U.S. Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack has announced that the Forest Service will run out of firefighting funds by the end of this month. Transferring funds from other accounts will delay or halt funding for $400 to $500 million in projects by the end of the fiscal year on September 30. Meanwhile the number of active fires in northern California jumped significantly this week, while the U.S. Drought Monitor reported that 81 percent of the State is in “exceptional” or “extreme” drought categories, the driest conditions in state history.
