Forest Service: Fire costs pinching accounts

The U.S. Forest Service is in the middle of a nationwide scramble for money to pay for the 2008 fire season, and the impacts have trickled into the Northern Region and the Flathead National Forest.

The agency has run up a record fire suppression bill of $1.9 billion this year - a 59 percent increase over last year's firefighting costs that amounts to nearly half of the agency's total budget.

Starting Aug. 11, the agency began transferring $700 million from other programs to cover the cost, according to an analysis from the Wilderness Society and the National Association of State Foresters.

"This year is different from any of those where we've contemplated transfers," Forest Service Chief Abigail Kimbell wrote in a memo to all agency staffers. "We are withdrawing funds from regions, stations, area and the national office to be able to pay for fire suppression. We are 'scrubbing' and digging, looking for any source of relief. And we'll continue to scrutinize fire expenditures at all levels."

The funding crunch has occupied Northern Region and Flathead National Forest Staffers for more than a week.

"I honestly believe that it's going to be felt in all of our programs," said Mike Oliver, legislative coordinator at the Northern Region headquarters in Missoula. "I can just walk around the building and everybody is looking at how they are going to juggle things for the transfer."

The Forest Service's Washington, D.C., office tasked the Northern Region with transferring nearly $18 million from its program operating budgets to help cover the fire tab, Oliver said.

Although this has been a relatively typical fire season in the Northern Rockies, Oliver noted, it has been longer and more severe in other parts of the country, particularly in California.

"The region requested us to come up with $900,000. And that does have a huge impact on the forest," said Denise Germann, information officer on the Flathead National Forest.

The money is coming from program accounts intended for things such as roads, trails, campgrounds and facilities maintenance, Germann said.

"There are some projects we were getting ready to advertise and those we aren't doing" until possibly sometime in the next fiscal year, Germann said.

There is a priority to maintain aggressive "initial attack" firefighting to stop fires before they get large, along with a commitment to pay salaries and continue projects and contracts the forest is already committed to. But projects and contracts that have to start are being deferred until the next fiscal year, starting Oct. 1.

There is a directive to "reschedule any noncritical travel" until after the next fiscal year starts, Germann said.

The Forest Service has been forced into the fire transfer corner for five of last nine summers, including the past three in a row.

During past years, Congress has attempted to backfill firefighting costs with some supplementary funding.

"Congress has put money back in some of the programs, but almost always it's not 100 percent," Oliver said, adding that there is no way of speculating what actions the current Congress might take.

The current situation has conservation, forestry and firefighting organizations calling on Congress and the Bush administration for a long-term solution.

"Simply put, the costs of fighting fires must be taken off budget - similar to the way the U.S. pays for other natural events such as hurricanes," the Wilderness Society and National Association of State Foresters contend.

Legislation to do just that was advanced in the House this year, but last-minute changes removed a key provision that would solved the problem, the groups say, adding that Congress still has three weeks to develop an effective remedy.

"Taking this action would mark a significant first step that would give the Forest Service the resources it needs to suppress wildfires and would provide stable and full funding to keep critical nonfire programs and services from hanging on a limb," they said.

Reporter Jim Mann may be reached at 758-4407 or by e-mail at jmann@dailyinterlake.com