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FEDERALhearing transcript

High Impact

Review of the 2015 Wildfire Season and Long-Term Trends

Original title: HEARING TO REVIEW THE 2015 FIRE SEASON AND LONG-TERM TRENDS

January 1, 2016

wildfire forest management federal budget emergency response conservation

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The Frame

What this does

When wild costs exceed allocated federal funding, the U.S. Forest Service must divert money from other conservation and management programs to cover the shortfall.

Who is mentioned in the record

Potentially affected actors named in the source documents. Mention is not a position.

U.S. Forest Service

The agency must manage wildfire suppression while balancing the depletion of its non-fire program budgets.

Western state residents

Residents in these regions are subject to the direct impacts of catastrophic wildfire seasons and associated land management changes.

What changed

Last recorded activity January 1, 2016.

What's next

Next step not available in the current record.

Summary

This House Subcommittee hearing examined the 2015 wildfire season, which saw over 9 million acres burned. Lawmakers and experts discussed the increasing costs of and the impact of these costs on the Forest Service's .

Key Facts

The 2015 wildfire season resulted in over 9 million acres burned across western states and Alaska.
The average number of acres burned annually has nearly doubled since the 1990s.
Federal spending on wildfire suppression has doubled since the 1990s.
Congressional appropriations for wildfire suppression have remained nearly stagnant despite rising costs.
The Forest Service and Department of the Interior are currently required to cover suppression cost overruns by using funds from non-fire budgets.

Why It Matters

When wild costs exceed allocated federal funding, the U.S. Forest Service must divert money from other conservation and management programs to cover the shortfall.

Frequently Asked Questions

Why does the Forest Service take money from other programs to fight fires?

When the allocated budget for is exhausted, the agency is forced to transfer funds from other non-fire related budgets to cover the emergency costs.

How has the wildfire situation changed since the 1990s?

The average number of acres burned annually has nearly doubled, and the cost to suppress those fires has also doubled.

News Coverage

No news coverage found yet. Articles are indexed twice daily.

Discoveries

Patterns POLISCOPE noticed across the record. These are observations to investigate, not conclusions.

policy shift100% confidence

Budgetary 'Fire Borrowing'

The hearing highlights a long-standing systemic issue where emergency fire costs cannibalize long-term conservation and management budgets.

U.S. Forest Service Department of the Interior

Connected Entities

organizationDepartment of the Interior“Federal agency involved in wildfire suppression funding”Map →

organizationThe Nature Conservancy“Represented by witness Christopher Topik”Map →

personGlenn Thompson“Chairman of the Subcommittee on Conservation and Forestry”Map →

organizationInternational Association of Fire Chiefs“Represented by witness Erik J. Litzenberg”Map →

organizationU.S. Forest Service“Federal agency responsible for managing national forests and wildfire suppressio”Map →

personThomas L. Tidwell“Chief of the U.S. Forest Service”Map →

Sources

Open source document

www.govinfo.gov

Analysis Score

0–100

Significance80
How much this matters to a regular citizen
Controversy40
Intensity of disagreement among stakeholders
Entertainment10
Compellingness for a non-policy-wonk reader
Buzz20
Current news / social attention level

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