The US government wants to increase its spending on forest thinning to US$867m for the fiscal year 2006.
The Bush administration, which received US$811m to thin forests in the current budget, plans to ask for the increase in its 2006 budget submission to congress.
America’s forest management programme, approved in 2003, is designed to reduce the threat of wildfires on 10 million acres of federal forests.
About US$492m of the 2006 budget request will be spent on removing underbrush from more than four million acres, while the rest will help improve landscapes and wildlife habitats.
The US agriculture department says more than half of the areas to be thinned by the end of the fiscal year 2006 will be near residential areas, resulting in less use of prescribed burning programmes. This will make more wood available for use as biomass and commercial lumber.
