The Western Governors Association sent a letter to congressional leaders today urging more and speedier federal aid for states hard-hit by wildfires this year, plus more aid for the states to cope with the fallout after the fires, from restoring wildlife habitat to protecting municipal water supplies from erosion.

"We recognize our request comes at a time when there is a broad bipartisan consensus that we must reduce the federal deficit," the western governors wrote. "However, response and recovery from natural disasters should not require offsets elsewhere in the budget or come at the expense of ongoing forest restoration and wildfire prevention efforts."

In addition to current WGA Chairman Gary Herbert, governor of Utah, and vice chair John Hickenlooper, governor of Colorado, the letter bears the signatures of both Idaho Gov. Butch Otter and Oregon Gov. John Kitzhaber, the association's lead governors for forest health; you can read the full letter here.