Wildfires

COMMENTARY
U.S. Forest Service firefighters prepare to battle the Caldor Fire on Aug. 31, 2021, in Meyers, California. (Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)

Wildland firefighter pay gains could go up in smoke

BY: - August 14, 2023

At any given moment during this smoky summer of 2023, hundreds of wildfires were blazing in the United States — more than 850 as of late July, according to the nonprofit Fire, Weather & Avalanche Center. Most of those wildfires ignited in the forests of the American West. Fires were also burning by the thousands […]

Wildfire smoke clouds the skyline on June 28, 2023, in Chicago. The Chicago area was under an air quality alert as smoke from Canadian wildfires covered the city for a second straight day. (Scott Olson/Getty Images)

Summer wildfire threat could imperil unexpected US regions: the Northeast and Midwest

BY: - June 29, 2023

WASHINGTON — In a summer of drought, smoke and haze, wildfires could flare up in unusual locations in the United States over the next few months — including New England and the Midwest, according to federal forecasters. “The predominant threat looks to be the Northeast, which is not normal,” said Jim Karels, the fire director […]

The One World Trade Center and the New York skyline is seen in the background as a man jogs through the Liberty State Park while the smoke from Canada wildfires covers the Manhattan borough on June 8, 2023, in New Jersey. (Eduardo Munoz Alvarez/Getty Images)

On a record day in D.C. for smoke pollution, U.S. Senate panel debates wildfire strategy

BY: - June 8, 2023

As smoke from Canadian wildfires caused the most hazardous air conditions on record in the Washington, D.C., area on Thursday, members of the U.S. Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee said that Congress should lift federal firefighter pay and encourage logging to reduce the risk of future blazes. “Smoke from the wildfires burning right now […]

COMMENTARY
The Palmer Gulch Fire burns in October 2022 in the Black Hills. (Courtesy of Black Hills National Forest)

On wildfire funding, the Forest Service is like the dog that caught the car

BY: - April 29, 2023

Watching congressional hearings is a really interesting way to find things out that you may otherwise never hear about. Over the past couple of months, there have been Senate hearings for the farm bill with the U.S. Forest Service’s Associate Chief Angela Coleman, and Senate Appropriations hearings with Chief Randy Moore. Particularly interesting was the […]

The Palmer Gulch Fire burns in October 2022 in the Black Hills. (Courtesy of Black Hills National Forest)

Feds to send nearly $200 million to help communities prepare for wildfires

BY: - March 20, 2023

The Biden administration will send $197 million from the 2021 bipartisan infrastructure law to help communities prepare for wildfires this summer, Vice President Kamala Harris and other administration officials said Monday. The funding represents the first round of a new $1 billion Community Wildfire Defense Grant program authorized under the $1.2 trillion infrastructure bill that […]

Arroyo Grande Hotshots firefighters are seen behind the flames of a backfire they are setting to battle the French Fire on Aug. 24, 2021, near Wofford Heights, California. (Photo by David McNew/Getty Images)

More federal dollars coming from climate law for Western wildfire management

BY: - January 19, 2023

The U.S. Department of Agriculture will spend nearly $500 million on projects to reduce wildfire risk in 11 areas in Western states, the department said Thursday. The new funding, $490 million, comes from Democrats’ budget, climate and taxes law that passed last year, Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack said on a call with reporters. The funding […]

Smoke rises from a controlled burn that escaped and became a wildfire in 2015 at Wind Cave National Park. (Seth Tupper/South Dakota Searchlight)

Climate change is pushing wildfire smoke farther east in South Dakota

BY: - January 3, 2023

South Dakotans like to brag about their clean air, and for the most part, they’re right. But that boast isn’t as true as it once was, especially in the half of the state to the right of the Missouri River on a map – a region known as East River. Five East River cities have […]