Land managers and conservation organizations in the Pacific Northwest are facing significant uncertainty over federal prescribed burn funding after the Trump administration added new conditions to the Community Wildfire Defense Grant Program that some recipients say they cannot legally accept. The policy shift is coming at a particularly difficult moment — during an active fire season that is already running well above historical averages — and raises questions about the long-term viability of proactive fuel treatment programs that have been a cornerstone of regional fire management strategy.
New Conditions on Federal Grants
The Community Wildfire Defense Grant Program, administered by the U.S. Forest Service, has provided funding to local governments, tribes, and nonprofit organizations for prescribed burning, fuel treatment, and community preparedness work. Under a new policy directive, grant recipients must affirm in writing that their awarded funds will not "support climate change" initiatives and will not fund or support "DEI" (diversity, equity, and inclusion) activities, among other requirements.
Washington State officials have determined that these new conditions violate or contradict Washington state laws, creating a legal barrier to accepting the federal funds. "Because the new terms include conditions that violate or contradict Washington state laws, he can't legally accept them," said a state official, referring to county-level grant administrators facing the same dilemma.
Conservation Groups Left Without Resources
Adam Lieberg, a land manager for the Columbia Land Trust in southern Washington, has not received federal Community Wildfire Defense Grant Program funds to carry out controlled burns designed to reduce wildfire risk in his area. The Columbia Land Trust manages private conservation lands across the Columbia River Gorge and surrounding region — areas that experienced devastating fires in recent years and where proactive fuel management is critical to protecting both natural areas and adjacent communities.
Prescribed burns conducted on conservation lands provide significant "spillover" benefits to neighboring private landowners and communities by reducing the fuel loads that feed catastrophic wildfires. When grant funding evaporates, these burns often cannot occur — leaving those fuel loads in place as another high-risk summer unfolds.
FEMA Funding Remains Available for Active Fires
While proactive prevention funding is in question, FEMA's Fire Management Assistance Grant (FMAG) program continues to authorize federal cost-sharing for active suppression operations. FEMA can authorize use of federal funds to pay 75 percent of a state's eligible firefighting costs for managing, mitigating, and controlling designated fires — a mechanism that was recently used for large fires in Colorado and other western states. Washington and Oregon remain eligible to request FMAG declarations for qualifying large fire events.
The Stakes for the Northwest
The Pacific Northwest has invested heavily in prescribed fire programs over the past decade, recognizing that a century of fire suppression has created dense, ladder-fuel conditions in forests and shrublands that make catastrophic fire increasingly likely. With 2026 already tracking above the 10-year average in both fire count and acreage — 3.5 million acres burned nationally as of mid-July — fire management professionals warn that any reduction in proactive treatment capacity will compound an already worsening trend.
Stakeholders across the region are urging Congress to clarify funding conditions and restore full eligibility for state and local organizations that work on prescribed burning and community fire preparedness.