Fight Fires with Funds: New Federal Funding Mechanism Proposed for Wildfires

The Obama Administration has a budget proposal that would change the way it protects the country’s 70,000 communities surrounded by forests.

Allison Sherry reports that “the departments of Agriculture and Interior had to transfer $463 million in 2012 and $636 million in 2013 to fight fires.” The transfers amount to “cribbing cash to fight fires from the same pot used for suppression and prevention.”

Under a proposal a new proposal by the Obama Administration, "the costs to fight severe wildfires — those that require emergency response or are near urban areas — would be funded through a new ‘wildfire suppression cap adjustment.’ This funding mechanism removes firefighting cash from regular discretionary budget caps, thus protecting prevention funds."