Jeff Bingaman United States Senator from New Mexico

WASHINGTON – U.S. Jeff Bingaman this week introduced legislation that takes a big step to help ensure that adequate funding is available to help fight wildfires.

Bingaman’s bill, called the “Federal Land Assistance, Management and Enhancement (FLAME) Act,” would create a separate account to pay for fighting large, complex wildland fires. The move would prevent the Forest Service from raiding other accounts to pay for such expensive fires, preventing shortfalls in other Forest Service programs.

“Every year, wildfires threaten the lives and homes of many Americans.  The costs for fighting wildfires are rising rapidly, and this escalation is eroding other programs and affecting the core mission of our land management agencies, particularly the Forest Service,” Bingaman said.  “Wildland fire activities now account for about 50 percent of the Forest Service budget.  Both the Forest Service and the Interior Department have had to take funds from other agency accounts to cover these costs.  The FLAME Act will help solve this recurring problem.”

The FLAME Act would establish a fund for large, complex emergency wildland fire suppression.  Funding for the account would be appropriated annually.  The federal land management agencies would continue to fund initial wildland fire suppression activities within their annual budgets. 

Senator Tom Udall is a cosponsor of the bill.

“Western states, like New Mexico, are all too aware that massive forest fires are catastrophes that demand extensive resources,” said Udall.  “The Forest Service is not equipped to address these extraordinary events with its annual budget, so large fires force the Service to neglect its core mission.  The FLAME Act will help ensure that the Forest Service can keep New Mexicans safe while continuing to complete its other important work.”

The Secretary of Agriculture and the Secretary of the Interior would declare emergency wildland fire suppression activities eligible for the FLAME Fund.  That declaration would be based on an evaluation of the size, severity and threat of individual wildland fires.  The FLAME fund would be available for emergency wildland fire suppression activities on federal, state, tribal and private land, consistent with existing agreements. 

The bill requires the secretaries to review wildland fire incidents that result in expenses greater than $10 million and submit a report to Congress containing a cohesive wildland fire management strategy.  It also requires science-based budget predictions and annual reports on the use of the fund, and authorizes a grant program to encourage communities to reduce fire risks.

The bill has been referred to the Energy and Natural Resources Committee, which Bingaman chairs.  The bill is cosponsored by the committee’s Ranking Member Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) and by Senators Barbara Boxer (D-CA), Ron Wyden (D-OR) Maria Cantwell (D-WA), Jon Tester (D-MT), Tim Johnson (D-SD) and Patty Murray (D-WA).