Lawmakers Are Failing Federal Wildland Firefighters-Our Public Lands Will Pay the Price
Federal wildland firefighters aren’t just emergency responders; they are the frontline stewards of over 600 million acres of public land in the United States. Their work extends far beyond suppressing wildfires. These professionals are tasked with managing prescribed burns, maintaining forest health, and ensuring the resilience of our landscapes in the face of a worsening climate crisis. Yet, despite years of warnings about the dire consequences of inadequate pay, Congress has failed to deliver permanent compensation increases for these essential workers. This failure is not just a disservice to the firefighters themselves — it’s a looming disaster for the public lands they protect.
A Workforce at a Breaking Point
The Bipartisan Infrastructure Law temporarily increased pay for federal wildland firefighters in 2022, raising wages to at least $15/hour and offering retention bonuses. These measures were a lifeline for an overburdened workforce facing increasingly long fire seasons, grueling conditions, and high rates of burnout. But the funding was always temporary, and by late 2023, those pay increases were set to expire. This has left thousands of firefighters facing a pay “cliff.” Delays and political gridlock prevented the passage of the Wildland Firefighter Fair Pay Act (2023), which would have made the pay hikes permanent.
Without competitive wages, federal agencies are bleeding talent to state, local, and private firefighting organizations, many of which can offer higher salaries, better benefits, and more stable schedules. The exodus is particularly alarming because these non-federal crews are rarely tasked with land stewardship or prescribed fire work, which require specialized training and expertise. More importantly, the Federal land management agencies manage far more land than State and local government.
Using land ownership as a metric, it’s clear that work on Federal and surrounding private lands offer the most, in terms of broad contiguous land ownership that can host landscape-level stewrdship efforts (e.g. returning fire as a disturbance process). Embracing this stewardship work requires a different mind set and internal system of validation. Federal wildland firefighters are uniquely trained for this work. State, local government, and private industry crews, whose responsibilities typically focus on emergency suppression, often lack the same level of expertise in land stewardship practices. Effectively stewarding land across generations gets way less external validation, than the simple protection of homes and infrastructure.
Prescribed Fire
The challenge is compounded by public perception. Non-federal firefighters, whose primary focus is protecting lives and property, are often met with widespread gratitude, including “Thank you, firefighter” signs and praise from the communities they serve. In contrast, federal wildland firefighters frequently face public criticism. Prescribed burns, a cornerstone of their stewardship, often generate complaints about smoke and other inconveniences. When a wildfire isn’t aggressively suppressed, these firefighters can become targets of frustration from a public that doesn’t always understand the complexities of fire management. Increasingly, there is a percieved lack of aggressive action, particularly on fires far from values at risk, during periods of peak demand during a fire season, due to a lack of available crews and engines. That is to say, it is becoming more common that all Federal resources are stripped protecting high values at risk, and there simply aren’t enough boots on the ground. The public rarely welcomes news that any part of a wildfire is being ignored, but that is the level of risk management Federal land managers must apply when managing fires in remote areas. It’s little wonder that many federal firefighters are drawn to non-federal roles, where they can earn better pay and avoid these public relations challenges.
Prescribed burns are one of the most effective tools for reducing wildfire risk, improving wildlife habitat, and maintaining ecosystem health. Conducting these burns safely and effectively requires deep knowledge of fire behavior, weather patterns, and ecological dynamics. Losing skilled federal workers with these skills to other agencies creates a gaping hole in our ability to manage and protect public lands into perpetuity.
Federal wildland firefighters are among the most dedicated and skilled professionals in the fire management world. They’re driven not just by the adrenaline of emergency response but by a commitment to the long-term health of our nation’s lands. However, that commitment has limits when their paychecks fail to reflect the value of their work.
As these workers leave for better-paying opportunities, federal agencies are left with fewer experienced personnel to lead crews, plan prescribed burns, and mentor new hires. In their absence, the capacity to execute complex fire management strategies will diminish. This isn’t a workforce that can be rebuilt overnight; the expertise and institutional knowledge of seasoned firefighters take years to develop.
The inability of Congress to pass permanent pay reforms reflects a deep misunderstanding of the stakes. Current indications are that the incoming Trump administration would be hostile to Federal pay hikes, and would likely be more amenable to privatising the Federal workforce, where possible. Federal wildland firefighters are not interchangeable with state, local government, or private crews. They play a unique and irreplaceable role in managing the landscapes that define America’s natural heritage. Neglecting their pay and working conditions is a false economy, one that will lead to higher wildfire suppression costs, more severe ecological damage, and greater threats to public safety.
Advocates for federal wildland firefighters — including organizations like Grassroots Wildland Firefighters and FUSEE as well as the firefighters themselves — have been sounding the alarm for years. Lawmakers must act now to prevent a crisis that is already unfolding. This means passing legislation that not only ensures competitive pay but also supports mental health resources, housing assistance, and career development opportunities.
The Clock Is Ticking
We are rapidly approaching a tipping point where the loss of skilled federal firefighters will permanently undermine our ability to manage public lands and mitigate wildfire risks. Every day of inaction brings us closer to a future where catastrophic wildfires are the norm, and the landscapes that generations of Americans have cherished are irreparably damaged.
It’s time for Congress to recognize the value of federal wildland firefighters and the vital role they play in protecting our public lands. If lawmakers fail to act, they won’t just be failing the firefighters; they’ll be failing all of us.
Mike Beasley is the Board President for Firefighters United for Safety, Ethics and Ecology (FUSEE). This article is cross-posted on his Substack account, where he writes about all sorts of things.