Idaho Congressman Mike Simpson today voted in favor of H.R. 1404, the Federal Land Assistance, Management, and Enhancement Act (FLAME Act). Simpson, who is Ranking Member of the House Interior and Resources Appropriations Subcommittee, is an original cosponsor to the legislation that boosts funding for catastrophic wildfires.  H.R. 1404 also would create a designated source of funding for catastrophic emergency wildfires.

“The way we are currently funding wildfire fighting is counterproductive, to say the least,” Simpson said.  “Each year, the need to fund fire suppression overshadows the need to fund fuel reduction, healthy forest management, and other efforts to reduce the risk of catastrophic wildfires.  At the end of the day, we are spending more money, sacrificing more acres of land, and risking more property and lives without ever getting ahead of the curve.”

Simpson added, “As we prepare for what is expected to be another severe wildfire season, I think it is prudent that we take stock of the current, broken funding system and ensure that we have the tools to practice good management of our resources.  The FLAME Act is a good start.”
· The number of acres burned by wildland fires has increased by 70 percent over the past decade, and the cost of fighting fires gone from making up 13 percent of the U.S. Forest Service budget to almost half. 

· When the need for suppression funds exceeds the appropriated fire budget, the Forest Service and other land management agencies are forced to borrow from other areas of their budget, which don’t always get repaid.  As a result, as the cost of fighting fires goes up, the agencies’ ability to prevent them is reduced.

· The FLAME Act would provide a separate, dedicated fund for emergency catastrophic wildfire suppression so that the agencies will not be forced to rob from land management accounts to pay for wildfire suppression.

· Federal government oversight agencies, including the Government Accountability Office, have testified in recent hearings that the public land management agencies do not have a cohesive wildland fire management strategy.  The FLAME Act would require the Department of Agriculture and the Department of Interior to provide Congress with such a plan.

H.R. 1404 passed the U.S House of Representatives with a final vote of 412-3 and will now be considered by the U.S. Senate.