In the 2023 fiscal year budget request, the U.S. Forest Service is asking Congress for roughly $1 billion more than this current year's budget.

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"This investment supports the agency's ten year strategy to confront the nation's wildfire crisis," noted Forest Service Chief Randy Moore, who said the plan to remove hazardous fuels from forests and reduce the wildfire risk as a long term strategy.

"But we have to put the fires out there taking place now."

And so some of the budget money going for hiring more firefighters.

"We had planned to hire about 11,400 fire fighters this year.  We have brought on about 90% of that already."

And there will part-timer's, as well.  Chief Moore said last year there were 29,000 people fighting wildfires, "and he still wasn't enough," he noted. "Unless we do something differently than what's taking place now.  We have to address the vegetation situation out there on the forest."

Which is a part of the Forest Service ten year place to thin out vegetation and reduce wildfire risk.

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