Feds to work more closely with states to combat wildfires

Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue announced last week that the Forest Service will work more closely with states to combat wildfires. The plan, possible because of increased funding from Congress, "focuses on working with state and tribal stakeholders to target localized preventive treatments, including prescribed burns, to areas most likely to benefit from them," Kate Queram reports for Route Fifty.

The plan says wildfires have become a bigger problem partly because efforts to prevent and fight them have not been "uncoordinated, and not at the right scale." The plan also acknowledges that climate change is partially responsible, though "Perdue himself declined Thursday to attribute the growing risk of wildfires to man-made climate change," Queram reports. "Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke did as well, noting at a cabinet meeting that the cause is unimportant because the Forest Service has to address the increased risk either way."

The Forest Service will begin enacting the plan by meeting with state and local stakeholders nationwide to see what their needs are and get feedback on the plan, Queram reports.