The American West has a torrid history of wildfires. So it’s natural to assume that when those fires break happen, our forestry experts will go to our neighbor's aid, and vice versa. That’s been happening for years.
However, a recent audit of the Nevada Division of Forestry found that while providing services and equipment to other states to fight fires in recent years, the agency didn’t bill for an estimated $32 million worth of services.
The Nevada Independent’s Amy Alonzo recently reported on the audit’s findings.
She says a big part of the problem is the complicated billing process itself.
“If you think about where wildfires burn and how they spread, they aren't these tidy events that are contained to one area,” she said. “They move across county and state lines, across public and private land, and where and how the fires burn dictate who is on the hook for costs.”
Most of those fires happen on federal land, meaning the federal government is on the hook for most of those costs.
According to Alonzo, forestry officials have taken steps to correct the issues, including moving to an electronic billing system and rearranging staff. Yet, those attempts to collect on debt come when the federal government is reevaluating its finances. Since taking office, the Trump Administration has laid off thousands of federal workers, including some in Nevada.
And while things seem in flux, Alonzo said there currently doesn’t appear to be any cuts to federal firefighting services.
“Policies and orders are changing rapidly," she said. "So, it's really hard to tell what's going to be in place when fire season ramps up in Nevada. It's a superfluid situation, but from what I'm reading and seeing and from people I've spoken with at federal agencies, firefighters have generally been exempt from the cut.”
Guest: Amy Alonzo, energy and environment reporter, The Nevada Independent
