New Attack Plan As Wildfire Season Begins

The wildfire season seems well on its way down in Colorado where another fire this weekend destroy homes west of Fort Collins.

Federal wildfire experts are preparing for the season with a new wild-land fire prevention and management plan.

U.S. Department of Agriculture, Under Secretary, Jay Jensen, says the strategy consists of three phases.

"Basically what we have here is a blueprint for how to respond to wildfire, actually the firefighters on the ground when they go and put out the flames. We have strategy now that talks about how to restore and maintain these lands, these fire adapted ecosystems where the trees and brush and the grasses grow and we also have a strategy to help communities become fire adapted."

Jensen says the plan is already rolling out across the country and over the next year and half will take shape in regional and local partnerships with emphasis on collaboration. Jensen says the plans were created with input from all the major fire fighting entities.

"The key here is that we wanted to have conversations between all these entities before the fire starts."

Experts fear occurrences may continue to rise. Jensen says 20 years ago, on average, wildfire burned around 1 to 5 million acres per year in the U.S. This year, he suggests, we may see upwards of 15 million acres burned.