Wildfires Put State Budgets Under Pressure
With winter snow already falling,
State and federal lawmakers across the country are looking back on a record fire season and asking whether there's a way to better prepare financially for major wildfires. The federal government spent more than
As the wildfire season lengthens and the fires become larger and more dangerous -- a trend driven by a number of factors, including climate change -- both state and federal natural resource departments are spending more time and money on firefighting and less on other forest management programs that help the land recover after wildfires, or lessen the impact of future fires.
Western states typically spend less than 1 percent of their general fund each year on wildfire suppression, according to a
Such percentages seem small but can still have a big impact, said lead author
In states with small tax bases such as
Paying to Put Out Fires
Each state pays for wildland firefighting slightly differently. Lawmakers in many wildfire-prone states set aside part of their general fund each year for fighting fires. Programs in
But sometimes that extra money doesn't go far enough. Then it's up to lawmakers to figure out how to cover the extra cost.
"When there's an emergency, the money gets found, someway, somehow," said
One of the biggest fires in
When
It can take months to tally the cost of a bad fire season.
The federal government typically pays to put out fires on federal land, and states pay to put out wildfires on state and private land. But fires often straddle property boundaries. And when a fire starts, the fire crew closest to it will rush to the scene regardless of jurisdiction.
To complicate matters, a dangerous blaze that threatens homes, roads, reservoirs and other infrastructure can involve local and state firefighters, firefighters from other states, and state or federal equipment such as bulldozers and air tankers.
"It's like an instant army that shows up," said
The
Reimbursement from the federal government and other entities typically covers a fraction of a state's spending on fire suppression, Becker's study found. In 2015, an extreme fire year, the nine states his team studied collectively spent
'Up in Smoke'
State Sen.
The money was withdrawn in July, leaving just over
He said
In
Years of budget cuts have whittled the division down to 130 people, including administrators, at a time when the state is seeing more frequent major fires, said
He said he's become more dependent on expensive out-of-state resources and on tapping the state's emergency fund. After a major fire, his team waits for the invoices to trickle in with their fingers crossed. "We've come very close to thinking -- how are we going to make payroll?" he said.
In
Such an additional appropriation is unusual in
As fires get worse, states need some kind of cushion to protect themselves from a costly year, Becker said, whether that's an emergency fund, an insurance policy or another mechanism.
In
"It's something that everybody's taking a look at right now," he said. "How do you do this without breaking the bank?"
Connell said he still thinks
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