Wildfires are coming to define Idaho’s summers more and more every year. And across the western United States, they’re burning up funds just as quickly as forests.
The Idaho Statesman reports that Idaho has spent an annual average of $22.5 million to suppress wildfires since 2011, but that those bills vary by over $60 million.However, a Pew Charitable Trust researcher said that those numbers may also be a bit off, since each state allocates and tracks funds differently, and shares costs with federal agencies like the Department of Interior and the Forest Service.
That Pew research aimed to assess how states respond to wildfires, which may help guide decisions moving forward.
Idaho's summers are getting hotter and smokier, increasing health impacts for more and more people. (Darwin Fan / Getty Images)
NPR reported Tuesday that various climate crises cost the United States $165 billion last year, with more extreme weather forecasted for this year. If that’s the case, both state and federal agencies will have to fork over bigger budgets to prepare, suppress, and recover from climate-induced disasters.
Idaho’s greatest climate danger remains wildfire — exacerbating drought, the loss of healthy lands, habitat for native animals, and erosion. But perhaps most directly, the greatest cost of wildfire that you and I feel is in healthcare because of poor air quality — costs that, when added up across our communities, will likely dwarf the state’s funding for fire suppression.
