Governor calls for meaningful forest management
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HELENA — In a meeting today with President Biden, Vice President Harris, and western governors, Governor Greg Gianforte emphasized the critical need for meaningful forest management and the continued importance of aggressive initial attack as the state confronts a wildland fire emergency.
“These wildfires threaten the safety of our communities and first responders, devastate our local economies, and have cost Montana taxpayers over $13 million to date this fiscal year. It could, however, be worse,” Gov. Gianforte said. “Without the state’s commitment to aggressive initial attack, Montana would have many more large scale fires burning today. We ask our federal partners to join us in applying this operating principle regardless of whether a fire starts on private, state, or federal land.”
Other western governors joined in Governor Gianforte’s call for coordinated aggressive initial attacks to wildfire, including Wyoming Governor Mark Gordon, Idaho Governor Brad Little, and California Governor Gavin Newsom.
The governor also provided an update on Montana’s forest health crisis.
Emphasizing the need for meaningful forest management and expanding tools like the Good Neighbor Authority, the governor stressed, “Without active forest management, we cannot be successful in our forest health improvement and wildfire risk reduction goals.”
Multiple governors followed Gov. Gianforte’s lead in calling for expanded opportunities for active forest management in coordination with federal agencies.
Under the leadership of Director Kaster, the Montana Department of Natural Resources and Conservation aiming to more than double the number of acres treated this year to 25,000. In 2020, the state treated 11,000 acres.
In the DNRC meeting, the governor honored firefighters battling fire across Montana and the western United States. “The untold sacrifices of these brave men and women cannot be calculated in dollars spent, or acres burned, and we must keep them and their loved ones in our thoughts and prayers as the fire season progresses.”
In mid-July, the governor declared a wildland fire emergency in Montana to help procure additional resources and tools for wildland firefighters. Currently, there is intense competition for wildland fire fighting resources throughout the United States. Since declaring a statewide wildland fire emergency, the governor has mobilized the Montana National Guard and secured wildfire support from Utah and California through the Emergency Management Assistance Compact.
