Fire budgets go up in smoke

Missoulian Guest Opinion - Alison Berry, research fellow at the Property and Environment Research Center, Bozeman

Just before dawn one morning last month, a red ball of fire streaked across Northwestern skies and exploded midair. The spectacular meteor sent residents in several states running for their phones to report possible forest fires. Although the land is still blanketed in snow with temperatures below freezing, Westerners are conditioned to expect fire. And by July, their expectations will be met as forest fires roar through their states. Some hoped President Bush’s new budget would provide answers to this growing problem, but as usual, little has changed for the U.S. Forest Service.

Once again, the majority of the funding will go to wildfire management and emergency fire suppression. Until budgets effectively address the causes of the fire problem - fuels accumulation and the ever-expanding wildland-urban interface - immense wildfires will continue to ravage both forest lands and nearby communities.

Link to complete letter in the Missoulian.