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Lawsuit: US withholding wildfire fuel break information

California Wildfire Management
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RENO, Nev. (AP) — Conservationists are accusing federal land managers of illegally withholding information about plans to build fuel breaks to slow wildfires across six western states.

The Center for Biological Diversity filed suit in federal court in Reno this week under the Freedom of Information Act.

It says the Bureau of Land Management has failed to respond to its requests regarding environmental assessments used to create the fuel breaks by clearing forests and shrubs.

The lawsuit says the projects could harm federally protected fish and wildlife across an area twice as big as the states of New York, Pennsylvania and Ohio combined.