The Wildland Fire Service also stops short of folding in wildland fire personnel or programs from the USDA\u2019s Forest Service.
\nThe Interior Department is blazing ahead with a reorganization plan that will bring all of its wildland firefighting operations into a single agency.<\/p>\n
Starting next week, the department\u2019s wildland fire employees and programs will be moved into a new Wildland Fire Service.<\/p>\n
Congress did not approve funds for the consolidation of federal firefighting programs into a single agency. The Wildland Fire Service also stops short of merging wildland fire personnel or programs from the USDA\u2019s Forest Service with those same resources at the Interior Department.<\/p>\n
An internal memo sent to staff on Monday states the Wildland Fire Service \u201cwill unify wildland fire management within DOI only.\u201d<\/p>\n
According to the memo, obtained by Federal News Network, the Wildland Fire Service will \u201calign operations\u201d with USDA through shared procurement, predictive services, research, and policy reforms.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe success of these efforts will rely on ongoing support from Congress to secure the necessary funding and authorities needed to implement and sustain these important reforms,\u201d the memo states.<\/p>\n
President Donald Trump signed an executive order last summer requiring the Interior Department and USDA to consolidate their wildland fire programs \u201cto the maximum degree practicable and consistent with applicable law.\u201d The Trump administration\u2019s fiscal 2026 budget request noted that wildland fire response has been split across five agencies in two departments.<\/p>\n
A comprehensive spending deal to fund the Interior Department through the end of fiscal 2026 did not endorse the Trump administration\u2019s plans to consolidate federal wildland firefighting operations<\/strong><\/a> into a single agency.<\/p>\n Democrats on the Senate Appropriations Committee wrote in a summary of the Interior spending bill last month that the spending package \u201cspecifically provides funding to continue wildland firefighting using the longstanding practice of funding both the U.S. Forest Service and the Department of the Interior to allow Congress to consider legislative proposals for such a major change.\u201d<\/p>\n Most of Interior\u2019s wildland fire personnel will move over to the Wildland Fire Service starting Feb. 8. Last month, Brian Fennessy, former chief of the San Diego Fire-Rescue Department and former fire chief of the Orange County Fire Authority, was tapped to serve as the new chief of the Wildland Fire Service.<\/p>\n The Wildland Fire Service will merge the wildland fire operations of the Bureau of Indian Affairs, the Bureau of Land Management, the Fish and Wildlife Service, the National Park Service, the Office of Aviation Services and the Office of Wildland Fire. \u201cThis integration paves the way for streamlined training, stronger recruitment, and greater career growth for Interior wildland fire personnel,\u201d the memo states.<\/p>\n Last fall, an employee group called Grassroots Wildland Firefighters applauded greater coordination between the Interior Department and the Forest Service but said these actions \u201cdo not yet go far enough.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWe know the limits of what can be done through executive action alone. At the same time, we know the limits of what can be done through executive action alone. Lasting reform \u2014 true consolidation of our nation\u2019s wildfire workforce under experienced fire leaders in a single, mission-driven organization \u2014 will ultimately require congressional action,\u201d the group said in a press release.<\/p>\n Interior said the next steps to stand up the Wildland Fire Service will \u201coccur in deliberative phases to ensure continuity of operations and readiness for wildfire activity in 2026.\u201d<\/p>\n Interior Secretary Burgum issued a departmentwide order last month<\/strong><\/a> calling for the unification of the disparate wildland fire operations and activities.<\/p>\n
\nBy unifying wildland fire programs spread across four DOI bureaus and two offices, the Interior Department expects to \u201celiminate redundancies and build a more cohesive workforce.\u201d<\/p>\n