Governors urge Congress to reform wildfire management

Governors urge Congress to reform wildfire management

CHEYENNE (WNE) — For many years, Western governors have worked together to develop and implement bipartisan policy that helps mitigate uncharacteristic wildfire.

On Wednesday, in correspondence with congressional leadership, the 20 governors represented in the Western Governors’ Association expressed their bipartisan support for several recommendations in the final report of the Wildland Fire Mitigation and Management Commission.

While not every individual Western governor may agree with every commission recommendation, the letter highlights select recommendations and their alignment with Western governors’ policy as it relates to pre-fire risk mitigation, active fire suppression, post-fire recovery and systemic reforms that affect every phase of the wildland fire management cycle.

With wildfires in the U.S. burning over 4.5 million acres since January 2024, nearly double the total area burned in 2023, the governors emphasized the urgency with which these reforms must be implemented.

“The wildfire crisis will not abate without congressional support for aggressive intervention,” the letter read. “The cost of inaction is unacceptable. … We must act now to prevent permanent, widespread loss of our nation’s most critical natural assets and the communities that depend upon them.”

This story was published on August 31, 2024.