As wildfire smoke fills the skies over the Pacific Northwest and firefighters battle dozens of active blazes, the policy and funding environment shaping the nation's response to the long-term wildfire crisis remains complicated. Delays in prescribed burn funding, workforce disruptions from federal workforce reductions, and stalled Congressional action on wildfire resilience funding are complicating the Forest Service's ability to get ahead of fire season — even as bipartisan bills advance in the Senate.

Prescribed Fire Program Under Strain

Reports from NPR and others have documented how disruptions to Forest Service operations — including DEI-related personnel actions and hiring freezes — are affecting the prescribed burn program, which is widely considered one of the most effective tools for reducing the risk of catastrophic wildfire. Prescribed fire grants that are typically awarded by early in the year to allow spring burns — when snow has melted and mild temperatures provide better control conditions — were delayed into 2026, causing some burn windows to close before operations could begin.

Prescribed fire advocates note that burns conducted now, before extreme summer conditions arrive, are substantially easier and safer to manage than suppression of wildfires once they escape. Delays in funding translate directly into missed opportunities to reduce fuel loads across vulnerable landscapes.

Senate Passes Wildfire Study Bill

On a more positive note, the Senate passed legislation on June 11, 2026, by unanimous consent directing the Government Accountability Office (GAO) to conduct a comprehensive study identifying federal programs, rules, and authorities that enable or impede effective wildfire management. The bill, sponsored by Senator Ruben Gallego (D-AZ), is intended to provide Congress with the evidence base needed to reform the federal wildfire management framework.

The companion bill passed the House, sending the measure to the President. Results from the GAO study are not expected until late 2026 at the earliest, with most observers expecting a report in early 2027.

Aerial Firefighting Expansion Stalled

Plans to expand the national aerial firefighting fleet hit a setback when Congress declined to fund a key acquisition step in the FY2026 appropriations process, instead directing a feasibility study. According to reporting by Aerial Fire Magazine, the study contract has not yet been awarded, and results are not expected until late 2026 at the earliest. The delay means another fire season passes without the additional large airtanker capacity that aviation experts say is needed to match rising fire demand.

2026 Season Tracking Ahead of Last Year

The 2026 wildfire season is already running substantially ahead of last year's pace. As of July 14, the United States has recorded 39,354 fires burning 3,616,860 acres — compared to 37,878 fires and 2,570,619 acres at the same point in 2025. The acceleration underscores the urgency of both immediate suppression resources and long-term resilience investments.

What's Working — and What Needs Investment

Fire policy experts and conservation organizations including the Theodore Roosevelt Conservation Partnership have argued that Congress has the tools to meaningfully improve the nation's wildfire situation, including:

  • Expanding and protecting the Wildfire Crisis Strategy, which targets high-priority landscapes for fuel treatment
  • Maintaining the wildfire suppression funding fix (enacted in 2018) that ended the practice of "fire borrowing" from other agency programs
  • Investing in workforce development for both suppression and prescribed fire
  • Streamlining environmental review processes for fuel treatment projects on federal lands
  • Expanding state and local capacity for community wildfire preparedness

As another fire season intensifies across the West, the gap between the scale of the problem and the resources dedicated to solving it remains a central challenge for policymakers, land managers, and the communities who live in fire-prone landscapes across the Pacific Northwest and the broader western United States.