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Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Idaho lawmakers boost wildfire preparedness funding

The steep slope above U.S. Highway 12 and right up to the Clearwater River west of Kamiah, Idaho, smolders Thursday, Aug.. 13, 2015, while firefighters battle a fire complex. (Barry Kough / Lewiston Tribune)

BOISE – Idaho lawmakers are welcoming plans to boost the state’s fire preparedness by expanding Lands Department firefighting staffing from five months to eight, starting this spring.

Legislative budget writers on Thursday approved funding requested by the state Land Board, in anticipation that next year’s fire season will be just as bad as this year’s was.

“Having been in the middle of all these fires - because we were in the middle of it - we just need to be better prepared for these fires,” said Sen. Sheryl Nuxoll, R-Cottonwood, said. “We need the state to be better prepared; we can’t depend on the federal government to be doing it. It just comes too quickly.”

She gave praise to the Department of Lands efforts.

“The only problem was that it needed more,” Nuxoll said. Coordination between the state and the fire departments and the federal government was very, very good.”

Legislative budget analysts Ray Houston told the Joint Finance-Appropriations Committee that fire conditions for 2016 are predicted to be similar to those in 2015, a particularly bad fire year for North Idaho forests. Today’s legislative action approved three months’ funding at $379,000; another $540,800 will be requested in next year’s budget to complete the year.

Half the money will come from the state general fund; the other half will come from dedicated fire protection funds, including fees assessed on a per-acre basis. All told, for the next year plus the initial three months within the current fiscal year, the total increase will be more than $1.1 million.