| Title |
Department of Natural Resources (DNR) Fire Suppression Policy Study |
| Online Availability |
593 kilobytes, requires version 4.0 or later of Adobe Acrobat Reader Software
Report Summary (click here)
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| Abstract |
In the 2004 Supplemental Operating Budget, the Legislature added $23.5 million to DNR's budget to cover additional expenditures to fight forest fires. The Legislature also directed JLARC to investigate why expenditures are increasing and to help policymakers understand how DNR fights forest fires. The report explains how DNR operates its fire-suppression program, offers explanations for spending increases, and suggests changes that could enhance policymaker's understanding of how DNR fights fires. Most of the fires DNR has fought over the past ten years have been on private land and the state's general fund pays most of the costs. There is no single factor causing spending increases but we found that when conditions are ripe for wildfires and they do burn more acres, policymakers can expect expenditures to go up: there is a close connection between total expenditures and the number of acres burned. DNR complies with statutory direction to fight wildfires aggressively and does not fight house fires, but when DNR shifts its focus to protecting homes and structures from burning, this may conflict with statute's direction to make trees a higher priority than structures. DNR's financial and data systems do a poor job of helping decision makers understand costs, and the budgeting process for fire suppression needs to be changed to increase budget accuracy.
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| Author(s) |
John Woolley, Analyst
Lisa Jeremiah, Analayst
Ann Daley, Project Supervisor
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| Print Availability |
Request hard copy from the
JLARC Publications Officer |
| Keywords |
Fire, suppression, policy, policies, burn, acres, number of fires, burn policy, tender, engines, helicopter, costs, groceries, department of natural resources, DNR |
| Category |
Natural Resources, State Government |