(Boise, ID) – Governor Brad Little and state leaders rolled out a new report today that recommends the 10 priorities to reduce the impacts of wildfire in 2024 and 2025.
“We must maintain a coordinated, strategic approach to improving wildfire prevention and response in our great state if we are going to protect lives and property from the destruction of wildfire. The new wildfire report is a big part of that strategy, and I appreciate the strong support from many partners in helping us lay out priorities to guide our actions,” Governor Little said.
Governor Little and Lt. Governor Scott Bedke hosted a wildfire roundtable in 2023 that pulled together industry leaders to discuss liability reform for utilities and insurers, wildfire mitigation strategies, and statewide communication. Four smaller workgroups were established after the roundtable, with the goal of tackling specific issues that needed to be addressed. The wildfire report released today sums up a total of 10 recommendations and associated directives, based on the work groups’ feedback, that the State of Idaho will address this year and into next year’s fire season.
Governor Little noted some of the main takeaways from the report that will be addressed first, including:
- We must better manage fuels to reduce fire risk, especially in utility corridors
- Learning from the hard lessons experienced by California and other states, we must ensure ratepayers are not strapped with increased bills after a fire event
- There is room to improve communication in emergency response, particularly with the “first” first responders to fires – the people who work the land, mainly ranchers and loggers.
The full report and recommendations can be viewed here: https://gov.idaho.gov/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/2024-wildfire-report.pdf