October 2017 Monthly Briefing

Wildfires Scorch the West

Alliance supports Senate wildfire prevention bill

The most expensive and destructive wildfire year on record continues in California as end-of-the-month temperatures climbed into the triple-digits. Already, national wildfire suppression costs have surpassed $2.3 billion and burned more than 8.5 million acres.

In the world of Western water, a massive wildfire in the headwaters of a watershed can devastate the water supply – both quantity and quality – so important to the many beneficial uses in that river basin, including the irrigation of farms and ranches that produce some of our Nation’s high-quality food and fiber.

As fire suppression activities continue to rise as a percentage of the U.S. Forest Service’s budget, resources to responsibly manage forests are impacted. Funding for federal wildfire management—particularly for suppression operations on federal lands —is an issue targeted by several bills introduced in Congress this year. However, a fire funding fix is seen as only a partial solution by many, who believe that such a fix should also be paired with management tools. The Family Farm Alliance earlier this month formally supported one such Senate bill that focuses on forest management. Read the October 2017 “Monthly Briefing”

Modoc Complex wildfire in Northern California, July 2017. Photo courtesy of Joe Spendolini Photography

Click here to read the October 2017 edition of the “Monthly Briefing” and learn more about these and other issues of interest to Western farmers and ranchers who rely upon irrigation: