President Biden gathered West’s governors to talk wildfires. Idaho’s Little not invited

Idaho Gov. Brad Little joined Montana Gov. Greg Gianforte on Wednesday in writing an open letter to President Joe Biden after the pair of governors were left out of a meeting on worsening wildfires that included several Western states’ leaders.

A White House fact sheet on the meeting said Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris would meet with “governors from Western states, Cabinet officials and private sector partners” to discuss wildfire prevention, response and more as the West faces extensive drought and a potentially catastrophic wildfire season. The Biden administration said it is working to boost firefighter pay and build a more permanent, rather than seasonal, firefighting workforce.

In their letter, the governors said they were “disappointed” not to be part of the meeting.

“No state in what it faces and how it responds is like another,” they wrote. “We were disappointed to learn not all Western states who face a harsh wildfire season will be at the table.”

Idaho is in the 100th percentile for wildfire likelihood, according to a U.S. Forest Service wildfire risk map. Despite several recent years of mild wildfire seasons, the state is regularly in the top 10 U.S. states for acreage burned by wildfire, Insurance Information Institute data show.

The state is also home to the National Interagency Fire Center, based in Boise. NIFC spokesperson Jessica Gardetto told the Statesman in an email that NIFC was also not included in the Biden administration’s meetings.

The Idaho Capital Sun reported that governors from California, Colorado, New Mexico, Nevada, Oregon, Utah, Washington and Wyoming were invited to attend virtually. Other attendees included administrators from the U.S. Forest Service, FEMA, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Bonneville Power and the Environmental Protection Agency.

It wasn’t immediately clear why Little and Gianforte, both Republicans, were left out of the gathering. The Statesman has reached out to the White House for more information. Utah Gov. Spencer Cox and Wyoming Gov. Mark Gordon are both Republicans and were invited.

Little and Gianforte said their states “stand ready to help other states and the federal government as we confront wildfire season.”

The governors asked Biden to commit to firefighting support from federal partners. State and local agencies such as the Idaho Department of Lands regularly work alongside firefighters from the Bureau of Land Management and U.S. Forest Service.

“While Western states will spend the coming months fighting wildfires alongside federal partners on the ground, it is critical we have a federal partner in the White House who is willing to do what needs to be done year-round to reduce the risk of catastrophic wildfires,” the governors’ letter reads. “The federal government must work with states to actively and meaningfully manage our lands to reduce the risk of catastrophic wildfires.”