Policy & Funding

As Oregon's wildfire suppression costs surge with 1.5 million acres burning, FEMA has approved Fire Management Assistance Grants for key fires, while policymakers and agency officials face renewed questions about fire funding, preparedness, and the long-term trajectory of fire seasons in the West.

FEMA has authorized Fire Management Assistance Grant funding for the Grasshopper Fire in Oregon, while state officials warn that the 2026 fire season is on track to be Oregon's most expensive suppression year in more than a decade, raising urgent questions about long-term funding and forest management.

Nathan Matthews, 43, a member of the Rifle Helitack crew in Colorado, died July 24 from burn injuries sustained during the Knowles Fire burnover on June 27 — becoming the fourth firefighter to die from that single incident. The tragedy comes as lawmakers raise alarms about USFS staffing amid peak fire season.

FEMA has authorized a Fire Management Assistance Grant for the Kaiser Canyon Fire in Washington, covering up to 75% of eligible suppression costs. Meanwhile, Idaho has already spent more than $20 million fighting fires in 2026 — and the season is far from over.

DOGE-directed staffing cuts at BLM and the Forest Service are drawing criticism from lawmakers and agency employees who warn the reductions undermine the federal government’s ability to respond to a worsening wildfire crisis — and could force the U.S. to seek international firefighting help.

As the nation's wildfire preparedness level hits its maximum for the second consecutive year, questions about long-term funding for fire suppression and prevention are coming to a head in Congress, with potential cuts threatening both prevention programs and the aerial firefighting fleet.

Idaho has already spent more than $20 million on wildfire suppression in 2026 and is weighing higher fire assessment fees, while at the federal level the newly created U.S. Wildland Fire Service is set to receive its first named congressional appropriation of $1.16 billion in FY27.

The Trump administration's proposal to create a unified U.S. Wildland Fire Service is advancing administratively despite Congress's failure to formally authorize it, even as the 2026 fire season pushes federal firefighting resources to their limits. Oregon has already triggered the FEMA Fire Management Assistance Grant process and declared a statewide emergency.

As Oregon and Washington battle some of the largest fires in recent state history, questions about the long-term adequacy of wildfire suppression funding and forest management investment have returned to the national conversation. Congress allocated emergency fire funding in FY2026, but fire management advocates say critical gaps remain.

Oregon Governor Tina Kotek has invoked the Emergency Conflagration Act multiple times in one week, mobilizing state firefighting resources for the Lower Dry Creek Fire, the Rowe Creek Complex, and the Akawa Butte and Brewer fires — an unprecedented pace that highlights the severity of Oregon's 2026 fire season.

Oregon's Lower Dry Creek Fire has received the state's first FEMA Fire Management Assistance Grant of 2026 as fire suppression costs escalate. Meanwhile, the U.S. Wildland Fire Service is seeking research proposals on changing fire regimes.

Oregon has invoked the Emergency Conflagration Act three times in 2026 — an unusually high frequency that highlights growing pressure on the state's fire suppression capacity and raises questions about long-term fire funding and forest management policy.

The 2026 wildfire season is arriving as federal wildfire policy faces major changes: a new U.S. Wildland Fire Service is being stood up, Bipartisan Infrastructure Law fire funding expires this year, and Congress has passed a comprehensive FY2026 wildfire budget. The season is stress-testing every dimension of the system.

With 2026 wildfire activity outpacing last year, debates over USFS reorganization, prescribed fire funding delays, and a new Wildfire Smoke Emergency Declaration Act are intensifying in Washington, D.C.

Federal funding disruptions and administrative policy changes are straining the Forest Service's prescribed fire program heading into peak fire season, even as bipartisan legislation to address long-term wildfire management challenges advances in Congress.

New federal grant conditions requiring recipients to disavow climate and DEI initiatives are blocking prescribed burn funding in Washington state, where officials say the terms conflict with state law.

Bipartisan legislation aims to fix hazard pay gaps for federal wildland firefighters during prescribed burns and training. Meanwhile, delayed prescribed burn funding, emergency wildfire appropriations, and calls for broader fire policy reform dominate the political agenda as the 2026 fire season intensifies.

Oregon's Emergency Board has funded a new statewide evacuation management system and a wildfire response reserve as the state contends with 19 counties under drought emergency. At the federal level, proposed research budget cuts raise concerns about long-term fire management capacity.

With wildland fires burning at above-average intensity across the Pacific Northwest and West, Congress is considering legislation to strengthen firefighter pay and extend hazard compensation to prescribed burn and smokejumper training assignments. Key FY2026 fire management funding remains unresolved.

The 2026 wildfire season has already burned 3.4 million acres across the United States as of July 8 — 146% of the ten-year average — with 37 large fires currently active and the National Preparedness Level elevated to 4.