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BOISE, Idaho (AP) — Idaho officials are offering 15 salvage logging sales following a summer of wildfires and are looking at recovering $13.7 million in firefighting costs for two blazes possibly started by negligence.
The salvage sales total about 88 million board feet, officials with the Idaho Department of Lands told the Idaho Land Board on Tuesday.
The 15 salvage logging sales are the most state officials could recall. Such sales produce about 50 to 60 percent of the revenue of what would have been expected had the trees not burned. Money from state timber sales mostly goes to public schools.
The Idaho Land Board also went into a closed session to discuss potential litigation to recover firefighting costs from two northern Idaho fires. "They're still investigating to see how successful we can be in pursuing those," Gov. C.L. "Butch" Otter said after the meeting.
Another fire listed as human-caused currently burning about 40 miles northeast of Boise was also discussed in the open portion of the meeting as one that state officials might seek reimbursement for from a potential negligent party. That fire, which started Oct. 10 and destroyed three cabins, is listed at 100 percent contained, with crews on Tuesday doing mop-up work and rehabilitation.
Overall, Idaho taxpayers are on the hook for about $60 million in firefighting costs so far year.
Idaho State Forester David Groeschl told Land Board members that the amount of Idaho Endowment Land burned this year was about six times the 20-year average. A low snowpack in northern Idaho combined with the month of June being 11 degrees above normal set the stage with tinder-dry forests, state officials said.
Early predictions indicate that next year's wildfire season in northern Idaho could be similar, Groeschl said. He also said the state's fire season was getting longer, with the historical end in September more often now in October.
Land Board member Brandon Woolf, the state controller, asked Groeschl if this year's type of fire season could be expected more often in future years. "As far as if this is the new norm, we're planning as if it will be," Groeschl told the board.
After the meeting, Groeschl said that meant state officials planned to work with local fire entities to get quick responses and have more pre-positioned firefighters heading into the season. Also after the meeting he said that an individual and a company are the entities the state is looking at to seek reimbursement from for the $13.7 million.
Sometimes companies or their insurer are able to pay, Groeschl said. For individuals, he said, the state looks at such things as assets and whether an individual's home owner's insurance could pay.
Despite it being late October, Groeschl wasn't ready to declare the state clear of potential new wildfires, noting a large rain or snowstorm hadn't yet occurred. "We haven't had a season-ending event," he said.
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