Forest Fires now consume 50% of the Forest Service Budget. More funding is vital.

http://www.sciencemag.org/content/349/6254/1263.full?utm_source=facebook&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=facebook


With just over 3 months remaining, it looks like 2015 could be a record-breaking year for wildfires in the United States. So far this year, more than 8.5 million acres have burned and severe fires often happen in October. For the first time, the U.S. Forest Service will spend over 50% of its budget on fire management. Ironically, this is directing resources away from projects and research that would reduce the risk of forest fires. This must be fixed.
Not surprisingly, firefighting costs have soared. Indeed, federal appropriations for fire suppression and fire operations zoomed from about $600 million in 1995 to nearly $3 billion in 2014. State fire-suppression expenditures doubled from 1998 to 2014, to $1.6 billion. So far, available appropriations this year for firefighting are $700 million less than actually spent, so non-fire funds have been borrowed to cover these emergency needs. This season, the U.S. Forest Service spent as much as $243 million per week fighting wildfires. Fire-related costs take up over 50% of its budget, up from 16% in 1995. If changes are not made, fire management will consume 67% of its budget by 2025.