Right now, thousands of acres in the American West are burning. One of the worst wildlife seasons in US history is threatening lives, homes, and precious wildlife habitat.
Worse, federal agencies are running out of money to prevent and put out these destructive infernos.
Wildfires don’t just threaten western lives and property. They also destroy already-threatened habitat for gray wolves, pacific fishers, wolverines, and other ecologically important wildlife.
For the first time in its history, more than half of the US Forest Service’s total budget will be consumed by wildfire control efforts. Already, agencies are being forced to scale back fire prevention efforts to put out the fires that are already burning:
"To solve this problem, we must change the way we pay for wildfire. Instead of treating catastrophic wildfires as a normal agency expense, we must treat them more like other natural disasters, such as tornadoes or hurricanes."
Speak out for the people and wildlife of the American West — sign and share this petition to tell Congress to fix dangerous and dysfunctional wildfire policy.
Dear Decision Maker,
As someone who is concerned with the increasing scale and severity of wildfires in the US, I strongly urge you to support federal legislation to reform federal wildfire policy.
Wildfires now threaten millions of acres in the West, risking lives, homes, and precious wildlife habitat. With climate change, droughts, and increasing numbers of people living in areas at risk of wildfires, leaders like you have a responsibility to reform the way in which the government pays for wildfire suppression and prevention.
The government’s current approach leaves wildfire prevention chronically underfunded, as the US Forest Service and Bureau of Land Management raid prevention funds to pay for underfunded fire suppression efforts.
[Your comments]
Your leadership can make a difference. If you have not already done so, I strongly urge you to co-sponsor HR 1009, HR 695, and HR 3363 -- each of which would help improve federal wildfire prevention and response.
Sincerely,
[Your name]
