Forest Service warns of budget cuts ahead of a risky wildfire season – what that means for safety

A wet winter and spring followed by a hot, dry summer can be a dangerous combination in the Western U.S. The rain fuels bountiful vegetation growth, and when summer heat dries out that vegetation, it can leave grasses and shrubs ready to burn. In years like this, controlled burns and prescribed fire treatments are crucial to help protect communities against wildfires. Well-staffed fire crews ready to respond to blazes are essential, too.

• Moore told agency employees to expect budget cuts from Congress in 2024.
• However, taken at face value, budget cuts could be interpreted as a reduction in the firefighting workforce, compounding recruitment and retention challenges that the Forest Service is already facing.
• We study wildfire policy and fire ecology, and one of us, Camille Stevens-Rumann, has worked as a wildland firefighter.

The fire funding fix

• The fire funding fix allows federal firefighting agencies to access up to US$2.25 billion in additional disaster funding a year starting in 2020 and increasing to $2.95 billion in 2027.
• Prior to the fire funding fix, fighting fires – suppression expenditures – consumed nearly 50% of the U.S. Forest Service budget.
• The fix protects agency budgets, ensuring that a high-cost fire season will not completely consume the budget, and that allows more funding for preventive efforts and all the other programs of the Forest Service.

Prevention is a rising priority

• The Forest Service has also made fire prevention a higher priority in recent years.
• That work won’t be completed before the 2024 fire season, but fuel treatments will be underway.

Prescribed burning must be done when conditions are safe to limit the potential for the fire to get out of control, usually in the spring and early summer. However, climate change is expected to shorten the prescribed burning window in the western U.S.

Staffing is still a concern

• In 2023, over 18,000 people were employed as federal wildland firefighters.
• The government boosted firefighters’ pay in 2021, but that increase is set to expire unless Congress votes to make it permanent.
• The agency has started many initiatives to recruit and retain permanent employees, but it is too early to assess the results.

Everyone has a role in fire protection

• Homeowners can reduce the fire risk to their own properties by following defensible space recommendations.
• Several states also have programs, such as Colorado’s Forest Restoration and Wildfire Risk Mitigation Grant Program to support community investment in wildfire mitigation.
• Consistent funding is crucial, and homeowners can help by taking defensive action to reduce wildfire risk on their property.

Camille Stevens-Rumann receives funding from US Forest Service, the Bureau of Land Management, and the US department of Agriculture. She used to work for the US Forest Service and works closely with Federal, State, and non-profit organizations that help manage forests across the western US Jude Bayham receives funding from the United States Forest Service. He is on the Protect Our Winters Science Alliance.