Idaho Congressman Mike Simpson today hosted outgoing Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar at a hearing of the House Interior and Environment Appropriations Subcommittee to discuss budget issues.  Simpson, who chairs the subcommittee, oversees the budget for the Department of the Interior. He asked Salazar to discuss what he sees as challenges going forward for the Department, many of which are deepened by sequestration.

Simpson immediately raised concerns that both the recently-passed Senate continuing resolution and the President’s budget proposal for FY14 fail to adequately address wildfire.  The Senate CR struck $97 million for wildfire suppression funding that was included by the House to address widely expected shortfalls in 2013. 

“One of the surprising things that happened in the CR is that the Senate decided that we don’t need to fund wildfire suppression,” said Simpson. “That decision will likely lead to additional fire borrowing before the end of the fiscal year, robbing operations accounts even further. And now within this budget you’ve also reduced the hazardous fuels account by $87 million, which means that we are also not addressing the long-term costs of fires.”

Noting that the 2012 fire season was devastating in Idaho and that the 2013 season is projected to be even worse, Simpson added, “There are very real consequences for failing to provide wildfire funding.”

Simpson also talked about the impact sequestration cuts are having on Idaho counties. “Some of the biggest worries I hear from county commissioners in Idaho are about how cuts to PILT [Payment in Lieu of Taxes] and Secure Rural Schools are going to impact their budgets. Most people don’t realize that in some counties, schools would have to shut down if SRS payments went away. These cuts will have very real impacts on Idahoans.”

At the end of the hearing, Chairman Simpson commended Secretary Salazar for working to address western issues during his tenure as Secretary of the Interior.  Salazar retires at the end of the week, as incoming Secretary Sally Jewell was confirmed by the U.S. Senate yesterday.