Idaho Congressman Mike Simpson announced today that he successfully got “critical wildfire suppression funding” included in the legislation that ended the government shutdown and avoided default on the nation’s debts; Simpson, who chairs the House Interior and Environment Appropriations Subcommittee, has been pushing for the funding since last summer to restore wildfire suppression accounts that were empted during this year’s destructive fire season. The bill, H.R. 2775, includes $600 million for the Forest Service and $36 million for the Department of the Interior to restore the firefighting funds.

“Funding to restore budgets that have been drained through fire borrowing is a critical piece of this legislation,” Simpson said in a news release.  “Not only does this bill reopen all operations at the National Interagency Fire Center in Boise and ensure that land managers can contain catastrophic fires that would otherwise put lives and property in peril, but it means that they can do the restoration work and hazardous fuels removal needed to reduce the risk of catastrophic fires next year.”

Simpson was the only member of Idaho’s congressional delegation to vote in favor of the shutdown-ending deal, which passed both houses with large majorities and was signed into law by the president last night, clearing the way for the government to reopen this morning, from NIFC to the national parks.