Feds consider regional challenges in fire planning

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) — Federal officials on Thursday released the latest iteration of their national wildfire management strategy as they deal with limited resources and an active fire season that already has blackened hundreds of square miles in states from New Mexico to Michigan.

The U.S Department of Agriculture and the Interior Department have been working for more than a year to develop the strategy. The latest phase covers assessments done for the West, the Northeast and the Southeast that identify population trends, climate changes and different priorities that will help with the creation of action plans due next spring.