Zinke directs more aggressive approach to prevent wildfires
In a memo, Zinke said the Trump administration will take a new approach and work proactively to prevent fires "through aggressive and scientific fuels reduction management" to save lives, homes and wildlife habitat.
Wildfires are chewing across dried-out Western forests and grassland. To date, 47,700 wildfires have burned more than 8 million acres across the country, with much of the devastation in
As of Tuesday, 62 large fires were burning across nine Western states, with 20 fires in
The
Those figures do not include individual state spending. In
Exacerbated by drought and thick vegetation, wildfires are "more damaging, more costly and threaten the safety and security of both the public and firefighters," Zinke said. "I have heard this described as 'a new normal.' It is unacceptable that we should be satisfied with the status quo."
Zinke's memo did not call for new spending, but he said federal officials "must be innovative" and use all tools available to prevent and fight fires. "Where new authorities are needed," he added, "we will work with our colleagues in
Agriculture Secretary
"I believe that we have the right processes and the right procedures of attacking and fighting fires," Perdue said in a speech last week. "But if you don't have the resources and the means of dependable funding, that's an issue."
Perdue called on
"Fires will always be with us. But when we leave a fuel load out there because we have not been able to get to it because of a lack of funding, or dependable funding, we're asking for trouble," Perdue said.
"If we don't start managing our forests, the forests are going to start managing us," said Sen.
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