As Wildfire Season Rages, Moore Takes Over At Forest Service

As the 2021 wildfire season rages on, the U.S. Forest Service announced a new Chief. Randy Moore said the 2021 wildfire season is already a bad one with over 60 major blazes raging with hundreds of other smaller fires keeping crew busy nationwide. Moore noted firefighters are desperately trying to get larger fires under control as well as blazes that break out.

"Right now our posture is a defensive one and we need to build an offensive posture if we're to begin to start addressing what's happening on our landscape."

Moore added it's an all out effort to defend communities from the fires.

"We have about 10,000 firefighters. We have about another 8 to 10,000 militia-type employees that support this activity. And we'll never have enough unless we start treating this vegetation that's on the landscape."

But, Moore said most of the money allocated for removing dead and dying trees and excess brush, in other words going on the offensive to prevent fires is being shifted to fire suppression. He said more money for prevention now would save a lot more money later on.

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