In September 2023, the Wildland Fire Mitigation and Management Commission, comprised of individuals with a diversity of backgrounds, experience and expertise, delivered its comprehensive report to Congress. Established by the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, the 50-member non-partisan commission worked to create policy recommendations to address nearly every aspect of the wildfire crisis: from mitigation and management to post-fire rehabilitation and recovery. Reflecting the urgency of the wildfire crisis, the commission had only one year to complete this task. The outcome is 148 recommended actions for Congress to take.

Our progress in many areas already aligns closely with the commission’s vision—the bold text below comes directly from the commission’s report.  

First and foremost, we are achieving significant milestones in our “Wildfire Crisis Strategy,” which are broadly consistent with the commission’s recommendations. As outlined in the commission’s report, the strategy acknowledges a need to pivot from “random acts of conservation” to a science-based strategic approach that informs treatments and investments. The “Wildfire Crisis Strategy” calls for strategic all-lands, all-hands, science-based action that focuses on the most at-risk landscapes. It also calls for increasing the pace and scale of forest restoration treatments and expanding collaboration.

We continue to invest in hazardous fuels reduction using regular appropriations, as well as BIL and Inflation Reduction Act funding. In fiscal year 2023, we treated a record-breaking 4.3 million acres on National Forest System lands, and on other lands through the State Fire Capacity/Assistance Program and Community Wildfire Defense Grants. In addition, we accomplished the highest-ever acreage of prescribed fire—1.89 million acres in a single year. Although available BIL and IRA funding has decreased for fiscal year 2024, we plan to maintain the 4.2-million-acre target based on natural fire regimes as long as we receive adequate funding from Congress.

Our “National Prescribed Fire Resource Mobilization Strategy” outlines a path to allow resource ordering for prescribed fire to be as seamless as it is for wildfire response. We allocated BIL and IRA funding to facilitate resource movement across regional boundaries to enhance our prescribed fire efforts and to order contract resources through the Interagency Resource Ordering System. This process supported our completion of a record high number of prescribed fire acres in fiscal year 2023. We recently released “A Strategy to Expand Prescribed Fire Training in the West” to expand on the success of the National Interagency Prescribed Fire Training Center in Florida. A western prescribed fire training center, or PFTC-West, will increase access to qualifications and training opportunities for all partners and provide more training opportunities for the mitigation and management response workforce.

We also continue to partner, strengthen connections and work with tribes, states and local partners to confront the wildfire crisis. Addressing cross-boundary needs continues to be a focus for our work. For example, early development of strategic plans within the 21 Wildfire Crisis Strategy landscapes is providing the Forest Service with a deeper understanding of the processes and needs associated with increasing the pace and scale of prescribed fire at a national scale. We also set aside an extra $100 million to work together with tribes, local communities and other partners to reduce hazardous fuels on National Forest System land in the wildland-urban interface, where national forests meet homes and communities. This new program, the Collaborative Wildfire Risk Reduction Program, is inspired by past examples and the success of programs such as the Collaborative Forest Landscape Restoration Program. It expands work in high-risk wildfire areas outside the 21 Wildfire Crisis Strategy landscapes and focuses on collaboration with non-traditional partners that represent underserved and minority-based communities to help implement projects.

The Forest Service remains engaged in pre-fire planning and management through pre-fire planning tools such as Potential Operations Delineations. We have already completed almost 90% of the work needed to intersect firesheds with PODs and anticipate completing the remaining work this fiscal year. Given the success of creating PODs for pre-suppression work, we are now evaluating the potential to use them as a tool for hazardous fuels planning.

We also are improving the contracts, grants and agreements process and expanding investments in the non-federal workforce. At the national level, we have committed to multiple keystone agreements that will make it easier for employees on the ground to partner with organizations to reduce wildfire risk. Just last week I announced a memorandum of understanding with the National Alliance of Forest Owners to coordinate the construction of fire breaks. This follows on the heels of my signing an MOU with NAFO in 2023 to enhance cooperation between private forest owners and public land managers with wildfire suppression.

We are working with Congress on a permanent solution to increase wages and benefits for the federal wildland fire workforce, as well as investing in a comprehensive approach that addresses mental and physical health. Although we expect the fiscal year 2024 appropriations bill to continue to fund the firefighter pay supplement, our wildland firefighters and fire-qualified employees deserve a permanent pay fix and incident response pay that recognizes and values the grueling work they perform for the American people every day.

Last, but certainly not least, we continue to invest in a joint Behavioral and Mental Health Program with the Department of the Interior. This program is designed to provide year-round behavioral health resources and services to federal wildland firefighters with an emphasis on case management support, access to clinical services, prevention, and mental and behavioral health training. Ultimately, this program will bridge existing and new resources and services to address trauma and cumulative stress, build coping skills, bolster resiliency, improve mental preparedness, and address the importance of self-care. The Department of the Interior and the Forest Service are approaching the field implementation of phase 1 jointly to leverage funding, demonstrate a commitment to working together on the development of programs, and establish consistent methods for gathering data to inform phase 2 and beyond.

These are just a few highlights of the important work we are doing to address the nation’s wildfire crisis and support the Wildland Fire Mitigation and Management Commission’s recommendations. I’m proud of our employees for making such great progress in all these different areas. However, we can only go so far—even with breadth and depth of partners that are together with us in this work. The wildfire crisis is at a tipping point in this country. As the executive summary to the commission report notes, “The wildfire crisis in the United States is urgent, severe, and far reaching. Wildfire is no longer simply a land management problem, nor is it isolated to certain regions or geographies. Across this nation, increasingly destructive wildfires are posing ever-greater threats to human lives, livelihoods, and public safety. Further, the drivers of the wildfire crisis are numerous and complex, and themselves are influenced by multiple forces and factors at all scales. Despite widespread recognition of this crisis and decades of concerted action, wildfire impacts continue to mount.”  

Congress must take urgently needed action on the recommendations from the commission. As the report’s conclusion aptly states, “The commission urges audiences of this report to take an ‘all of the above’ approach. There is no single solution to the wildfire crisis; the scale of the issues necessitates solutions that are integrated, comprehensive, and broad in scope. The urgency of this need cannot be overstated. Severe wildfires are creating overwhelming losses, damages and costs to communities and ecosystems across the country. The solutions are in hand, it is now incumbent upon us all to act upon them.”

Deputy Under Secretary for Natural Resources and Environment Meryl Harrell testified in front of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee March 12 about the commission’s work. If you missed the 10 a.m. testimony, I encourage you to tune in to watch the hearing later to hear her testimony.

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