The Forest Service implements new strategy in response to wildfire crisis

by mcardinal

Megan Udinski, FISM News

 

 

Today the Forest Service alongside Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack are launching a plan called Confronting the Wildfire Crisis: A Strategy for Protecting Communities and Improving Resilience in America’s Forests in response to the nation’s growing wildfire crisis. 

Utilizing $5.5 billion from the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Acts (Bipartisan Infrastructure Law), the Forest Service hopes this decade-long strategy will treat up to 20 million additional acres of National Forest Systems land, as well as 30 million acres of Federal, State, Tribal, and private land. 

The plan will focus on high priority “firesheds” such as the Pacific Northwest, the Sierra Nevada Range in California, parts of Colorado and the southwest. A “fireshed” is defined as an area of 250,000 acres or more that can directly affect communities after ignition. 

In the past 20 years we have seen the west rampaged by wildfires. The National Interagency Fire Center has stopped recording fires larger than 100,000 acres as an “exceptional event” due to how common these large fires have become. For instance, in 2015, 2017, and 2020 more than 10 million acres burned nationwide. This is an expanse six times the size of the state of Delaware. 

Government entities have tried to deal with the wildland fire crisis for decades but have failed to contain the ever-growing challenges of forest fires. Secretary Vilsack explained, “The negative impacts of today’s largest wildfires far outpace the scale of efforts to protect homes, communities and natural resources. Our experts expect the trend will only worsen with the effects of a changing climate, so working together toward common goals across boundaries and jurisdictions is essential to the future of these landscapes and the people who live there.”

According to the Forest Service, causes of this increased devastation include a warming climate, expanded development in the wildlands, and accumulated fuels. Fuel used to be contained through intentionally burning parts of the forest by Native Americans to keep landscapes open and reduce the risk of wildfires spreading. In 1911, government policy banned this practice and later in 1970 had to revoke the ban due to unintentional fuel buildup that continues to magnify the devastation caused by modern-day wildfires. 

In a press release from the U.S. Department of Agriculture on this new strategy plan, Forest Service Chief Randy Moore expressed his gratitude for the work done by Congress in providing financial support to expand wildfire prevention. He stated, “We already have the tools, the knowledge and the partnerships in place to begin this work in many of our national forests and grasslands, and now we have funding that will allow us to build on the research and the lessons learned to address this wildfire crisis facing many of our communities.” 

A portion of the funding from the Infrastructure Act will enable the Forest Service to invest in the firefighting workforce by increasing wages, converting seasonal workers to permanent positions, and establishing a new firefighting job series. A USDA spokesperson also commented that an additional $50 billion will be needed over time to meet the 50-million-acre target. 

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