Washington, D.C. – North Dakota Senator Kevin Cramer says he’s unsure if any action can be taken to prevent wildfire smoke from Canada from continually drifting into the United States this summer.
The Fargo-Moorhead area experienced unhealthy air quality levels on both Friday and Saturday thanks to the return of smoke that quickly infiltrated the region after a round of storms.
“We do provide a lot of technical expertise and some of our companies are good at putting out fires, but I don’t know exactly what we can do from a policy standpoint,” Cramer told The Flag on Monday.
Cramer says it’s possible that Canada “may have some other issues relating to how they manage their forests” but could not definitely say that was the reason.
Cramer also says Canada has a great deal of forestland and runs a robust soft timber industry, and dispelled the notion that Canada is directly at fault.
“It’s not like they willed his on any of us,” said Cramer. “Unfortunately, prevailing winds come down from the northwest and we end up suffering more than they do.”
