During the summer, President Donald Trump called for the consolidation of federal wildfire programs through an executive order. In response, the Secretaries of the Interior and Agriculture recently released their plans, which have garnered both praise and criticism.
In her memo, Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins promised a "bold transformation" of the federal wildfire system.
Without that, she argued, "the nation will continue to face escalating wildfire risks at a growing cost to taxpayers with insufficient coordination and preparedness, resulting in unacceptable consequences to our communities, infrastructure, and bountiful natural resources."
Rollins and her Interior Department counterpart Doug Burgum outlined several changes to the four Interior agencies with wildfire responsibilities – the bureaus of Land Management and Indian Affairs, as well as the Fish and Wildlife and Parks services – and the U.S. Forest Service. The changes also address how the two departments will work together to fight wildfires.
Perhaps the most sweeping change would be combining the fire programs of the four Interior agencies into the new U.S. Wildland Fire Service. For now, the Forest Service's fire program, which employs the majority of federal firefighters, won't be going anywhere.
"Our firefighters and managers will form a purpose-built organization capable of meeting the growing challenge of wildland fire response and mitigation," Interior Secretary Burgum wrote.
A consolidation plan from the four agencies is due by the end of October, with implementation to begin in January 2026..
An 'intermediary' measure
"I think intermediary is exactly the way to look at it," said Tyson Bertone-Riggs, co-managing director of the Alliance for Wildfire Resilience.
Moving the Forest Service's fire program to the new agency will likely take more than presidential orders.
"My speculation here is that ultimately, if you're talking about moving pieces of USDA to DOI, that's probably something that requires congressional approval," he added.
"The U.S. Wildland Fire Service is not a proposal for a single federal wildfire agency, since any such structural change would require congressional action," according to a statement from a USDA spokesperson.
Bertone-Riggs also highlighted proposals to streamline contracting, procurement and other procedures between the agencies, as well as a 270-day deadline for recommendations to improve wildland firefighter personal protective equipment. That comes after reporting by the New York Times and congressional hearings further heightened concerns about serious long-term health risks to firefighters.
"I think the direction to modernize standards for personal protective equipment is a huge change," he said.
It was also one of many proposals that mirrored the recommendations from a major 2023 report by the congressionally mandated Wildland Fire Mitigation and Management Commission. The Alliance for Wildfire Resilience found many overlaps between the report and proposals in the recent memos.
"I do think it's fair to say that this is a pretty heavy lift for the agencies to accomplish," Bertone-Riggs said. "Some of these timelines are pretty aggressive, even if it's just the initiation of a process, but I think this clearly is a priority for the administration. And if the agencies prioritize the time to set these new policies, it seems doable."
Bertone-Riggs was also pleased to see calls for input on a range of issues from state, tribal and local partners, which he said was "critical if we're going to be rebuilding the federal system."
Asked if the shutdown, which started this week, could impact implementation, a USDA spokesperson said their department "is monitoring potential impacts … and planning continues to carry out the memo's objectives."
"We remain committed to the timelines in the Secretary's Order," Interior spokesperson Elizabeth Peace said in response to a request for comment.
More downsizing?
While acknowledging positive elements of the plan, some have serious concerns about the reform push.
"It seemed from the outset that consolidation was just a means of further downsizing the wildland fire workforce and shrinking the budget for federal fire management," said Tim Ingalsbee, head of the advocacy group Firefighters United for Safety, Ethics and Ecology.
But beyond any specific policy, Ingalsbee wants to see a more fundamental change.
"We need to shift from this reactive mode of emergency wildfire suppression to a proactive mode of intentional ecological fire management," he argued. "We have to increase and facilitate the use of beneficial fire."
He said the agencies' proposal to eliminate regulatory barriers to prescribed fire – a common form of beneficial fire – is welcome, but that otherwise there's little indication of the shift he sees as necessary.
Responding to Inglasbee's concerns, Peace, the Interior spokesperson, said that the reform effort is "about effectiveness, not reductions," adding that "nothing in the order directs workforce cuts," instead targeting "bureaucracy and duplication so resources reach the field faster."
Keeping pressure on
"I've said this time and again and I won't stop saying it," said Luke Mayfield, president of the advocacy group Grassroots Wildland Firefighters. "I don't think we can ever lose sight of the long-term solution, which is mitigation and management at a large scale that is inclusive of all levels of government, community and industry. To get to a point where we can accept and have fire on the landscape because it's not catastrophic, but because it's a part of fire-adapted ecosystems and we live with it."
Grassroots welcomed the Secretaries' proposals as a step forward, but said they fall short of what's ultimately needed: "a unified and professional federal wildland fire service, developed and led by experienced wildland fire operators."
Mayfield said his group will keep the pressure on with their key constituency: "the people that are putting boots on and Nomex clothing on."
This story was produced by the Mountain West News Bureau, a collaboration between Boise State Public Radio, Wyoming Public Media, Nevada Public Radio, KUNR in Nevada, KUNC in Northern Colorado, KANW in New Mexico, Colorado Public Radio and KJZZ in Arizona as well as NPR, with support from affiliate newsrooms across the region. Funding for the Mountain West News Bureau is provided in part by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting and Eric and Wendy Schmidt.
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