Longer, more severe wildfire seasons, increased development of the urban interface, and millions of acres of fuel loads exceeding the historic range of forest variability are among many factors contributing to the need to transfer funds from non-fire programs to pay for wildfire suppression.
Because of this, each year, funding for crucial programs that impact recreation or habitat management on public lands is transferred to pay for unavoidable wildfire suppression activity. Even when these programs are repaid, the delay is often months.
The Wildfire Disaster Funding Act (WDFA), S. 1875 and H.R. 3992, fixes these delay problems by funding a portion of the U.S. Forest Service and Department of Interior wildfire suppression costs through a budget cap adjustment similar to one used by the Federal Emergency Management Agency.
On February 5, H.R. 3992 sponsors and Congressional Sportsmen’s Caucus members Representatives Mike Simpson (ID) and Kurt Schrader (OR) sent a letter to their colleagues in the House of Representatives asking for additional cosponsors to this important bill which “aims to end the destructive cycle of fire borrowing by treating catastrophic wildfires like similar major natural disasters such as floods and hurricanes.” The bill currently has 90 bipartisan cosponsors.
WDFA is supported by the many Americans who hunt and fish on federal public lands, particularly on U.S. Forest System and Bureau of Land Management lands, as a necessary bill to ensure funding for wildfire suppression without taking from non-fire programs. On March 30, 24 sportsmen conservation groups from the American Wildlife Conservation Partners, including the Congressional Sportsmen’s Foundation (CSF), sent a letter to Speaker of the House John Boehner and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, urging H.R. 3992 and S. 1875 to be included in the Interior Appropriations bill.
On June 18, Gary Kania, Vice President of CSF, and other members of the sportsmen’s conservation community briefed the House of Representative’s Congressional Western Caucus on the Wildfire Disaster Funding issue and the importance of supporting H.R. 3992.
On July 16, CSF, along with partners from the sportsmen’s and conservation community, will host a Breakfast Briefing on Capitol Hill to present details on WDFA. For more information on the briefing, contact PJ Carleton at pj@sportsmenslink.org.
Studies conducted at both the state and federal level have found that the number of hunters and trappers have been on a generally declining trend over the past several decades. To increase recruitment, retention, and reactivation (R3) of hunters and trappers, which initiative do you think would have the greatest impact?
