Good news about wet spring: Lower risk of wildfires

By WEATHER.COM

Recent floods and unusually wet weather have reduced wildfire risk across much of the country, but the danger will increase in the coming months.

In its latest outlook report, the National Interagency Fire Center said the risk is lower than normal for much of the central and southern U.S., but is above normal in parched California.

The June 1 report also raised worries about the Southwest, Hawaii and Alaska, which are all at a heightened fire risk.

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As the summer progresses, fire danger is expected to increase across the country, especially in the Northwest, Georgia and the Carolinas. Above-normal temperatures are forecast for most of the West and the Atlantic coast.

Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack and Interior Secretary Sally Jewell will discuss wildfire threats and the nationwide outlook for the wildfire season Tuesday in Denver.

They'll also discuss a proposal by Obama to change the way wildfire-fighting is funded to ease the strain on the U.S. Forest Service budget.

The worst 1 percent of wildfires eat up about 30 percent of the Forest Service's firefighting budget, they said.

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Obama wants to treat the cost of catastrophic fires like other natural disasters, taking money from an existing federal disaster relief fund so the Forest Service doesn't have to tap into other funds designed to improve forest health and reduce future fires.

The Forest Service is part of the Agriculture Department.

In a report released in August, the Agriculture Department said staffing for fighting fires has more than doubled since 1998, but the number of workers who manage National Forest lands has dropped by about a third.

When the report was made public, Vilsack said rising firefighting costs cut into programs to restore vegetation and watersheds after fires. Programs that help states and private landowners conserve wildlife habitat and maintenance of recreational sites has also suffered, Vilsack said.

Vilsack and Jewell have warned that catastrophic wildfires pose a worsening danger, especially in the West.