http://www.stateline.org/story.do?storyId=311644
Western governors at a forest health summit in Montana called on Congress to protect high-risk communities from wildfires.
As a wildfire destroyed more than 200 homes in her state, Arizona Gov. Janet Napolitano (D) released a letter from the Western Governors’ Association asking the U.S. Senate to support collaborative efforts between local, state and federal agencies to prevent catastrophic fires.
“This issue is maybe the most important natural resource issue in the West,” she said.
Western forests are in danger from drought, a pestilence of bark beetles and 100 years of fire suppression and mismanagement that have left forests dangerously overgrown, Napolitano said.