Letter to Hon. Patrick Leahy, Chairman of the Senate Committee on Appropriations, and Hon. Richard Shelby, Vice Chairman of the Senate Committee on Appropriations - Klobuchar, Bipartisan Group of Colleagues Push for Increased Funding to Support Firefighting Efforts

Letter

Dear Chairman Leahy and Vice-Chairman Shelby:

We write to urge you to provide robust funding for the National Guard to support firefighting
efforts in communities across the nation, particularly in the western states, affected by wildfires
in the final Fiscal Year 2022 Defense Appropriations bill.

Year after year wildfires ravage local communities, businesses, homes and infrastructure in dry
and western states. We ask that additional resources be allocated to the National Guard in order
to train these members to do the critical work of protecting our communities. The appropriate
training and equipment is essential to the wildfire season and with continued funding to the
National Guard the states of Alaska, California, Colorado, Idaho, Kansas, Kentucky, Mississippi,
Minnesota, Montana, Nevada, Oklahoma, Oregon, Texas, Utah, Washington, and Wyoming can
rest assured knowing the most appropriate measures have been taken in order to protect their
communities and interests.

In 2021 alone, wildfires destroyed 6.8 million acres of land. As state and federal agencies
struggle to keep up with the annual devastation due to wildfires, support from the National Guard
members has been critical. In 2021, this funding trained over 30,000 National Guard members to
fight wildfires and protect communities across the country. This critical firefighting capability
requires continued support from Congress to be sustained.

As you finalize the FY22 Defense Appropriations bill, we urge you to include robust funding for
wildfire training. It is critical to the National Guard's ability to protect communities from
wildfires. Thank you for considering this request.

Sincerely,