Wildfire spending has been a source of much debate, many reports, and a variety of federal policy initiatives.\u00a0 In \u201cGetting Burned: A Taxpayer\u2019s Guide to Wildfire Suppression Costs\u201d, Dr. Timothy Ingalsbee explores sources of elevated fire spending and the conditions that prompt costly actions through a breakdown of socioeconomic, institutional, and operational cost factors.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Socioeconomic cost factors include fuels accumulation, wildland-urban interface (WUI) protection, and climate change.\u00a0 The Healthy Forests Restoration Act of 2003 aimed to increase fuels reduction on federal lands by streamlining the approval process (Donovan and Brown, 2005). However, Ingalsbee argues that to lower fire costs managers need to recognize the connection between wildfire use and fuels reduction and to coordinate their objectives (Ingalsbee, 2010).\u00a0 Protection of lands in the WUI often account for up to half of total suppression spending, with that protection sometimes costing more than the structures\u2019 value (Ingalsbee, 2010).\u00a0 This area is growing rapidly and presents fire managers with intense public and political pressure to aggressively fight fires, especially as climate change exacerbates fire danger (Radeloff et al., 2018).\u00a0 <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Institutional cost factors include a \u201cblank check\u201d for suppression, use of private contractors, and inequity of federal-state cost share programs.\u00a0 This \u201cblank check\u201d describes fire borrowing from non-suppression accounts and is related to the Federal Land Assistance, Management, and Enhancement Act of 2009 (FLAME) (Hoover and Lindsay, 2017).\u00a0 FLAME attempts to budget fire costs, but it still does not introduce any penalties for overspending (Hoover nad Lindsay, 2017; Ingalsbee, 2010).\u00a0 Private contractors make up over half of fire expenditures, generally cost more than public services, and provide lower-quality work (Ingalsbee, 2010).\u00a0 Federal and state governments share suppression costs even when it is to protect private property and interests.\u00a0 Thus, building companies, local government, and states get money from property taxes and permit fees while avoiding the costs of fire protection in the WUI (Ingalsbee, 2010).<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The third category, operational cost factors, includes human and political influences, leadership accountability, risk aversion, and lack of incentives.\u00a0 Fire managers experience significant pressure to aggressively suppress wildfire, even to the point of \u201cpolitical shows\u201d of suppression (Ingalsbee, 2010, p. 19).\u00a0 In addition, agencies themselves have residual internal pressure from the early 1900s to fight all fires.\u00a0 This combination of influences makes managers feel that they will not be supported if a fire goes wrong, so they lean towards excessive and high-cost equipment (Ingalsbee, 2010). <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Donovan, G.H. and Brown, T.C. (2005). Wildfire management in the US Forest Service: a brief history.<\/a> Natural Hazards Observer<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Hoover, Katie, and Lindsay, Bruce R. (2017). Wildfire Suppression Spending: Background: Issues, and Legislation in the 115th Congress<\/p>\n\n\n\n Ingalsbee, T. (2010).\u00a0Getting burned: A taxpayer\u2019s guide to wildfire suppression costs.\u00a0\u00a0<\/a>\u00a0Firefighters United for Safety, Ethics, and Ecology.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n Radeloff et al. (2018). Rapid growth of the US wildland-urban interface raises wildfire risk. PNAS<\/em>. Volume 115, no. 13. Retrieved from https:\/\/www.pnas.org\/content\/115\/13\/3314<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Wildfire spending has been a source of much debate, many reports, and a variety of federal policy initiatives.\u00a0 In \u201cGetting Burned: A Taxpayer\u2019s Guide to Wildfire Suppression Costs\u201d, Dr. Timothy Ingalsbee explores sources of elevated fire spending and the conditions that prompt costly actions through a breakdown of socioeconomic, institutional, and operational cost factors. Socioeconomic … Continue reading Wildfire Suppression Costs<\/span>