As wildfire smoke from Pacific Northwest fires drifts east and the 2026 season sets records across the West, lawmakers in Washington, D.C. are feeling renewed pressure to act on long-stalled wildfire legislation. Two major legislative efforts are gaining traction this month: the bipartisan Fix Our Forests Act and a broader push to overhaul the federal permitting system to allow faster prescribed burning and hazardous fuels treatments.

Fix Our Forests Act

The Fix Our Forests Act, which has attracted support from members of both parties, would expand forest management activities, streamline the approval process for prescribed burns, and accelerate wildfire mitigation projects on federal lands. The White House has signaled support for the legislation, and fire rescue and forestry advocacy organizations have called it one of the most significant pieces of wildfire-related legislation in a generation.

Proponents argue that decades of fire suppression have created unnaturally dense forests and accumulated fuels that are now driving the mega-fire conditions seen across the West in 2026. Prescribed fire and mechanical fuel treatments, they say, are the only proven tools to reduce fire severity at a landscape scale — but those treatments are currently constrained by a complex regulatory and environmental review process that can delay projects by years.

Wildland Firefighter Pay and Housing

Separate from forest management policy, members of both parties have introduced dozens of bills addressing the welfare of the wildland firefighting workforce. Key issues include:

  • Pay equity: Wildland firefighters, particularly those employed on temporary seasonal contracts, often earn significantly less than their counterparts in municipal fire departments despite performing some of the most physically demanding and dangerous work in emergency services.
  • Housing: Remote fire station and ranger district locations often lack adequate housing for seasonal employees, leading to high turnover and difficulty recruiting and retaining experienced personnel.
  • Benefits: Seasonal firefighters frequently lack access to health insurance and retirement benefits during off-season months.

National Fire Service: Funded but Underfunded

The U.S. Department of Agriculture officially launched the National Fire Service at the start of 2026, creating a standalone agency dedicated to wildland fire management. However, Congress denied the agency's $6.5 billion budget request for the year, leaving it to operate with significantly constrained resources during what has become the worst fire season in recent memory. Critics note that the gap between the agency's mandate and its funding will need to be addressed urgently given the trajectory of fire seasons in the West.

Permitting Reform and Prescribed Fire

There is bipartisan hope that a long-elusive deal overhauling the federal permitting system could include provisions to allow agencies to conduct prescribed burns and other wildfire mitigation activities with greater ease. Currently, prescribed burns on federal land require extensive environmental review under the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), which can delay smaller, lower-risk projects by a year or more.

Fire managers and forest ecologists broadly agree that the scale of prescribed burning needed to meaningfully reduce wildfire risk — estimates range from 20 to 50 million acres nationally — is impossible to achieve under the current regulatory framework.

Biomass Utilization

Another provision gaining attention would make it easier to collect and utilize biomass — the wood and slash material left behind by fuel treatments and logging operations — as an energy source or wood product. Biomass utilization can offset the cost of fuel treatments, making large-scale projects economically viable in areas where there is no commercial timber market for the material.

With the 2026 season on track to become the most destructive in Pacific Northwest history, advocates say the political window for comprehensive wildfire legislation may be wider than it has been in years. Whether Congress can move quickly enough to make a difference before fire conditions worsen remains to be seen.