A sweeping federal budget reorganization and a controversial Fiscal Year 2027 budget proposal are raising significant concerns among western state foresters, tribal governments, and wildfire policy advocates about the long-term trajectory of fire management funding in the Pacific Northwest and beyond.
FY27 Budget: What's Proposed
President Trump's Fiscal Year 2027 budget request, released in April, proposes to eliminate funding for State, Private, and Tribal Forestry within the U.S. Forest Service — a line item that has historically funded critical partnerships between federal and state forestry programs. The budget also proposes eliminating the Forest Service's Forest and Rangeland Research division.
The administration's budget justification states it "restores federalism by empowering States to assume a greater role in managing forest lands within their borders" — but state foresters note that without the federal funding that has supported those partnerships, many states lack the resources to fill the gap independently.
The proposal also continues the administration's effort to consolidate all wildfire management under the newly created Department of the Interior U.S. Wildland Fire Service — transferring what had been Forest Service fire authorities to the Interior Department in a significant structural reorganization that fire management experts say is still being implemented in the field.
Infrastructure Law Funding Expiring
Forest restoration and fire mitigation funding authorized through the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act — also known as the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law — is appropriated only through the end of 2026. That funding has supported hundreds of millions of dollars in forest thinning, prescribed burn, and fuel reduction projects across the West. Without reauthorization or new appropriations, agencies expect a significant drop in on-the-ground capacity beginning in 2027.
FEMA Grants Slowed for Key States
A Washington Post analysis published this month found that FEMA has slowed the distribution of fire prevention grants to several states — including California and Colorado — that had been designated recipients under the Hazard Mitigation Grant Program. The delays affect funding intended specifically to help communities prepare for and prevent wildfires ahead of fire season.
Hazard Pay for Prescribed Fire
On a more positive note, the Office of Personnel Management has proposed extending hazard pay to personnel who conduct prescribed burns — a change that advocates have long sought to help recruit and retain the specialized workforce needed to safely execute prescribed fire operations at the scale necessary to address the nation's growing fuel load problem.
The Council of Western State Foresters and other advocacy groups are urging Congress to restore state and tribal forestry funding in any final appropriations legislation and to extend infrastructure law fire mitigation funding beyond its 2026 expiration.