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US Forest Service Spent Record $1.7 Billion Fighting Fires In 2015

The Forest Service spent a record $1.7 billion fighting fires this year. Year after year, the agency must borrow from other programs to keep up with the growing cost of fighting fires.

The Obama administration wants to address the problem by treating wildfires like other types of natural disasters for funding purposes.

Republican Senator Lisa Murkowski of Alaska says she supports a long-term solution, but she says paying for wildfires like the government's response to hurricanes and tornadoes needs more review.

U.S. Department of Agriculture Undersecretary Robert Bonnie calls the funding increase a Band-Aid solution that also neglects the need to make forests more resilient to fire.

Steve Goldstein was a host at KJZZ from 1997 to 2022.