Cost of Fighting Forest Fires Puts Pressure on the Forest Service Budget

Because the cost of fighting wildfires is increasing faster than the budgets of the agencies we rely on to fight them, funds that traditionally have been allocated to natural resource management are now being diverted to fire suppression.

“The cost of fighting fires is going up because of what we call ‘urban interface’” said Tina Tilley, District Ranger for the Appalachian Ranger District in Burnsville. “That means more urban areas are being built right up against the forest boundary.”

Tilley said that more people living along forest boundaries increases both the risk of fires getting started AND the cost of attacking those fires. Although some fires are started by nature, most can be traced back to human sources like discarded cigarettes, partially-extinguished campfires or even sunlight being magnified by a piece of broken glass and igniting dry grass.

Blue Ridge Parkway Chief Ranger John Garrison explained how 'urban interface' increases the cost of fighting wildfires by saying, “It used to be that 25 men with shovels could use natural barriers like roads, streams and ridge lines to contain a fire. Now that we have housing developments moving into what used to be all forest land, it takes a battalion of men with trucks and helicopters to suppress the fire before property is lost.”

All federal land management agencies including the National Park Service and the US Forest Service have budgets for firefighting, but the US Forest Service is responsible for covering the cost of all aircraft used to fight wildfires. Tilley says that although the helicopters are very effective, they can cost $70 thousand an hour to operate.

“This year 44 percent of our entire budget is set aside for wildfires,” she said. “We’d like to be able to put more of those resources into maintaining trails, managing timber, managing wildlife habitat, controlling erosion and protecting streams. We’re working with Congress to come up with a way to separate fire appropriations from our resource management dollars.”

Tilley says individuals and communities looking for a way to help bring down the cost of fighting wildfires can literally start in their own back yards by making their property “firewise.” The Firewise program is designed to protect people, property, and natural resources from the risk of wildfire - before the fire starts. Visit www.firewise.org to learn about things you can do around your home to reduce the volume of flammable material that might fuel a fire, thereby increasing your home’s survivability during a wildfire.

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