This year’s wildfires could incinerate the nation’s fire budget

http://grist.org/climate-energy/this-years-wildfires-could-incinerate-the-nations-fire-budget/

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The upcoming wildfire season could cost $400 million more to fight than the Forest Service and Interior Department have in their available budgets, according to a report those agencies released Thursday.

The forecast estimates that the Forest Service and Interior will need to spend a combined total of about $1.8 billion fighting wildfires this year (though the actual amount could be significantly higher or lower), while only $1.4 billion is available for that activity. The difference will have to be drawn out of the budget reserved for other activities, including fire-related work like clearing brush and controlled burns. In other words, the cost of fighting fires will take resources away from the very programs designed to keep fires in check.

The projected expenditures are the highest in several years, according to a statement from the U.S. Department of Agriculture, which oversees the Forest Service. After record-breaking drought in the West over the last year, this year’s fire season is expected to be especially frightful – by mid-April, California had already tallied nearly 1,000 fires for 2014 (without even counting fires occurring on federal land).

“With climate change contributing to longer and more intense wildfire seasons, the dangers and costs of fighting those fires increase substantially,” Interior Dept. Assistant Secretary Rhea Suh said in the statement. Here’s a quick explainer on the climate-wildfire connection: