US Forest Service News

Compensation for New Mexico Wildfire Victims Tops $14 Million and Is Climbing

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) — More victims of a devastating wildfire sparked last year by the U.S. Forest Service in northern New Mexico are getting compensated, with payouts to landowners totaling more than $14 million as of early next week, federal …

US Forest Service Burn Started Wildfire that Nearly Reached Los Alamos, New Mexico, Agency Says

SANTA FE, N.M. (AP) — The U.S. Forest Service’s own prescribed burn started a sprawling 2022 wildfire that nearly reached Los Alamos, New Mexico, the agency acknowledged Monday in a report published after a lengthy investigation. The Cerro Pelado fire …

Pollution Lawsuit Could Curb Use of Aerial Fire Retardant

BILLINGS, Mont. (AP) — A legal dispute in Montana could drastically curb the government’s use of aerial fire retardant to combat wildfires after environmentalists raised concerns about waterways that are being polluted with the potentially toxic red slurry that’s dropped …

New Mexico Lawmakers Seek Assurances amid Prescribed Burns

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) –New Mexico lawmakers seek assurances amid prescribed burns Members of New Mexico’s congressional delegation are looking for assurances from the U.S. Forest Service that the agency is taking preventative measures to ensure that future prescribed fires don’t …

Wildfire Damage Prompts Calls for Funding Water System

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) — Dozens of traditional irrigation systems that supply community farms, gardens and orchards in northern New Mexico won’t flow with water this spring, forcing many families to decide whether to risk planting crops this year with no …

Forest Service Boss Decries Arrest of Worker in Planned Burn

SALEM, Ore. (AP) — The head of the U.S. Forest Service has denounced the arrest by an Oregon sheriff of a Forest Service employee after a planned burn in a national forest spread onto private land. The criticism by Forest …

US Forest Service Worker Arrested over Planned Oregon Burn

SALEM, Ore. (AP) — A U.S. Forest Service employee in Oregon was arrested this week by a county sheriff after a planned burn in a national forest spread onto private land. It was the latest episode that underscores simmering tensions …

Officials Seek Possible Starter of Idaho’s Largest Wildfire

BOISE, Idaho (AP) — Authorities are searching for whoever left an unextinguished campfire they say led to the largest wildfire in Idaho this year that has drawn hundreds of firefighters, three of whom died. Wildfire officials said Wednesday that the …

New Mexico County Blasts US over Historic Prescribed Fire

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) — Commissioners in a northern New Mexico county urged U.S. forest managers on Tuesday to do a more comprehensive environmental review of plans to restore large swaths of forest that border the capital city, passing a resolution …

US Testing New Fire Retardant, Critics Push Other Methods

BOISE, Idaho (AP) — U.S. officials are testing a new wildfire retardant after two decades of buying millions of gallons annually from one supplier, but watchdogs say the expensive strategy is overly fixated on aerial attacks at the expense of …