Utah Senators Pressure Feds for Help with Fires

None by KCPW

(KCPW News) This summer's devastating wildfires should serve as a cautionary tale to state and federal land managers, says Utah Senator Bob Bennett:

"Many of these fires have been on BLM lands and we've had enough beetle infestation in forest service in Utah that have left trees dead and dying as tinder for future fires," says Bennett. "We need to get in and clean those trees out, and I think that's a lesson that unfortunately too many people have not learned."

Yesterday Bennett and Senator Orrin Hatch joined a bipartisan group of U.S. senators from western states in a meeting with the Acting Director of the Bureau of Land Management. They discussed the need for federal help in battling wildfires, as well as possible prevention methods. Congress has appropriated $1.5 billion to pay for Forest Service and Bureau of Land Management efforts to fight fires on Federal lands this year.

Additionally, the Federal Emergency Management Agency will cover 75 percent of the cost required to contain the Milford Flat fire, which consumed 360-thousand acres to become the largest single fire in Utah's history.

Six fires are currently raging in Utah. The biggest is the Winecup Complex fire along the northern Utah-Nevada border.

Email to a friendPosted in KCPW Newsroom. Copyright 2008 KCPW