America’s forests need your help. Wildfires burned nearly 10 million acres of land across the country this year. The Forest Service spends more than $1 billion every year putting them out.
As wildfires get bigger and burn hotter, a larger and larger chunk of the Forest Service’s budget gets spent on them—from 16 percent in 1995 to 52 percent today. If we keep going on the current course, two thirds of the Forest Service budget will go to wildfires within a decade.
COST OF WILDFIRE AS A PERCENTAGE OF THE FOREST SERVICE’S ANNUAL BUDGET
Source: USDA. Cost of wildfire includes preparedness, suppression, FLAME, and related programs.
Source: USDA. Cost of wildfire includes preparedness, suppression, FLAME, and related programs.
Unlike other natural disasters, Congress doesn’t provide extra funding to fight the biggest and most destructive wildfires. So the Forest Service is forced to poach from other critical programs,including forest restoration, campgrounds, and trails.
The fix, the Wildfire Disaster Funding Act, is simple and has the most bipartisan support of any natural resources bill currently before the House of Representatives. For a Congress that is often divided with bitter partisanship, this common sense, bipartisan solution is a no-brainer. With a budget deadline looming, language from the WDFA is part of the negotiations underway at the Capitol right now.
If members of Congress get a clear message from their constituents about the need for a fire fix, this common sense solution can get done before the end of the year. Please sign the petition now, and pass the word on to friends and family.
Learn more
- Friendly Fire: Overwhelming Bipartisan Support for Stalled Wildfire Funding Solution
- The Wildfire Burden: Why Public Land Seizure Proposals Would Cost Western States Billions of Dollars
- Look West: A daily roundup of Western land and energy news delivered to your inbox