BOISE, Idaho — To stop a wildfire, an assortment of agencies must come together — federal, state, tribal and sometimes local firefighters. But when the smoke clears, they must determine who shoulders the costs of the blaze, which can easily total millions of dollars.
The myriad agencies decide which lands they’ll protect and how they’ll pay for wildfires based on guidelines laid out in a master fire agreement. This month, the Idaho Department of Lands, which handles wildfires on state-owned land and some private forest land, signed a new agreement with federal and tribal partners — shifting more responsibility on the state.
The new agreement makes Idaho responsible for more areas where range land and forest meet growing housing developments — also known as the wildland-urban interface area. The change, created by trades between state and federal agencies, has raised concerns that Idaho could foot larger bills in areas known to attract costly wildfires. And Idaho does little to regulate building in those areas.
