Obama meets with western governors on drought and forest fires
February 25, 2014 | 07:59 PM
President Barack Obama, Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack and other high-level officials met Monday with a bipartisan group of Western governors to discuss the drought, forest fires and other issues facing their states, the White House said in a readout of the meeting issued late in the day.
The governors are in Washington for the National Governors Association meeting.
Obama reiterated the administration’s commitment to help prepare for, respond to and recover from natural disasters, and pledged to support for the governors “as they work through the many complex issues related to water use and drought in their states.”
The president also will propose in his upcoming budget an new approach to fighting extreme wildfires, asking Congress to pay the costs the same way it finances other disasters, through a special account like the one that the Federal Emergency Management Agency uses to deal with disasters that come under its authority, The New York Times reported Sunday.
The budget proposal would authorize creating a fund under the control of the Agriculture Department, which is home to the U.S. Forest Service, and the Interior Department, the home of other federal land-holding agencies, to fight wildfires. The new program would allow USDA and Interior to exceed their budgets to fight wildfires by drawing on the special account, which would be adjusted each year to reflect a 10-year average cost of responding to the fires, according to the Times article.
Vilsack has noted in the past that the existing policy of drawing on other accounts to fight forest fires means that the Forest Service has to use money that would be used for fire prevention programs.
The following governors participated in the meeting:
The following administration officials participated in the meeting:
The governors are in Washington for the National Governors Association meeting.
Obama reiterated the administration’s commitment to help prepare for, respond to and recover from natural disasters, and pledged to support for the governors “as they work through the many complex issues related to water use and drought in their states.”
The president also will propose in his upcoming budget an new approach to fighting extreme wildfires, asking Congress to pay the costs the same way it finances other disasters, through a special account like the one that the Federal Emergency Management Agency uses to deal with disasters that come under its authority, The New York Times reported Sunday.
The budget proposal would authorize creating a fund under the control of the Agriculture Department, which is home to the U.S. Forest Service, and the Interior Department, the home of other federal land-holding agencies, to fight wildfires. The new program would allow USDA and Interior to exceed their budgets to fight wildfires by drawing on the special account, which would be adjusted each year to reflect a 10-year average cost of responding to the fires, according to the Times article.
Vilsack has noted in the past that the existing policy of drawing on other accounts to fight forest fires means that the Forest Service has to use money that would be used for fire prevention programs.
The following governors participated in the meeting:
- Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer, Republican
- Oklahoma Gov. Mary Fallin, Republican
- Utah Gov. Gary Herbert, Republican
- Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper, Democrat
- Oregon Gov. Kitzhaber, Democrat
- Washington Gov. Jay Inslee, Democrat
- Wyoming Gov. Matt Mead, Republican
- Nevada Gov. Brian Sandoval, Republican
The following administration officials participated in the meeting:
- Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack
- Interior Secretary Sally Jewell
- National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Acting Administrator Kathryn Smith
- Assistant to the President for Science and Technology John Holdren
- Council on Environmental Quality Acting Chair Michael Boots
- Counselor to the President John Podesta
- White House Director of Intergovernmental Affairs David Agnew
