More than $4.2 billion of President Joe Biden’s fiscal year 2024 budget has been proposed for the U.S. Departments of the Interior and Agriculture wildland fire and hazardous fuels management.
The budget submitted to Congress March 9 also included funding for workforce support.
“Wildfires fueled by climate change and ongoing drought continue to reinforce the need for a well-supported wildland fire management workforce that is available year-round to protect lives, communities, infrastructure and ecosystems throughout the country,” Interior Secretary Deb Haaland said in the release. “The president’s 2024 budget proposal supports our ongoing effort to shift away from a temporary, seasonal workforce toward a more permanent team that can conduct wildland fire management year-round, including activities to reduce wildfire risk throughout the country.”
In 2022, the wildland fire management budget was $1,532,000, according to the Bureau Highlights. It was $1,429,000 in 2023, and the 2024 request is $1,587,000. The wildfire suppression operations reserve fund was $330 million in 2022, and the 2024 request is $350 million.
In 2022, nearly 69,000 wildfires burned more than 7.5 million acres of land in the U.S., the release said.
Pay would increase for federal and Tribal firefighters under the workforce reforms proposed in the fiscal year 2024 budget, the release reported. Legislation is required for the permanent pay reforms.
Proposed increases of $72 million for the Department of the Interior and $180 million for U. S. Department of Agriculture would raise base pay for wildland firefighters, “with additional premium pay costs covered out of funding requested for suppression operations,” according to the release.
Increases of $10 million each for DOI and the USDA would enhance firefighters’ mental and physical health and well-being through the Joint Wildland Firefighter Behavioral Health Program, the release reported. Funding of $22 million for DOI and $50 million for the USDA would fund facilities improvement and maintenance to improve housing for firefighters and support personnel.
“Wildland firefighters save lives, protect communities and serve on the frontlines to confront our nation’s wildfire crisis,” Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack said in the release. “We must take better care of them in return by addressing challenges that have plagued them for decades. Better care means better pay and benefits, better housing, better mental and physical health resources and better work-life balance for these people who have given so much.”
