USDA, Interior, DHS Form Wildland Fire Partnership
A comprehensive wildfire management strategy will be developed with help from state, regional, local and tribal leaders, the three secretaries -- Tom Vilsack, Ken Salazar, and Janet Napolitano -- announced Wednesday.
The leaders of the departments of Agriculture, Interior, and Homeland Security announced Wednesday their agencies are working with state, regional, local, and tribal leaders to develop a better wildland fire strategy. Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack, Interior's Ken Salazar, and Homeland Security's Janet Napolitano made the announcement during a meeting of the Wildland Fire Leadership Council in Washington, D.C.
"The council provides the right framework for a strong national strategy to address the growing threats of wildfire," said Salazar. "The council's partnerships are key to the establishment of a national, intergovernmental wildfire policy that will ensure the safety of our firefighters and the citizens they protect as we confront longer and more intense fire seasons in more regions of the country."
"There are no easy solutions to the challenges of wildland fire," Vilsack said, "but a cohesive wildfire management strategy will provide the best blueprint to ensure community safety and the restoration of ecosystems that will, in the long run, benefit all Americans, especially those who live in rural areas."
The strategy will address these increasing wildland fire challenges and should be ready by this fall.