Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

Skip to comments.

WILDFIRES: Sens. Murray, Cantwell, Bipartisan Senators Urge Congress to Pass Wildfire Funding
Senator Murray ^ | Sep 08 2017 | Senator Murray

Posted on 09/08/2017 4:30:48 PM PDT by mdittmar

Senators: “Please do not forget about wildfires – the natural disaster currently raging through the West”

(Washington, D.C.) –  With large fires blazing across Washington state and throughout the West, Sens. Patty Murray (D-WA), Maria Cantwell (D-WA) and a bipartisan group of senators urged Senate Leaders Mitch McConnell and Charles E. Schumer this week to include a wildfire funding fix in any future disaster aid legislation that passes through Congress.

Led by Sens. Ron Wyden (D-OR) and Mike Crapo (R-ID), the letter’s signers also include Sens. Jim Risch (R-ID), Martin Heinrich (D-NM), Jeff Merkley (D-OR), Michael Bennet (D-CO), Kamala Harris (D-CA), Jon Tester (D-MT), Orrin Hatch (R-UT), and Tom Udall (D-NM).

This week, Congress passed a bipartisan funding bill to help with the cost of fighting the wildfires in western states as part of the disaster and government funding bill. However, the funding included does not fix the long-term problem of consistently underfunding fire suppression, which currently forces federal agencies to steal resources from fire prevention activities to pay for fighting fires, so-called “fire borrowing.”

Wildfires have burned almost 8 million acres of land across the West this year, according to the National Interagency Fire Center. Thousands of residents have been forced to evacuate from their homes, and the U.S. Forest Service has already spent more than $1.7 billion this year to put out fires. In Washington state, recent wildfires this month near Jolly Mountain, Jack Creek, Uno Peak, Diamond Creek, Norse Peak and Archer Mountain have threatened residences, prompted evacuations and negatively impacted the local air quality.

“We stand ready to work with our colleagues in a bipartisan way in Congress to do everything we can to ensure the victims of Hurricane Harvey get the assistance they need,” the bipartisan group of senators wrote. “As we work to assist Texas and Louisiana on the road to recovery, please do not forget about wildfires – the natural disaster currently raging through the West.

“We ask that any disaster aid package or other must-pass legislation that passes through Congress include a wildfire funding fix. This fix is long overdue and people throughout the West desperately need our help,” the Senators added.

With the Forest Service’s fire suppression budget nearly depleted, the agency is likely to have to borrow from fire prevention money to tackle wildfires during the remainder of the fire season.

Read the letter here.


TOPICS: News/Current Events; US: Washington
KEYWORDS: hellno
Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first 1-2021-26 next last
It's smokey here.

Here's an old song I like;)

Pink Floyd - Money (Official Music Video)

1 posted on 09/08/2017 4:30:48 PM PDT by mdittmar
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | View Replies]

To: mdittmar

She was calling wild fire
wiiiil iiild fiiire


2 posted on 09/08/2017 4:32:56 PM PDT by gov_bean_ counter
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: mdittmar

Maybe the Forest Service/BLM shouldn’t legally attack private property owners for working on their own fire minimization/suppression efforts.


3 posted on 09/08/2017 4:35:29 PM PDT by Paladin2 (No spelchk nor wrong word auto substition on mobile dev. Please be intelligent and deal with it....)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: mdittmar

Stupid enviro-wacko policies are causing the fires.


4 posted on 09/08/2017 4:36:11 PM PDT by Extremely Extreme Extremist (We're right, you're wrong - that's the end of the argument.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: mdittmar

Just print the money!! take away this debt ceiling and lets just have a big fling into feel good land!! Let the children die of food riots when it inevitably collapses . It wont take much more and the politicians that did it will all be hiding in the Indian ocean .


5 posted on 09/08/2017 4:37:22 PM PDT by raiderboy ( "...if we have to close down our government, we’re building that wall.”)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: mdittmar

Very smoky here, still in “unhealthy” zone, not quite as bad as yesterday’s “Hazardous.” Amazing what a difference it makes. With rain and possible lighting on the way, we could see more fires start.


6 posted on 09/08/2017 4:39:23 PM PDT by Veto! (Political Correctness Offends Me)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: raiderboy

A trillion here,a trillion there,it’s not real money anymore.


7 posted on 09/08/2017 4:41:13 PM PDT by mdittmar
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 5 | View Replies]

To: mdittmar

Who cares. Its worth our children !!


8 posted on 09/08/2017 4:46:23 PM PDT by raiderboy ( "...if we have to close down our government, we’re building that wall.”)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 7 | View Replies]

To: raiderboy

What’s there to stop a thousand Moozlems from throwing a roadside flare out their car windows on the roadside freeways. Sept. 11 is 3 days away.


9 posted on 09/08/2017 4:54:25 PM PDT by DIRTYSECRET (urope. Why do they put up with this.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 8 | View Replies]

To: DIRTYSECRET

over half these fires are arson that we lie about.


10 posted on 09/08/2017 4:57:28 PM PDT by raiderboy ( "...if we have to close down our government, we’re building that wall.”)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 9 | View Replies]

To: gov_bean_ counter
Both Murray and Cantwell would do well to play nice with Trump if they want help. I think Trump should hold their feet to the fire for awhile.

I am here in Yakima and have been breathing smoke for over two weeks.

In addition, the Jolly Mountain fire took a week before it really exploded. The Forest Service and BLM had time to bring in resources before the real damage was done.

The experts keep complaining about not having enough money. But, the cost has exploded along with the fire. It would have been better to bring in the choppers and scoop planes while the fire was still controllable.

Now there is the additional cost of burned up timber, wildlife habitat and a lot of the land is in scenic areas that are no longer scenic.

11 posted on 09/08/2017 5:19:56 PM PDT by Parmy
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 2 | View Replies]

To: mdittmar

The liberals have to stop throwing up barriers to good fire practices. The forests should be thinned (yes, logging) and ranchers should have grazing rights to clear out the flammable underbrush. Those are common sense practices that worked. It didn’t stop all forest fires but it limited them


12 posted on 09/08/2017 5:20:04 PM PDT by McGavin999 ("The press is impotent when it abandons itself to falsehood."Thomas Jefferson)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Extremely Extreme Extremist

Yup.

Idiot states that don’t maintain adequate fire breaks can eat the cost themselves.


13 posted on 09/08/2017 5:22:29 PM PDT by MrEdd (Caveat Emptor)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 4 | View Replies]

To: MrEdd

I don’t understand why the states themselves don’t have a rainy day disaster fund and the power to help their own citizens, in addition to educating their residents about the need to be prepared. Why does the Federal Government need to be involved?


14 posted on 09/08/2017 5:37:47 PM PDT by Extremely Extreme Extremist (We're right, you're wrong - that's the end of the argument.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 13 | View Replies]

To: Extremely Extreme Extremist

Well, if I were to make a wild assed guess I would think it likely that some large areas which don’t have adequate fire preparation used to have proper preparedness before the bureau of land management declared that it must cease.

Call me a cynic.

But Texas defied the fedgov in the form of the EPA and other states should do the same.


15 posted on 09/08/2017 5:51:37 PM PDT by MrEdd (Caveat Emptor)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 14 | View Replies]

To: McGavin999

That is so true!!!!!


16 posted on 09/08/2017 6:10:19 PM PDT by Parmy
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 12 | View Replies]

To: mdittmar

I seem to remember O ignoring and denying help to Red States when they needed it.


17 posted on 09/08/2017 6:12:28 PM PDT by dforest
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: raiderboy

Someone posted on another thread about a certain group causing the fires. Jihad?


18 posted on 09/08/2017 6:16:39 PM PDT by Salvation ("With God all things are possible." Matthew 19:26)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 10 | View Replies]

To: mdittmar; goodnesswins

**Led by Sens. Ron Wyden (D-OR)**


19 posted on 09/08/2017 6:18:25 PM PDT by Salvation ("With God all things are possible." Matthew 19:26)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: mdittmar; goodnesswins; PROCON; Twotone; VeryFRank; Clinging Bitterly; Rio; aimhigh; Hieronymus; ...

If you would like more information about what's happening in Oregon, please FReepmail me.

Please send me your name by FReepmail if you want to be on this list.

20 posted on 09/08/2017 6:19:45 PM PDT by Salvation ("With God all things are possible." Matthew 19:26)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]


Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first 1-2021-26 next last

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.

Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

FreeRepublic, LLC, PO BOX 9771, FRESNO, CA 93794
FreeRepublic.com is powered by software copyright 2000-2008 John Robinson