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| Budgets to fight U.S. Wildfires to be cut |
Here's the story from the Huffington Post:
As California weathered 14 major wildfires on July 10th amid an intense heat wave, it couldn’t be clearer that
the state needed equipped firefighters, modern wildfire prevention
efforts and funding for wildfire research.
But the budget for those programs hangs in the balance, despite evidence
that climate change has already contributed to the ever-worsening
wildfire seasons in California and beyond. Under President Donald
Trump’s proposed 2018 budget, the U.S. Forest Service, or USFS, will
face a $300 million reduction
to its wildfire fighting programs, another $50 million in cuts to its
wildfire prevention efforts and a 23 percent reduction to funding for
volunteer fire departments.
Trump’s
proposal to cut funding for the Volunteer Fire Assistance program $15
million to $11.6 million is also troubling, firefighter advocate groups say. More communities are finding that volunteer firefighters are vital to improving hasty response efforts as residents of fire-prone areas learn to coexist with wildfires.
Trump’s
proposal to cut funding for the Volunteer Fire Assistance program $15
million to $11.6 million is also troubling, firefighter advocate groups say. More communities are finding that volunteer firefighters are vital to improving hasty response efforts as residents of fire-prone areas learn to coexist with wildfires.
Members of the House and Senate are currently reviewing Trump’s budget proposal.
“I
hope Congress will reject the harmful budget cuts proposed by the Trump
administration, and step up and pass legislation to address these
critical issues as soon as possible,” Rachel Cleetus, the Union of
Concerned Scientists’ lead economist, wrote last month. “People who live
in wildfire-prone areas — whether in California, Arizona, Alaska, or Georgia — cannot afford further delays or back-sliding.”
Source: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/fires
Published on Jun 15, 2017
Source: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/fires
