On Friday the US Senate failed to pass an amendment that would have fully funded U.S. Forest Service wildland fire management for 2013. Introduced by Senators Jon Tester (Montana) and Mark Udall (Colorado), the amendment to the Supplemental Appropriation for Disaster Assistance would have restored $653 million to the Forest Service’s Wildland Fire Management Account, which funds wildland fire preparedness, suppression, hazardous fuels reduction, fire research and development, and state fire assistance. The amendment would have increased the budget request for the Wildland Fire Management fund to the projected median cost of the 2013 wildfire season, $1.584 billion.

The amendment was defeated when Senator Jeff Sessions (Alabama) raised a point of order against the proposal, and the Senate failed to waive it in a 51-44 vote.