Policy & Funding

A group of U.S. senators warned in September that over $6 billion in fire suppression budget authority had been committed by early September 2026, nearly exhausting the year’s entire wildfire suppression budget. The news is prompting calls for reauthorization of the fire funding Reserve Fund.

A bipartisan group of Western U.S. senators is demanding emergency action after the U.S. Wildland Fire Service burned through nearly its entire $6 billion fire suppression budget by early September — with months of peak fire season remaining.

FEMA approves nearly $43 million for wildfire recovery and mitigation in Alaska, Oregon, and Washington; Oregon extends its insurance emergency order another 30 days to protect fire-impacted policyholders.

The U.S. Senate has unanimously passed the Wildfire Emissions Prevention Act of 2026, a bipartisan bill designed to make it easier for states and communities to use prescribed fire. The vote comes as federal fire suppression spending for 2026 has nearly exhausted its entire budget ahead of schedule.

Federal senators raised urgent concerns in September as USFS and DOI burned through nearly all of their $6 billion FY2026 fire suppression budget — calling on Congress to reform wildfire funding before the 2027 season.

A bipartisan group of Western senators has warned that the U.S. Forest Service and Wildland Fire Service burned through nearly their entire annual fire suppression budget by early September — with fire season still ongoing.

Washington Governor Bob Ferguson has formally asked President Trump to approve a major disaster declaration for four eastern Washington counties following devastating summer wildfires that destroyed hundreds of homes.

From the Fix Our Forests Act to the Wildfire Emissions Prevention Act, a series of bipartisan bills are gaining momentum in Washington, D.C. — driven in large part by the devastation of the 2026 fire season and growing political urgency on both sides of the aisle.

Congress funded $1.01B for USFS and $383.7M for DOI wildfire suppression in FY2026, with a $2.85B reserve fund. A Trump administration proposal to consolidate agencies under a new U.S. Wildland Fire Service faces pushback as a Congressional study begins.

With over 2.5 million acres burned — the most in Oregon’s recorded history — the 2026 fire season is driving intense debate over forest management, public land policy, and whether the state’s approach to wildfire is fundamentally broken.

Oregon's Legislature approved nearly $123 million in emergency wildfire funding — $108 million to the Oregon Department of Forestry and $15 million to the State Fire Marshal — after a record-shattering season that burned 2.3 million acres and cost the state more than $236 million through late August.

Oregon has burned more than 2.3 million acres in 2026 — shattering the state's previous wildfire acreage record — and the Oregon Legislature's Joint Emergency Board has approved $122.8 million in emergency funding, with total suppression costs projected to exceed $350 million before the season ends.

A bipartisan group of U.S. senators warned that the Forest Service and Wildland Fire Service had nearly exhausted their combined $6 billion suppression budget by September 2, raising the prospect that federal agencies could run out of funds before the 2026 fire season ends.

Western senators have warned that federal fire suppression funding could be exhausted in 2026, potentially forcing agencies back to the criticized "fire borrowing" practice. Oregon spent $236 million suppressing fires, Washington spent over $200 million in a single month, and the nation ran at maximum preparedness for 49 straight days.

A sweeping bipartisan forest management bill is awaiting a final Senate vote after passing the House with unusual cross-party support. The Fix Our Forests Act would streamline environmental reviews for fuel reduction projects—a proposal that has split the environmental movement.

The 2026 wildfire season has burned 8.5 million acres in 56,651 fires through September 21 — 146% of the 10-year average and the most destructive season in a decade, with 33 large fires still active nationwide.

Oregon is seeking $250 million in additional spending authority as the 2026 fire season's cost approaches $350 million. Federal fire suppression spending has already consumed the entire $6 billion annual budget.

The U.S. Forest Service and U.S. Wildland Fire Service burned through more than $6 billion in suppression funds by August — over 70% of annual budget authority — as senators demand action on a firefighting funding model they say is structurally broken.

With 8.5 million acres burned nationwide through mid-September — 146% above the 10-year average — the 2026 wildfire season is officially the most destructive in over a decade, straining federal budgets and intensifying calls for sustained investment in fire resilience.

As the 2026 fire season burns through record acreage, the federal government is navigating a major restructuring of its wildland fire agencies. The newly created U.S. Wildland Fire Service faces funding uncertainty while the Forest Service undergoes sweeping changes — all while firefighters battle fires on the ground.