Policy & Funding

Oregon's Lower Dry Creek Fire has received the state's first FEMA Fire Management Assistance Grant of 2026 as fire suppression costs escalate. Meanwhile, the U.S. Wildland Fire Service is seeking research proposals on changing fire regimes.

Oregon has invoked the Emergency Conflagration Act three times in 2026 — an unusually high frequency that highlights growing pressure on the state's fire suppression capacity and raises questions about long-term fire funding and forest management policy.

The 2026 wildfire season is arriving as federal wildfire policy faces major changes: a new U.S. Wildland Fire Service is being stood up, Bipartisan Infrastructure Law fire funding expires this year, and Congress has passed a comprehensive FY2026 wildfire budget. The season is stress-testing every dimension of the system.

With 2026 wildfire activity outpacing last year, debates over USFS reorganization, prescribed fire funding delays, and a new Wildfire Smoke Emergency Declaration Act are intensifying in Washington, D.C.

Federal funding disruptions and administrative policy changes are straining the Forest Service's prescribed fire program heading into peak fire season, even as bipartisan legislation to address long-term wildfire management challenges advances in Congress.

New federal grant conditions requiring recipients to disavow climate and DEI initiatives are blocking prescribed burn funding in Washington state, where officials say the terms conflict with state law.

Bipartisan legislation aims to fix hazard pay gaps for federal wildland firefighters during prescribed burns and training. Meanwhile, delayed prescribed burn funding, emergency wildfire appropriations, and calls for broader fire policy reform dominate the political agenda as the 2026 fire season intensifies.

Oregon's Emergency Board has funded a new statewide evacuation management system and a wildfire response reserve as the state contends with 19 counties under drought emergency. At the federal level, proposed research budget cuts raise concerns about long-term fire management capacity.

With wildland fires burning at above-average intensity across the Pacific Northwest and West, Congress is considering legislation to strengthen firefighter pay and extend hazard compensation to prescribed burn and smokejumper training assignments. Key FY2026 fire management funding remains unresolved.

The 2026 wildfire season has already burned 3.4 million acres across the United States as of July 8 — 146% of the ten-year average — with 37 large fires currently active and the National Preparedness Level elevated to 4.

The U.S. Forest Service has lost nearly 6,000 permanent employees since early 2025, cutting fuels treatments by 35% and raising alarms among state officials and firefighter unions as the 2026 season burns well above average.

Congress is advancing an FY27 appropriations bill that would formally fund the U.S. Wildland Fire Service at $1.16 billion under its own budget line, while pushing back against the Trump administration’s proposal to zero out Forest Service research and development funding.

The Trump administration's cuts to USFS wildfire research programs have drawn warnings from firefighters and scientists as the 2026 season escalates. Meanwhile, Congress is debating a potentially record wildfire funding bill that includes expanded hazard pay and multi-year aviation contracts.

The new U.S. Wildland Fire Service, created without congressional approval in January 2026, faces scrutiny following the deaths of three firefighters and ongoing battles over wildfire research funding cuts in the federal budget.

Bipartisan legislation directing a GAO study on cross-boundary wildfire mitigation passed both chambers in June. Meanwhile, the House FY2027 Interior Appropriations bill preserves current agency structures rather than creating the unified wildfire agency proposed in the President's budget.

Bipartisan legislation including the Wildland Firefighter Hazard Pay Correction Act and the Support Our Firefighters Act are advancing in Congress as the 2026 fire season intensifies — addressing longstanding pay and retention issues for federal firefighters.

Oregon Governor Tina Kotek has declared a wildfire state of emergency as state fire officials warn that Oregon, Washington, Idaho, and Northern California will all compete for limited firefighting resources during what could be a record-breaking 2026 fire season.

Washington Insurance Commissioner Patty Kuderer is advancing legislation requiring insurers to disclose wildfire risk scores and explain mitigation pathways, while urging homeowners to review coverage before fire season peaks.

Congress provided $4.25 billion in wildfire suppression funding for FY2026, including a $2.85 billion reserve fund designed to prevent the fire borrowing that has historically gutted non-fire programs. Federal budget documents also reveal plans to consolidate wildland firefighting into a unified Federal Wildland Fire Service.

Proposed Trump administration budget cuts to U.S. Forest Service wildfire research programs are drawing criticism from Pacific Northwest scientists and fire experts as active fires burn across the region and forecasters project an above-normal fire season.