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Several elected leaders from northern Arizona are calling on Attorney General Kris Mayes to determine if the Trump administration’s cuts to wildfire mitigation efforts are illegal. Coconino County Supervisor Lena Fowler, Tusayan Mayor Clarinda Vail and Flagstaff mayor Becky Daggett are among the 160 western officials who are concerned about the drop in federal fire preparedness in recent months. They signed onto a letter as part of the Mountain Pact, a group that advocates for western communities in climate, public lands and outdoor recreation policy. They are urging their respective state attorneys general to push back against layoffs, voluntary deferred resignations and early retirements within the U.S. Bureau of Land Management, U.S. Forest Service and the National Park Service. It comes months after the Dragon Bravo and White Sage fires burned more than 200,000 acres on the Kaibab National Forest and in Grand Canyon National Park.

Additional coverage in the Aspen Times by Ryan Spencer: Colorado local elected leaders call on state attorney general to take action on ‘rapid decline of federal wildfire preparedness’ under Trump administration