Gov. Greg Gianforte ceremonially signed two fire-related bills from Rep. Llew Jones, R-Conrad, on Wednesday, which also ended his annual tour of all 56 Montana counties.
Gianforte signed House Bill 127, which increases funding in the state’s fire suppression fund. It also mandates the Department of Natural Resources and Conservation submit a report on expenditures made under the Fire Suppression Account.
Gianforte said the bill gives more flexibility to the state in regards to fire suppression. Montana pursued an “aggressive” attack on the fires that did pop up this year, he added. Very few fires grew larger than 5,000 acres in the state this past year and about 100,000 acres in total burned, Gianforte said.
“That’s a credit to really DNRC and local fire companies for getting after it,” Gianforte said. “And we got a lot better cooperation from the Forest Service this year than we have in past years.”
House Bill 130, also from Jones, stipulates that the state has a duty to engage in fire suppression regardless of land ownership. It also allows the state to bill the federal agency responsible for the land where a wildfire occurred to reimburse state and county costs associated with the blaze.
“Through House Bill 130, we are able to work with DNRC to respond quickly to all fire starts to execute an aggressive initial attack regardless of who owns the land of where the fire started,” Jones, said in a press release.
Gianforte signed the bills at Lincoln Fire Fall and met with firefighters and emergency responders there, a press release said. To finish out his annual tour of the state’s counties, Gianforte stopped in Broadwater County, visiting a glass-blowing business in Townsend.
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