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PHOENIX — Gov. Janet Napolitano wants more money, more staffing and more planning to create healthy forests and to keep those we have from burning down.

The governor, in particular, wants Congress to boost funding for programs to clear brush, small trees and waste from the forests, most of which are federally controlled. She also wants federal dollars to help local communities.

But Napolitano acknowledged the state also has a role to play. For example, she specifically is asking the Legislature to appropriate $5 million each year for community fire protection plans.

Sen. Tom O'Halleran, R- Sedona, said that figure is $20 million less than he and some of his colleagues say is necessary to aid communities at high risk of fire danger.They want some of that money for a "fuels reduction" program to eliminate burnable materials around populated areas.

But he acknowledged the governor's request is $4 million more than lawmakers funded in this budget year.

The governor's requests actually come from a consolidated report submitted by two advisory committees she formed in 2003 to study ways of managing the forests.

The panels' other role was to cut through some of the rhetoric and claims regarding forest management by groups ranging from timber companies to environmentalists. The committees concluded the state needs a long-term strategy to improve forest health.

Not everything the governor wants involves money. She also wants state regulations on building in the "urban-wildland interface," where homes are nestled up against, or in, the forest.

She wants cities and counties not only to adopt their own codes, but also to push developers of new subdivisions to have "appropriate buffer zones" based on fire risk.

Nor is Napolitano letting individual homeowners off the hook, saying they, too, are responsible for protecting their homes from fire.