Utah Senator Pushes for New and Possibly Improved Wildland Fire Policy

BY: MAKENZIE WISTISEN

SALT LAKE CITY A Utah lawmaker, Senator Evan Vickers, is sponsoring a bill that could
potentially change the way wildfires are being responded to state wide.
SB 56, a bill aimed at modifying the responsibilities of the Division of Forestry, Fire and State
Lands, is one of many stepping stones on the road to a state-wide catastrophic wildfire reduction
strategy. While the bill allows said Division direct use of funds to promote wildfire prevention,
mitigation and preparedness, the goal of such is said to reduce the burden on the tax payers
dollar.
In a room of reporters and committee members packed shoulder to shoulder downtown, Brian
Cottam, Director of the Utah Division of Forestry, Fire and State Lands says with a tragically
sore throat, The bill is motivated by two things, first and foremost, how do we drop the cost to
tax payers in Utah in case of wildlife fire? The other thing that it does is it elevates the focus on
really good presuppression work. Presuppression, or preventing fires from starting, is said to be
the result of implementing small, incremental changes to Division policy over time.
Cottam, though slowly losing his voice, goes on to reiterate, We think we can do better, we
know we can do better in Utah and start to pay a little more attention to what can be done on the
front end so the fires dont even start, or if they start, how we can mitigate in our communities to
reduce that risk and reduce the cost.
In efforts to reach the desired fire policy SB 56 calls for, Cottam emphasizes the need for
collaborative agreement between municipalities and counties state wide. The bill sends a
message to both divisions of state that the strategy funding provides money that is readily
available to be used in the right ways.
Posing a skeptical expression, Senator Allen M Christensen argues, I still see it lacking teeth.
Youre going to come to an impasse with some of those communities, municipalities, whatever
who say no, we dont want it.
After a thorough back and forth, SB 56 is amended by adopting amendment number 1 to clarify
the distribution of power.
Sterling Brown of the Utah Farm Bureau comments, The ability for local folks to quickly jump
on a fire and respond in a timely mannerfrom an agricultural standpoint, is much, much
appreciated.
Despite skepticism from the committee, particularly Senator Christensen, the public continues to
express its support. Kathleen Clark, Director of the Public Land Policy Office comments, I
think the entire approach that Brian has developed is cutting edge and I think it will be wonderful
for the state of Utah.