Recreation
House approves fund to fight major fires
Posted on: July 10, 2008
Sali votes for the bill, but says money isn’t as much of an obstacle as red tape and extremists.
The U.S. passed legislation Wednesday that gives the Forest Service a dedicated fund for fighting catastrophic fires, meaning the agency won’t have to raid its fire prevention budget to cover the costs of firefighting unanticipated fires.
The firefighting money will be known as the “FLAME fund,” short for the Federal Land Assistance, Management and Enhancement Act.
The fund will “help ensure that fire prevention resources are not consumed by emergency firefighting expenses,” said House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif. An estimated 2 percent of fires account for about 80 percent of the cost of fighting them.
U.S. Rep. Bill Sali, R-Idaho, who led the Republican discussion of the issue on the House floor Wednesday, said the bill is a good first step, but it doesn’t go far enough. There’s a great need to reduce fuel within the forests themselves to prevent catastrophic fires, Sali said. And people in communities that abut federal forests also need that ability to clear land of fuel around their homes and business, Sali said.
“While well-intentioned, unfortunately the bill before us today fails to address the more critical issue – addressing the wildfires themselves,” he said. “The greatest obstacle our public land managers face in preventing catastrophic wildfires isn’t dollars, it is having the ability to overcome mountains of red tape and lawsuits filed by extremists.”
Idaho GOP Rep. Mike Simpson also supported the measure.
Money in the FLAME fund will be used solely for catastrophic fires. It will be kept separate from the money budgeted each year for fires the agency anticipates having to fight.
Sourced from The Idaho Values Alliance
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House approves fund to fight major fires