US Push to Lower Wildfire Risk Across the West Stumbles in Places

By MATTHEW BROWN, TERRY CHEA, CALEB DIEHL and CAMILLE FASSETT Associated Press

DOWNIEVILLE, Calif. (AP) — Using chainsaws, heavy machinery and controlled burns, the Biden administration is trying to turn the tide on worsening wildfires in the U.S. West through a multi-billion dollar cleanup of forests choked with dead trees and undergrowth.

Yet federal land managers already have fallen behind on several of their priority forests for thinning.

That underscores the challenge of reversing decades of lax forest management and aggressive fire suppression.

Administration officials say the thinning work is making a difference and projects announced so far will lessen wildfire dangers in more then 500 communities across 10 states.