Deseret Morning News (Salt Lake City)

WASHINGTON — Fighting the wildfires has become a huge drain on the U.S. Forest Service's resources, and two pending House bills propose a way to fix it.

House Resources Committee Chairman Nick Rahall, D-W.Va., and Rep. Bob Goodlatte, R-Va., the top Republican on the House Agriculture Committee, each have bills to create a federal fund specifically for fighting emergency wildfires, separate from money normally set aside for firefighting activities.

"Our Forest Service is turning into the fire service, to the detriment of the rest of its mission," Rahall said at a House Resource Committee hearing on the bills Thursday. "For the past several years, we have witnessed tragic fire seasons that have put American lives and our treasured public lands in harm's way. Fire seasons are getting long and more intense due to climate change, drought and other factors."

The increase in major wildfires has created a "rob Peter to pay Paul" situation for the Forest Service and the Interior Department by borrowing other funds — including fire prevention — from other agencies to cover the higher costs, Rahall said, with other witnesses and lawmakers using the same analogy.

Rahall's bill, the Federal Land Assistance, Management and Enhancement Act, known as the FLAME bill, would require a supplemental funding source to fight major, "catastrophic" wildland fires as well as a call for an overall wildland fire management plan a year after the bill would become law. The bill creates a specific FLAME fund for "catastrophic, emergency wildland fire suppression activities," according to a summary of the bill.

Rahall said that in 2007 the Forest Service spent $741 million more and the Interior Department spent $249 million more than was budgeted for firefighting.

Goodlatte's bill, the Emergency Wildland Fire Response Act of 2008, also creates an emergency fund and requires the Interior Department to develop a national map of areas at the most risk for wildfires. Rep. Rob Bishop, R-Utah, is a co-sponsor of Goodlatte's bill.

Arizona Gov. Janet Napolitano, who testified on behalf of the Western Governors Association, said she supported the FLAME act because range and wildland fires are "a growing phenomenon in the western United States."

"Arizona's experiences are not unique," she said. "Last year, Nevada, Utah, Wyoming, Texas and other states across the West saw fires burn hundreds of thousands of acres of wildlands. These fires all have one thing in common — an unhealthy landscape due to poor or insufficient prevention efforts and the lack of adequate manpower and resources to fight fires. These megafires are not going to go away."

Napolitano said it is "time to face reality" with new funding ideas so fighting megafires does not come from funds set aside for fire prevention or other portions of the agencies' budgets.

"We cannot afford to let this dangerous trend continue," she said.

The bill still needs to be approved by the committee before it would move to the House floor and over to the Senate for an additional vote.

Bishop and Rep. Chris Cannon, R-Utah, sit on the House Resources Committee, which would take up the bills.

"Both pieces of legislation to remedy this shortfall have merit," Cannon said. "I am hopeful we can harmonize the two to balance the need for forest management and wildfire preparation. Creating a rainy-day fund for fire suppression and forest management is a good idea that both bills hope to achieve."

Copyright 2008 The Deseret News Publishing Co.