A spending bill slated for a vote in Congress includes a bipartisan plan to create a wildfire disaster fund to help combat increasingly severe wildfires that have devastated the West in recent years.
The measure sets aside more than $20 billion over 10 years to allow the Forest Service and other federal agencies end a practice of raiding non-fire-related accounts to pay for wildfire costs, which approached $3 billion last year.
Senators Mike Crapo of Idaho and Maria Cantwell of Washington, along with other Western lawmakers, have long complained that the current funding mechanism – tied to 10-year averages for wildfire – makes budgeting difficult, even as fires burn longer and hotter each year.
The new plan sets aside $2 billion per year – outside the regular budget – so officials don’t have to tap money meant for prevention programs to fight wildfires. Senator Ron Wyden of Oregon helped broker the compromise with Crapo and Cantwell. GOP Representatives Mike Simpson of Idaho and Cathy McMorris Rodgers of Washington also played key roles, along with other lawmakers from both parties.
Western lawmakers have been fighting for years to end “fire borrowing,” a practice they say devastates rational budgeting for the Forest Service and other agencies. The measure establishes a contingency account through 2027, with money from the account only being used after funds from usual firefighting accounts are exhausted.
The budget deal includes $100 million for fire prevention projects and recreation programs. (AP)
