Mitt Romney wants review of federal fire recovery funds

The aftermath of a wildfire near the Bountiful-Centerville border is pictured early Friday, Aug. 30, 2019. Three homes were destroyed and at least five were damaged. An additional 400 homes have been evacuated in the Centerville area. | John Wilson, Deseret News

SALT LAKE CITY — Senators from Utah and Colorado want a congressional watchdog to look into difficulties fire-ravaged communities face in using federal recovery funds.

Kristin Murphy, Deseret News

Sen. Mitt Romney, R-Utah, meets with local officials and health experts about anti-vaping efforts during a roundtable discussion at Primary Children’s Hospital in Salt Lake City on Thursday, Oct. 10, 2019.

Sen. Mitt Romney, R-Utah, and Sen. Michael Bennett, D-Colo., this month called on the Government Accountability Office to review the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Emergency Watershed Protection Program.

“While communities can implement a number of steps to reduce damage and mitigate risk following wildfires, these measures place undue financial strain on property owners and state and local governments,” the senators wrote in a Nov. 13 letter to Comptroller General Gene Dodaro.

“Over the past few years in Colorado and Utah, post-fire flooding and erosion has caused millions of dollars in damage and required significant investments from state and local partners.”

The Natural Resources Conservation Service administers the watershed protection program to reduce financial strain and help communities address imminent threats following a wildfire. Despite the valuable assistance these funds have provided, concerns remain with the implementation of program, including its eligibility requirements and approval processes, according to the senators.

Utah received $9.6 million and Colorado $20.2 million from the program following devastating wildfires in 2018 that damaged watersheds and forced people from their homes.

But, the senators say, states face obstacles when they attempt to use watershed protection funds for their recovery efforts.

“While the funding has helped some of these communities recover, there is concern with how (Natural Resources Conservation Service) approves and completes projects, and other hurdles that communities face in the process of receiving (watershed protection) funds,” Romney and Bennett wrote.

The Pole Creek Fire and the Bald Mountain Fire burned more than 120,000 acres in Utah County and caused 6,000 people in the area to evacuate. The fires left burn scars and triggered debris flows that caused damage to homes, forcing more people to flee.

The Dollar Ridge Fire in Duchesne consumed 70,000 acres and 360 structures, including 75 homes. In the Strawberry River Valley, the fire threatened 30% of the county’s drinking water and forced it to invest $30 million to upgrade water treatment facilities.

In Colorado, more than 400,000 acres burned across the state in 2018.

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