Kirk Sigler
👤 SpeakerAppearances Over Time
Podcast Appearances
The western states that are in the worst shape are Colorado, Utah, and Oregon.
According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, statewide snowpack there is only about 50% of average, and that's only at high altitudes.
Some ski areas have closed prematurely, but in the west, where the snowpack acts as the main water storage reservoir, cities and farmers are even more on edge.
If things don't turn around, especially at lower altitudes, NOAA says the wildfire risk will be even more severe going into spring.
Climate scientists point to a warm-weather blob stuck in the Pacific Ocean, possibly related to rapid melting in the Arctic, that's caused it to be unseasonably warm from Montana to California for weeks now.
Kirk Sigler, NPR News, Los Angeles.
Trump's order says wildfire victims should be able to rebuild without quote duplicative or obstructive requirements.
He's directing FEMA and Homeland Security to preempt local officials who issue building permits.
The number of building permits issued in the L.A.
fire zones is still sluggish at around 1,300 to date.
Likely the biggest delay in rebuilding is not red tape, but the fact that scores of fire victims are still in insurance limbo.
Governor Gavin Newsom accuses the president of deliberately slowing recovery, noting only a fraction of the billions of promised federal aid has been sent to California fire victims.
In late 2016, an Oregon jury acquitted right-wing extremist Ammon Bundy for leading an armed takeover of the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge.
After a standoff two years earlier on their Nevada ranch, the Bundys traveled to eastern Oregon to protest the jailing of two ranchers.
Western historian Patty Limerick recalls that many locals appreciated the attention given to their struggles with federal land managers, but most, including the jailed ranchers, told the Bundys to go home.
imposition of authority for people who are going to denounce arrogant impositions of authority in others, in land managers.
The tense 41-day standoff between the militants, Oregon State Police, and FBI left one dead Bundy supporter, LaVoy Finicum.