Utah Gov. Jon Huntsman Jr. said the agreement reached in Boise on Monday between Utah, Idaho and Nevada will allow the states to "seamlessly" share fire-fighting equipment and resources.

But more importantly, he said, the states will share science and seed stocks to replant devastated acreage with fire-resistant native grasses.

Over the past five years, fire seasons have not only lengthened, but wildfires have grown from tens of thousands of acres to hundreds of thousands.

"Utah, Idaho and Nevada share a common basin and that basin shares a common habitat and a common problem. That problem is a cyclic nature of wildfires that has been growing and growing," said Nevada Gov. Jim Gibbons.

"Right now, in the middle of fire season in our state we have had over 300 fires, several of which have been incident one-type fires," Huntsman said. "We are expending a lot of money and resources on those fires. We have lost five lives - unprecedented in our state."

Gibbons of Nevada said it's more than grazing land and forests that are threatened - the region's economy and environment are at risk.

"Our agreement was premised on the idea of declaring war on cheatgrass. Literally, that is what needs to happen," Gibbons said. "That scale and magnitude of effort needs a declaration of war on these invasive species to make these tragic fires a thing of the past."

Cheatgrass, believed to have been introduced into the northwest United States in the 1880s, ignites easily and burns fast.

Under the agreement, the governors hope by October to replant burned land with various native and fire-resistant grasses.

That should yield demonstration projects on a massive scale, to find the most efficient way to break the fire cycle.

"With cheatgrass you see fire year in and year out," Huntsman said. "We have to do better. It all begins with the reseeding effort."