Potential Pieces of a 2025 Wildfire Package

Following the devastating fires in Los Angeles, the new administration and congressional Republicans immediately prioritized the Fix Our Forests Act as a legislative solution and were able to pass the bill in the House with bipartisan support back in January. While the House’s version has been referred to the Senate Agriculture Committee, a bipartisan group of senators is working on their own version of the bill. Although the bill makes real strides in forest management, it will not be a definitive solution to address the wildfire crisis.

During a recent guest spot on the Hotshot Wakeup Podcast, Senator Tim Sheehy (R-MT), who founded the aerial firefighting and wildfire management company Bridger Aerospace and has positioned himself as a leader in the wildfire policy early in his first term, teased the possible introduction of a wildfire package this spring. Sheehy’s package would undoubtedly include some of his recently introduced (and future) bills, like the Fit for Purpose Wildfire Readiness Act and the Wildfire Response and Preparedness (WRAP) Act.

Let’s look at some other legislation that could be included in a wildfire package later this year:

Modernizing Wildfire Safety and Prevention Act: Rep. Josh Harder’s (D-CA) bill would codify several recommendations from the Wildland Fire Mitigation and Management Commission, including the establishment of a Middle Fire Leaders Academy, extension of the wildland firefighter break in service, national smoke monitoring and alert systems and more.

Community Protection and Wildfire Resilience Act: House Natural Resources Committee Ranking Member Huffman (D-CA) re-introduced this bill with Rep. Obernolte (R-CA) to authorize $1 billion for the establishment of a community protection and wildfire resilience grant program, which would fund community wildfire resilience plans and implementation grants.

Fire Ready Nation Act: Sen. Maria Cantwell (D-WA)’s bill to establish and maintain a coordinated program within the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration that improves wildfire, fire weather, fire risk, and wildfire smoke-related forecasting, detection, modeling, observations, and service delivery, and for other purposes.

Disaster Management Costs Modernization Act: Rep. Joe Neguse (D-CO) reintroduced his bill to amend the Stafford Act (FEMA’s authorizing statute) to permit FEMA funding recipients to use excess management funds for capacity-building activities to prepare for or recover from other disasters, which was passed by the House last year.

Dozens of additional viable wildfire bills will be introduced in the coming months. In what’s becoming such an expansive area of policy, stakeholders need to collaborate to effectively message needs and distinguish which legislation will make a difference.