White House releases $280 million for wildfires

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

Originally published Saturday, March 16, 2002

WASHINGTON, D.C. -- The White House has agreed to release $280 million in wildfire money that had been approved by Congress last year, after several weeks of intense lobbying by Democratic and Republican lawmakers.

The Forest Service is intended as an emergency contingent fund -- but $200 million of that will be spent to repay accounts the Forest Service tapped to cover the costs of firefighting, forest rehabilitation and community aid.

The remaining $80 million has been promised for the Forest Service by the Office of Management and Budget, but with a restriction that it can't be spent until July 1, the start of the final quarter in the current fiscal year.

That money is to be used to thin national forests of the dense underbrush that is considered a source of fuel for wildfires.

'It's about time'

Without the $280 million, which had been appropriated by Congress in a budget signed last year by President Bush, the Forest Service would have been forced to cut some critical programs, lawmakers said.

"It's about time that the administration and OMB recognized the will of Congress," said Sen. Conrad Burns, R-Mont., ranking member on Interior Appropriations subcommittee.

"We are approaching our fourth year of drought, and we must do whatever possible to be proactive in preventing fires," Burns said.

Burns was among a handful of lawmakers who wrote to the White House, demanding the pool of wildfire money held back from this year's budget be released to the Forest Service immediately.

Burns' letter, which was sent to the president Wednesday, noted that without the money, the Forest Service would have problems replacing aging trucks and aircraft and repairing roads vital to reaching the western fires.

The Montana Republican warned that delaying the release of the $80 million until July, as the budget office has indicated it will do, would be a mistake.

"It is shortsighted for OMB to delay the release of this $80 million until we are in the midst of another catastrophic fire season," Burns said.

Continual shortfall

Amy Call, a spokeswoman for the budget office, said officials there were still talking to members of Congress and to Forest Service planners to determine the extent of the need for the $80 million.

In a hearing before the House Resources forest subcommittee earlier this week, Forest Service Chief Dale Bosworth said a long-range solution is needed for the shortfall his agency sees every year for covering firefighting efforts in national forests. He said the option is to pull firefighters out of service, but he doubted that would be a popular move.

"I don't think there is going to be a lot of support for pulling firefighters off the fire line," Bosworth said.

The Olympian Copyright 2002

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