(Continued from page 4)

and reduce fire suppression costs down the road.  Other programs, such as timber production, recreation activities, wildlife management, range management, and watershed management, have also suffered because of this funding approach. We simply must find a better way.
• That is why I co-sponsored the bipartisan Wildfire Disaster Funding Act of 2014 (S. 1875) with Senators Ron Wyden (D-OR), Mike Crapo (R-ID), and others.  This bill establishes a new approach to funding wildfire response that treats the largest 1% of wildfires as federal disasters and funds them similarly to other natural disasters such as hurricanes and tornados.  I am pleased that President Obama has included this new funding approach in his proposed budget for Fiscal Year 2015.  Under this new approach for funding wildfire suppression, the agencies would receive funds in their annual budget to respond to the fires that are a regular part of land management.  The few major fires that consume more than 30% of firefighting costs would be paid for through the new disaster response funding.
• I believe this new way of funding wildfire response is a sound approach to addressing an issue that is so important to the management of South Dakota's forests and grasslands.  The time to act is now.  I hope that members of both parties can come together around this bipartisan solution to deal with this critical problem and help our professional land managers restore South Dakota's and the nation's forests and grasslands for a productive sustainable future.