2018 Another Expensive Year for U.S. Forest Service

The practice of fire borrowing continues to plague the U.S. Forest Service.  A fix to the process where funds are taken from one account and used to fight active wildfires, was created last spring through the fiscal year 2018 omnibus spending package.  Yet the new funding structure included in that measure is not set to take effect until the 2020 fiscal year.

So, how much borrowing has taken place for the 2018 wildfire season?

"We're still closing the books, but we've had to transfer about $700 million from our non fire accounts to cover fire spending for this fire season,” said U.S. Forest Service Chief Vicky Christiansen.

So all together, for the 2018 fire year, including the $700 million transferred, the Chief says wildfire suppression efforts will cost $2.6 billion.  The National Interagency Fire Center said to date almost 48,000 wildfires have consumed over 7.7 million acres.

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