wildfire news ping!
Senators worry about wildfire preparedness
June 22, 2006 06:41 AM
U-S senators are questioning whether the cash-strapped federal government is ready for what's expected to be an unusually severe fire season.
Over three million acres have burned here in the West so far.
The Senate Energy and Natural Resources subcommittee held a hearing Wednesday about a recent government report that found federal, state and local agencies have no consistent policy for sharing the rapidly increasing cost of fighting wildfires.
The Government Accountability Office says that means one county can find itself unexpectedly footing a multimillion-dollar bill to pay for firefighting, while the federal government covers another county's costs.
Officials from the Forest Service and the Interior Department say they're working with state and local governments to clarify how costs should be divided.
Meanwhile, Colorado Senator Ken Salazar says he's particularly worried about the government's ability to fight and prevent fires after money to clear out trees killed by bark beetles was cut by Congress from an emergency spending bill earlier this year.
http://www.kpax.com/Global/story.asp?S=5064462