U.S. House fixes the fire borrowing mess; on to the Senate
The U.S. House of Representatives has belatedly fixed the fire borrowing mess that has for several years forced the Forest Service to borrow taxpayer money …
Posts tagged taxes
The Silver Fire: Recovery, Restoration and Roundup
Rich Stem, an old Forest Service friend, now retired and living in Montana, has gently chided us for not remembering the history of the agency’s …
A Taxpayer’s Guide To Wildfires: Executive Summary
Wildfire suppression costs are soaring to over one billion tax dollars per year. This is causing a fiscal crisis in the Forest Service which has …
A Taxpayer’s Guide To Wildfires: Part 1
INTRODUCTION: BIG FIRES=BIGGER COSTS In 1908 a Congressional legislative rider created the Forest Fires Emergency Act that gave the U.S. Forest Service the authority to …
A Taxpayer’s Guide To Wildfires: Part 2
SOCIOENVIRONMENTAL COST FACTORS: FUELS, HOMES, AND CLIMATE CHANGE Fuels Accumulation Coinciding with the rise of wildfire activity in the late 1980s and the decline of …
A Taxpayer’s Guide To Wildfires: Part 3
INSTITUTIONAL COST FACTORS: PERVERSE INCENTIVES, PRIVATE CONTRACTORS, AND COST-SHARE AGREEMENTS Congressional Blank Check for Suppression Several critics have focused on the funding system that Congress …
A Taxpayer’s Guide To Wildfires: Part 4
OPERATIONAL COST FACTORS: EXTERNAL PRESSURES, MANAGERIAL ACCOUNTABILITY AND RISK-AVERSION, WILDFIRE MANAGEMENT STRATEGY AND TACTICS Human Factors The human dimensions of fire management are a long-neglected …
A Taxpayer’s Guide To Wildfires: Part 5
LESSONS LEARNED, LOOKING TO THE FUTURE, SUMMARY Wildfire activity has increased in the U.S. over the last 20 years, measured by the total increase in …
A Taxpayer’s Guide To Wildfires: Conclusion
CONTROLLING SUPPRESSION COSTS As this paper has demonstrated, there are a number of socioenvironmental, institutional, and operational factors that are driving up the cost of …