Spencer Cox and U.S. Forest Service Chief Tom Schultz struck an $18.4 million deal to help Beaver and Piute counties recover from wildfire and flooding damage. “As if the fire was not enough,” Cox said of the Cottonwood Fire, “Mother Nature got another blow to this area.” The agreement, signed by Cox and Schultz, says “there is no other word to describe the Cottonwood Fire other than ‘catastrophic.’” It is unfathomable for anyone to fully understand the hardship Utah communities have suffered as a result of the Cottonwood Fire.” Spencer Cox, right, tours wildfire and flood stricken areas in Beaver County on Aug. 6, 2026.