Heinrich To Receive Briefing On Upcoming Fire Season And State Of Drought From National Weather Service

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. – At 9 a.m. MT, on Friday, May 31, at the National Weather Service Center in Albuquerque, U.S. Senator Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.), a member of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, will visit the National Weather Service Center to receive a briefing from experts on their outlook for the upcoming fire season and the state of drought in the short-term and long-term in New Mexico. 

Last year, in the omnibus appropriations bill, Senator Heinrich helped fix the chronic failures in wildfire funding that have plagued fire-prone communities across the West. Specifically, the measure passed in the bill ended the Forest Service practice of fire borrowing by establishing a contingency account for use in bad fire years and funds it with over $2 billion a year through 2027. Additionally, Senator Heinrich has been pushing to implement real solutions to address the devastating and costly impacts of extreme weather due to climate change.