Western senators want review of Forest Service strategy for replacing aging air tanker fleet

A group of Western senators says the U.S. Forest Service may not be moving quickly enough to build up and replace the fleet of aging planes that drop fire retardant on wildfires. The senators asked the Government Accountability Office on Tuesday to evaluate whether the Forest Service has done a good job of analyzing the types and numbers of aircraft needed, the cheapest way to get them, new technologies, and where the planes will be based. “Concerns have increasingly been raised that the federal agencies responsible for responding to wildland fires — the Forest Service and four agencies in the Department of Interior — do not have the appropriate number and mix of aircraft that will be needed for wildland fire suppression operations,” said the letter signed by Sens. Ron Wyden, D-Ore.; Jeff Bingaman, D-N.M.; Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska; and Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif...more

Government planning at its best:  Executive branch grounds 33 planes.  Executive branch puts millions of acres off limits to aerial spraying because of endangered species.  Legislative branch, which created the endangered species law, is concerned about replacements so asks another part of the Legislative branch to investigate.

Result?  Report will be written, millions will be spent and the West will burn.