Cox, other western governors lobby Congress for more funding and coordination to fight wildfires
Utah Gov. Spencer Cox called on Congress to help implement a number of wildland fire-related policies this week as fires continue to burn across the West, scorching more than 4.5 million acres since the start of 2024.
That’s almost double the total acres burned in 2023. In Utah, four large fires are currently burning, according to state data — the 18,222-acre Silver King Fire, which has been burning since July 5 and is 88% contained; the 2,243-acre Boulter Fire, which is 95% contained; and the 21-acre Starry Night and 10-acre Sunset fires, both of which are still burning uncontained.
Recent precipitation has dampened fire activity in Utah, and on Thursday the Utah Division of Forestry, Fire and State lands rescinded some of the fire restrictions that had been in place for August. But the fire season tends to run through the fall and state officials and politicians are urging Utahns to be vigilant, as 2024 saw an increase in human-sparked fires.
On Wednesday Cox, the Republican vice-chair of the Western Governors Association, signed a letter along with the organization’s chair, New Mexico Democratic Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham, asking congressional leaders to reform the federal government’s approach to wildfire management.
“Fueled by a legacy of forest mismanagement and driven in part by a changing climate, the wildfire crisis will not abate without congressional support for aggressive intervention. The cost of inaction is unacceptable: high-severity, catastrophic wildfire and its aftereffects, including post-fire flooding and health-related smoke impacts, kills thousands of Americans every year and has permanently altered a large number of landscapes,” reads the letter, addressed to Senate Majority Leader Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnel, R-KY, Speaker of the House Mike Johnson, R-LA, and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y.
Congress previously established the Wildland Fire Mitigation and Management Commission, which in 2023 issued a final report recommending several policies that, according to the letter, “address nearly every facet of the wildfire crisis.”
Now, Cox, Lujan Grisham and the rest of the Western Governors Association are throwing support behind several of the report’s policy recommendations.
One of the governors’ first recommendations is better implementation of prescribed burns, which the letter calls a “currently underused” tool. The federal government should create a strategic plan for prescribed burns, working with states, tribes and local governments, Cox and Lujan Grisham write.
Air quality impacts of prescribed burns can also be a barrier, and the letter recommends “certain sources of pollution, such as a wildfire or prescribed fire, be ignored when making regulatory determinations under the Clean Air Act.”
According to the letter, strong, wildfire-resistant communities are the best, most cost-effective way to save lives and protect property — that would require better coordination between federal agencies and the letter calls for the establishment of a “Community Wildfire Risk Reduction Program.”
Congress should also work to make disaster grants more “flexible and accessible” to help communities rebuild after wildfires, while creating incentives for nurseries and other stakeholders to increase re-seeding efforts.
The letter also highlights several “systemic reforms,” including more funding for just about every aspect of wildfire suppression and prevention, but also a push to recruit and retain a broader land management workforce.
“Not every individual Western Governor may agree with every Commission recommendation, but there is strong consensus that there are many steps the federal government can take to improve actions throughout the wildfire cycle,” the letter reads.
The Western Governor’s Association is a bipartisan, policy-focused group representing governors from 22 states and territories.
Utah News Dispatch is part of States Newsroom, the nation’s largest state-focused nonprofit news organization.