Today, I am pleased to share the "Interagency Hotshot Crew Programmatic Review," which provides a comprehensive review of the Interagency Hotshot Crew program and how it has changed since it started 80 years ago. This review is part of our ongoing firefighter workforce improvement efforts and was requested by the National Interagency Hotshot Crew Steering Committee. The substantial research and recommendations in the report, conducted by a 31-member interagency review team, helped inform President Biden’s 2024 budget and legislative proposals to implement a permanent pay increase that federal firefighters need and deserve.

Other recommendations in the report have the potential to improve Hotshots’ and firefighters’ work environment, enhance their physical and mental health and well-being, and increase firefighter recruitment, retention and effectiveness. 

The team conducted an extensive survey (which resulted in over 700 responses) and a series of focus group discussions and sense-making sessions. These efforts informed eight key themes in the report that create a powerful case for change: pay, well-being, facilities, hiring process, mission, organizational structure, crew organization and staffing, and vehicles.

Starting in November, the Forest Service will establish a working group to advance the review team’s efforts and develop a work environment improvement action plan that is responsive to the report’s recommendations, both specific to Hotshots’ needs as well as those of our broader wildland firefighting workforce. We need to understand the intent behind the team’s recommendations and assess the feasibility of implementing them. We will recruit representatives from Hotshot superintendents and firefighters to agency leadership and fire managers to develop a Hotshot crew environment improvement action plan. The working group will receive advice from subject matter experts in mental health, labor relations, pay, fleet, facilities, budget and other areas.

The Forest Service is already advancing some of the team’s recommendations through our work to implement the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, and through joint efforts with the Department of the Interior and the Office of Personnel Management. For example, the Forest Service and the Department of the Interior are developing a Joint Wildland Firefighter Behavior Health Program and have implemented reforms to provide three days off after a 14-day assignment. Progress in these areas would not have been possible without significant engagement from the wildland firefighting community. However, the report provides us with a new perspective on the Interagency Hotshot Crew program and makes it clear that, despite our progress in some areas, more work must be done.

Hotshots and wildland firefighters are a critical linchpin in saving lives, protecting communities and serving on the frontlines to confront our nation’s wildfire crisis. We must take better care of them by addressing the challenges that have plagued them for decades. Better care means better pay and benefits, better housing, better mental and physical health resources, and better work-life balance—all issues raised in this report. 

The review team’s recommendations come at a pivotal time when we are actively working with Congress on legislation to make permanent pay increases for firefighters a reality, especially since pay emerged as one of eight themes in the report. As you learned from my recent Update: Congress is back in session with firefighter pay on the agenda, Secretary Vilsack, Under Secretary Wilkes, Chief Moore and I remain committed to delivering permanent, comprehensive pay reform for our wildland firefighters by the end of this fiscal year.  

I feel certain that, at the end of the day, this report will help us lay the foundation for a robust, modernized interagency Hotshot crew program with the leadership, expertise and capabilities our firefighters need and deserve in today’s demanding wildland fire environment as well as improve the entire system for all of our wildland firefighters. 

A copy of the report is available on the Office of Communication publications page. More information about Hotshot crews is available at https://www.fs.usda.gov/science-technology/fire/people/hotshots.

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