BLM prepares for future wildfires in eastern Idaho

Almost 100 wildfires break out in Idaho every year burning an average 65,000 acres.

“They’re usually wind driven and they spread very fast and so it’s really critical that we can get suppression teams out there fast,” said BLM spokesperson, Sarah Wheeler.

The BLM does a lot to achieve a quicker response time.

“We are doing now to improve roads so when a fire does occur you can get your engine out there, we map areas so we know how to get out there, so all of the engines carry maps, all of the engines know where our priority sage grouse habitats are,” said Wheeler.

It doesn’t stop there, BLM separates areas into fire suppression zones and creates fuel breaks on the sides of roads.

Wheeler said they received extra funding last year which really helped them during the summer months and during storms that could produce dry lighting.

“We were able to hold crews on, say they were off Saturday and there was a big storm coming in, we were able to keep those crews on,” said Wheeler.

Congressman Mike Simpson says more should be done to protect our forests.

He wants to make changes to the Wildfire Disaster Funding Act.

Under the bill, true emergency fire events would be funded under existing disaster programs like floods and hurricanes are.

“The way we currently budget for fire is costing taxpayers and destroying our forests,” said Simpson. “Passing this legislation will have a significant and long-term impact on both our public lands and on our budget, allowing us to finally budget responsibly for wildfire suppression in a way that ultimately decreases firefighting costs by mitigating fire risk and making us better prepared for and more resilient against future fires.”