'Democrat Shutdown' Could Fan the Literal Flames of Wildfires: GOP Reps

The USDA notes in its funding lapse plan that the Forest Service will need to “scale back hazardous fuels treatments like prescribed burns that prevent catastrophic wildfires… halt processing of permits, state grants, and reimbursements for ongoing forest management on non-federal lands, [and] suspend applied science work, including experiments tied to prescribed fire and weather windows, losing critical research opportunities.”

Prescribed burns as defined by the Forest Service are the “controlled application of fire by a team of fire experts under specified weather conditions.” The Forest Service notes that “the right fire at the right place at the right time” can “reduce the risk of unwanted wildfires in the future.”

“Halting hazardous fuels work and prescribed burns in the middle of fire season is dangerous. We’ve already seen forest management slowed by endless bureaucracy, and now the limited work that does get done has come to a stop,” Republican California Rep. Doug LaMalfa, who serves as the Chair of the Subcommittee on Forestry, told the Daily Caller News Foundation. “The longer this shutdown drags on, the less work gets done, only increasing the chance of larger, more destructive fires. The Senate needs to take up this simple proposal without profligate new spending and end this stalemate so we can get back to reducing fuels and protecting lives and property.”

A USDA spokesperson referred the Daily Caller News Foundation to a list of which agency programs will be impacted by the shutdown and said it will “cause real harm to American farmers, ranchers, and rural communities. President Trump has made it clear through his support of H.R. 5371 that he wants to keep the government open and support those who feed, fuel, and clothe the American people.”

Notably, the top banner on the USDA’s website states that “due to the Radical Left Democrat shutdown, this government website will not be updated during the funding lapse.”

Saturday marked the fourth full day of the shutdown. The most recent funding lapse occurred in 2018 during President Donald Trump’s first term and lasted 34 days, culminating in the longest shutdown.