Prescribed Burns

Washington State's Department of Natural Resources is weighing the benefits of prescribed burns in preventing wildfires. Sandra Kaiser, DNR Communications Director says that the commissioner had asked for some funds to be proactive this year.

KAISER: Commissioner of Public Lands, Peter Goldmark, after two record wildfire seasons had asked our state legislature to really invest some money into preparing the state for what we seem to be experiencing over the last several years which is dryer, hotter weather and increased fire danger. So he had asked for about $24 million dollars to basically help local fire districts improve their capacity to fight fire, meaning more training and equipment.

That $24 million wound up being only $6.7 million.

KAISER: The sad thing about it of course with a little bit of preparation you might be able to avoid the kind of bills we've been seeing. Last year the state paid about $160 million dollars to fight wildfire.

Kaiser talks about the prescribed burn pilot program.

KAISER: We're going to be working with other agencies to expand the use of prescribed burning and it is a very useful tool as far as managing landscapes. It can also be somewhat of a dangerous tool because you've got to make sure you have the right conditions, that the fires not going to get away and that the fires not going to adversely impact communities that already suffer quite a bit during regular fire season.

And that's Washington Ag Today. I'm Greg Martin, thanks for listening on the Ag Information Network of the West.