Position on Regional Leadership in Wildland Fire Research Act
FAS supports the bipartisan Regional Leadership in Wildland Fire Research Act under review in the House, just as we supported the earlier Senate version. Rep. David Min (D-CA-47) and Rep. Gabe Evans (R-CO-08) are leading the bill.
The Regional Leadership in Wildland Fire Research Act would establish regional research centers at institutions of higher education across the country to research and improve our understanding of wildland fire, develop, maintain, and operate next-generation fire and vegetation models, and create a career pathway training program.
“Extreme weather has pushed wildfires to grow in size and severity, making our current wildfire models inadequate,” says Daniel Correa, Chief Executive Officer of the Federation of American Scientists. “The Regional Leadership in Wildland Fire Research Act is a significant investment in understanding how wildland fire risks continue to evolve. It establishes a strong foundation that first responders and forest managers can rely on. We commend Congressmen David Min (D-CA-47) and Gabe Evans (R-CO-08) for their leadership investing in innovative next-generation fire and vegetation models to protect human health, ecosystems, and our communities.”
For more information contact Gil Ruiz or Jessica Blackband.
Western states functionally manage trillions in global climate risk (permafrost, forest carbon, etc.) and can do so in ways that drive state economic development.
Implementation will not be easy. Several of the plan’s critical strategies challenge established utility business models.
We won’t solve the cost-of-living crisis without improving the capacity of state public utility commissions to protect customers, find and implement new solutions to meet rising demand, and realign broken utility incentives.
Public service commissions should require utilities to quantify avoided healthcare costs, reduction in pollution exposure, and improvements in population health alongside traditional metrics.