As record wildfires rage across the West, funding for fire prevention science is in . Under President Donald Trump's , cuts to various programs will be significant.
The proposal would the budgets for the U.S. Forest Service and the U.S. Interior Department. It would also entirely cut the budget for the , an interagency collaboration that funds hundreds of research projects focused on fire prevention and mitigation.
鈥淲e鈥檝e also been informing not just what happens before a fire or during a fire, but how do we actually respond to the consequences of fire,鈥� said Director John Hall. He said that means, 鈥渂etter understanding how to do erosion control or do things that better maintain the watershed health, post-fire.鈥�
Hall couldn鈥檛 comment on what would happen if his program lost funding, but he said science helps us make better decisions about fire management overall.
Chris Dicus, president of the , agreed. He said fire science has made progress over the last couple of decades and 鈥渂y taking away these funds we鈥檙e reducing our ability to effectively manage our forests and shrublands in a way that would be safe for our firefighters and be safe for our society at large.鈥�
Congress is currently hammering out the details for the 2019 budget. The is September 30th.
This story was produced by the Mountain West 暗黑爆料 Bureau, a collaboration between Wyoming Public Media, Boise State Public Radio in Idaho, Yellowstone Public Radio in Montana, KUER in Salt Lake City and KRCC and KUNC in Colorado.
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