Babaamaajimowinan (Telling of news in different places)
Promotes more public, private collaboration to reduce severity of future blazes
PHOENIX, June 29, 2010—Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack today made aerial assessments of fires in New Mexico and Arizona and toured burned areas in the two-state region. The U.S. Forest Service, an agency within the U.S. Department of Agriculture, manages fire response and suppression in our nation’s 193 million acres of national forests and grasslands. The Forest Service currently has nearly 9,000 personnel assigned to more than 130 wildfires across the United States, and most are concentrated on wildfires burning in the Southern and Southwest regions of the United States, from Arizona to Florida.
“The fires that have raged throughout the Southwest this year have been some of the worst in years,” said Vilsack. “The U.S. Forest Service is heavily engaged with federal, state and local partners in fighting these fires. Today, the Arizona fires are more than 90 percent controlled and we’re making progress in New Mexico, a testament to the men and women, many of them from the Forest Service, who put themselves in harm’s way to help protect our land, our property, our communities and – most importantly – the American people.”
The Secretary’s trip included an aerial tour of the Las Conchas fire, blazing 12 miles from Los Alamos, N.M., as well as a fly-over of the Wallow fire
“I saw for myself the aftermath of the Wallow fire on a stand of trees that had been previously thinned in order to improve forest health,” said Vilsack. “Where the Forest Service had worked to remove excess fuel, I saw healthy trees with burned underbrush. In the lands that were untouched by thinning practices, the fire left only scorched earth behind. It is clear that forest restoration work can make a significant impact on reducing the fuel for these fires.”
Vilsack said that, while it may not be possible to avoid wildfire, the best way to minimize impact of fire on communities is by managing vegetation and restoring the forests to healthier, fire-resistant landscapes.
To that end, Vilsack explained that he is working with the Forest Service
Working through cross-jurisdictional partnerships before a fire starts rather than relying on suppression alone is one strategy Vilsack cited. Community partnerships with the Forest Service have an array of tools at their disposal. The National Fire Protection Association's Firewise Communities
In May, USDA announced a National Cohesive Wildland Fire Management Strategy
Already this year, over a million acres of Forest Service lands have burned in the American Southwest, as well as another 600,000 acres of federal, state and private lands, costing millions of dollars in immediate fire response and many millions more in restoration and rehabilitation in the months and years ahead.
The mission of the U.S. Forest Service is to sustain the health, diversity, and productivity of the nation’s forests and grasslands to meet the needs of present and future generations. The agency manages 193 million acres of public land, provides assistance to state and private landowners, and maintains the largest forestry research organization in the world.
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