The Ag Secretary thinks so. So do a number of currently-singed Senators.
[ Image Source: archive.onearth.org ]
Wyden seeks change in Forest Service wildfire budgeting
by Eric Mortenson, Capital Press, capitalpress.com -- August 28, 2015
PORTLAND — Oregon Sen. Ron Wyden said freeing up federal natural disaster money to fight fires, rather than dipping into the U.S. Forest Service’s operating budget, is the primary thing he wants to accomplish when Congress reconvenes in September.
[...]
U.S. Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack, attending the briefing with Wyden, said 52 percent of the Forest Service’s budget is eaten up by fire suppression work, compared to 16 percent in 1995. At this rate of increase, responding to wildfires will take two-thirds of the agency’s budget within a few years, he said.
The Forest Service has seen a 115 percent increase in personnel assigned to fight fires, and a 38 percent decrease in people assigned to do everything else, Vilsack said.
[...]
Question: How is the Forest Service suppose to attend to
"an enormous build-up of fuel on the forest floor" -- when an ever-increasing slice of their operating budget is constantly siphoned away to fight the fires, that those excess "fuels" create?
Enquiring minds (and nervous home-owners) should want to know.
Suppressing Fires is not like suppressing Infrastructure upgrades -- the effects of which may not be felt for years, when nixed.
No -- People die, Homes and Business are lost, and Infrastructure is destroyed -- when Congress does its kick-the-can, head-in-the-sand routine, year after smokey year, on this recurring problem.
USFS Spends $10M Per Day On Wildfires In Oregon
by Conrad Wilson, OPB, opb.org -- Aug. 28, 2015
The U.S. Forest Service is spending $10 million a day fighting wildfires in Oregon, U.S. Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack said Friday during a briefing in Portland.
Nationwide, the agency’s spends $150 million per week on fire suppression.
[...]
“(It’s) the first time in the history of the Forest Service that we’re spending more money for fire suppression than anything else,” he said.
Agency-wide, all non-fire related spending is now frozen, he announced.
[...]
The bill would pay for wildfires out of a disaster account, similar to clean up from hurricanes and tornadoes.
[...]
Question: Are not Fires equally "disastrous" to the Home-owners and Communities who experience them, as those who are unfortunate enough to experience those other natural disasters of hurricanes or tornadoes?
"Disaster Relief" needs to take on a whole meaning, especially since our kick-the-can, head-in-the-sand Congress continues to deny that Climate Change (a major factor in these Disasters) even exists.
[ Image Source: summitpost.org ]
Currently the Wyden-proposed Bill has bi-partisan support, primarily from Senators of western states. It would "treat the largest fires as natural disasters," which would make them "eligible for response and recovery funding from such agencies as FEMA ..."
Because here's a Newsflash for those skeptical Congress-critters:
The annual costs of fighting these Life-threatening Forest Fires is NOT going away any time soon:
In no small measure, due their kick-the-can ways and methods.
All designed to leave us, holding the bag. And picking up their short-sighted, long-term tab.