The National Association of State Foresters is one of seven national forestry groups calling on Congress to increase funding for wildfire fuels mitigation and forest health protection.
Bold action is needed to sustain forests, protect public safety, and prevent the conversion of forests from carbon sinks to carbon emission sources. The scale of wildfires and their community impacts far outpace current efforts to prevent them and mitigate the damage they cause.
Forest Service researchers have identified the need to treat an additional 20 million acres of National Forest System lands, and an additional 30 million acres of other federal, state, tribal, and private lands to make significant progress in reducing extreme wildfire risk and building forest resilience.
It is critical that wildfire resilience is increased by at least 5 million acres each year in addition to what is now treated. The undersigned organizations recommend between $50 billion to $60 billion over the next ten years to meet the wildfire resilience goal.
Read the full letter by clicking the link below.