Requested Firefighting Funds Down For Fiscal Year 2012

DENVER (AP) -- The national budget for fighting wildfires may be cut next fiscal year with fire season well under way in Colorado.

For fiscal 2011, which began Oct. 1, President Barack Obama's administration requested nearly $3.6 billion in appropriations and discretionary funds for the U.S. Forest Service and Interior Department. For fiscal 2012, the administration is seeking $2.8 billion.

Some $3.4 billion was approved for fiscal 2010.

The funds are for fire suppression and preventive efforts such as thinning trees.

Already this spring, wildfires have forced thousands to evacuate homes along Colorado's Front Range, which missed out on nearly all of the winter storms that dumped snow atop the Rockies.

Between Jan. 1 and April 24, the National Interagency Fire Center recorded 127 wildfires affecting 75 square miles in Colorado.

In 2012, the administration is seeking about $411 million for hazardous fuels reduction, which includes removing trees near homes, compared to $511 million in fiscal 2011.

Interior Department funding covers firefighting efforts of the Bureau of Indian Affairs, Bureau of Land Management, the National Park Service and the Fish and Wildlife Service.

(Copyright 2011 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)