Wildfire blame lies with feds, not Arizona lawmakers

Sen. Steve Pierce: Should we have done more to protect state land from wildfire? Yes. But we did what we could.

As chairman of the Senate Natural Resources Committee, I was disappointed by The Arizona Republic’s characterization of the Legislature’s efforts to combat wildfire in the June 18 front-page story, “State opts to keep playing with fire.”

The Republic claims the Legislature should have done more than appropriate $1.4 million to the state forester for removal of vegetation on state trust land. It proceeds to make the same tired arguments about requiring property owners to clear brush from their property.

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http://www.azcentral.com/story/opinion/op-ed/2014/06/26/arizona-wildfire-blame/11428751/