disasters.
Some Democratic lawmakers and environmental groups have been critical of the bill because they say it would erode key environmental safeguards.
The federal disaster language was something the Obama administration first proposed early last year, but GOP lawmakers have made some key differences.
Under current policy, the agencies fighting wildfires divert money toward firefighting from other programs during particularly busy years. But that practice delays the very efforts designed to prevent fires in the first place, such as the thinning of dead trees and the removal of thick underbrush. Supporters say that letting federal agencies tap into a disaster fund will prevent such borrowing and lessen the risk of catastrophic forest fires in the coming years.
This year's fire season appears to be shaping up as a busy one, adding some urgency to tackling the funding problem. A report Monday from the National Interagency Fire Center showed 51 active large fires across 10 states, with more than half taking place in Alaska and Washington.
"My colleagues on both sides of the aisle agree that current efforts to combat the growing threat of catastrophic wildfires are failing our communities. This package charts a new course," said Rep. Rob Bishop, R-Utah, the chairman of the House Natural Resources Committee.
Bishop said the bill should garner broad support. But Robert Bonnie, who oversees natural resource issues at the Agriculture Department, which houses the Forest Service, indicated the GOP has more work to do to win over the administration.
He described the bill as a step forward but said the changes don't go far enough to address financial challenges that the Forest Service faces as more and more of its budget is eaten up by fighting forest fires.
The White House issued a statement Wednesday afternoon strongly objecting to the bill, which it said "falls short of fixing the fire budget problem" and undermines public trust in forest management.
One of the biggest differences between what House Republicans are backing and what the administration proposed is when federal agencies could tap into a disaster account.
The government estimates its firefighting needs based on the average costs of the 10 previous years. The administration supports funding the agencies at 70 percent of the 10-year average and using the Federal Emergency Management Agency's disaster fund to cover the cost of fighting other fires.
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