Publication Date November 5, 2015 | USA Today

Conservation groups describe devastation caused by wildfires

United States
Dousing fire (Photo: Josh Edelson, AFP/Getty Images)
Dousing fire (Photo: Josh Edelson, AFP/Getty Images)

The damage caused by the devastating wildfire season goes well beyond the 9.4 million acres destroyed so far, witnesses from outdoor and water conservation groups told Congress Thursday...Wildfire preparedness and suppression costs now account for nearly half the Forest Service's budget, said Committee Chairman Pat Roberts, R-Kan. The total devoted to that work has jumped from $1.6 billion in 1994 to $3.9 billion in 2014...“The U.S. Forest Service is indeed becoming the U.S. fire service."