10 Wednesday, January 30, 2019 The Nugget Newspaper, Sisters, Oregon Government shutdown took toll on wildfire preparations By Gillian Flaccus Associated Press PORTLAND (AP) 4 Just two months after a wildfire wiped out Paradise, California, officials are gear- ing up for this year9s fire sea- son and fear the government shutdown could make it even more difficult than one of the worst in history. The winter months are critical for wildfire managers who use the break from the flames to prepare for the next onslaught, but much of that effort has ground to a halt on U.S. land because employees are furloughed. Firefighting training courses are being canceled from Tennessee to Oregon, piles of dead trees are untended in federal for- ests and controlled burns to thin dry vegetation aren9t getting done. Although the furloughs only affect federal employ- ees, the collaborative nature of wildland firefighting means the pain of the four- week-long shutdown is hav- ing a ripple effect 4 from firefighters on the ground to federal contractors and top managers who control the firefighting strategy. State and local crews who need training classes, for example, are scrambling without federal instructors. Conservation groups that work with the U.S. Forest Service to plan wildfire- prevention projects on fed- eral lands are treading water. Annual retreats where local, state and federal firefighting agencies strategize are being called off. The fire season starts as early as March in the south- eastern United States, and by April, fires pop up in the Southwest. Last year9s most devastating fire lev- eled the Northern California town of Paradise just before Thanksgiving, leaving just a few months to prepare between seasons.