The Department of the Interior and Department of Agriculture have announced a coordinated initiative to modernize federal wildfire response across the United States. The action comes as part of President Donald J. Trump’s Executive Order 14308, Empowering Commonsense Wildfire Prevention and Response, and includes the creation of the U.S. Wildland Fire Service (USWFS), with implementation planned for January 2026.
Secretary’s Order 3443 from the Department of the Interior directs the establishment of the USWFS, aiming to unify wildland fire programs in response to increasing risks posed by wildfires to people, property, and infrastructure. The Department of Agriculture has also issued a memorandum outlining steps to strengthen wildfire prevention and response systems.
“For too long, outdated and fragmented systems have slowed our ability to fight fires and protect lives. Under President Trump’s leadership, we are cutting through the bureaucracy and building a unified, modern wildfire response system that works as fast and as fearlessly as the men and women on the front lines,” said Secretary of the Interior Doug Burgum. “By streamlining federal capabilities and strengthening our partnerships with state, tribal and local teams, we will deliver the common-sense reforms needed to safeguard our communities, our lands and our future.”
“Time and time again, we have witnessed the devastating consequences of wildfires caused by mismanagement and a lack of preparedness. Under President Trump’s leadership, we are taking bold action to modernize wildfire response systems, streamline federal wildfire capabilities, and strengthen their effectiveness. We started this work in the spring and have continually updated our policies and programs to properly manage our forests through common-sense timber production and management, protecting our national forests and grasslands for generations to come,” said Secretary of Agriculture Brooke Rollins. “Secretary Burgum and I are committed to leading a bold transformation of the federal wildfire system to help our communities, neighbors, and partners better prepare for, respond to, and recover from wildfires.”
Wildfires continue to impose significant financial costs on the United States each year by damaging infrastructure, disrupting agricultural production—which can lead to higher food prices—and threatening public safety. Insufficient forest management practices over several decades have contributed to more intense fires that spread rapidly.
The USWFS is set to combine Interior’s fire bureaus with those at Agriculture for joint operations in procurement, predictive services, research efforts, policy changes, aviation modernization—including a new joint federal firefighting aircraft service—and other shared priorities.
Other key areas targeted include standardizing emergency firefighter programs; consolidating predictive services into a national intelligence capability; improving training standards; simplifying cooperative agreements; developing new technology systems; updating personal protective equipment standards; creating consistent frameworks for emergency stabilization; expanding biomass utilization; deploying risk mapping tools; and integrating pre- and post-fire activities into an overall strategy.
The Departments also noted permanent pay reform is now law for federal firefighters—including tribal firefighters—ensuring competitive wages. To address potential financial disincentives during peak seasons, budget requests for fiscal year 2026 seek an extension on premium pay cap waivers.
Stakeholders such as states, tribes, local governments, private sector organizations will be able to provide input on improvements as part of this process.
Continued Congressional support is considered essential for appropriations needed to maintain these reforms aimed at protecting lives while supporting long-term resilience in forests/rangelands as well as enhancing economic competitiveness.
