Federal Lands

Federal land management agencies spent about $4.4 billion on wildfire activities in fiscal years 1993 through 1997, including $2.1 billion for preparedness efforts and $2.3 billion for wildfire suppression. For fiscal years 1993 through 1997, the five land management agencies provided assistance to state and local firefighting efforts through cooperative agreements, provided grants valued at about $83 million, and loaned excess federal property worth about $700 million. Wildlife preparedness expenditures rose slightly during this period because, by their very nature, they can be planned, while suppression expenditures varied greatly because they are linked to the number and intensity of wildfires in a given year.

GAO noted that: (1) the federal land management agencies expended about $4.4 billion on wildfire activities for fiscal years (FY) 1993 through 1997; (2) included in this amount was about $2.1 billion for preparedness activities and about $2.3 billion for wildfire suppression; (3) for both preparedness and suppression, the largest expenditure categories were personnel, and services and supplies; (4) for FY 1993 through FY 1997, the five land management agencies provided assistance to state and local firefighting efforts through cooperative agreements, provided grants valued at about $83 million, and loaned excess federal property worth about $700 million; (5) wildfire preparedness expenditures increased slightly during the reporting period because, by their very nature, they can be planned, while suppression expenditures varied greatly because they are directly related to the intensity of wildfires in a given year; and (6) for example, in FY 1996, about 20,000 wildfires burned almost 4 million acres, resulting in total wildfire suppression expenditures of about $689 million, whereas wildfire suppression expenditures declined to about $281 million in FY 1997, when only about 14,000 wildfires consumed about 2 million acres.