By the numbers
• More than 46 million homes in the United States, about 40 percent of our nation’s housing, are potentially at risk from wildfire.
• More than $150 million per week is spent on fire suppression activities in the U.S., and that number is expected to grow in the days and weeks ahead.
• More than 26,000 firefighters and support personnel from federal, state and local agencies are currently deployed to fight wildfires. Add to that number 200 active military personnel and firefighters from Canada and Australia.
• The U.S. Forest Service has nearly half a billion less, in 2015 dollars, than it did in 1995 to handle non-fire related programs, which are the bulk of its programming
• There are more than 190 million acres of federal forests and grasslands, as well as people and personal property that have to be protected from wildlife.
• Fire seasons are 78 days longer than they were in the 1970s.
• At least 10 states have had their largest fires on record since 2000.
• By 2025, the cost of fire suppression is expected to grow to nearly $1.8 billion.
• If trends continue, the Forest Service will be forced to take an additional $700 million over the next 10 years from all its other programs to fight fires.
To read a full report on the cost of fires for the U.S. Forest Service, go to www.fs.fed.us/about-agency/budget-performance/cost-fire-operations
SOURCE: U.S. Department of Agriculture
Wildfires are something most people in Indiana just see on the news — they’re scary, certainly, but too far away from home to really have an impact.
That’s wrong. Anyone who uses the Hoosier National Forest may be affected by the wildfires in a very real — if indirect — way.
The U.S. Forest Service announced this month that for the first time in its 110-year history, the forest service is spending more than 50 percent of its budget to suppress up to 95 wildfires that have spread across the Western states, including Washington, Oregon, Montana, Idaho and California.
“It does affect us,” said Judi Perez, planning and public affairs officer with the Hoosier National Forest. She explained that any funds not tied to a contract or for someone’s salary can be taken away to help pay to fight Western wildfires.
“They won’t take money away from people, but if we had a new project that we are getting ready to begin, they can take that,” Perez said. She added that in the past few years the Hoosier has had funds taken, but this year, it’s more extreme because there are more wildfires.
“It’s challenging at this time of year to plan our projects,” Perez said. “We make a big push every year to use the money before this time of the year.”
This year has been more difficult in Indiana because rains earlier in the spring and summer slowed projects, keeping several from being completed or even begun on time. Some projects will have to wait, including survey work for a forest project almost ready to start. “We can’t hire a contractor or partner to help us do those,” she said.
“It doesn’t necessarily stop it, but it does delay some things,” Perez said. The new fiscal year for the U.S. Forest Service budget begins Oct. 1, so there’s not much longer to wait.
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