Washington State
House of Representatives
Office of Program Research
BILL
ANALYSIS
Agriculture & Natural Resources Committee
HJM 4009
Brief Description: Requesting Congress to ensure that federal wildfire response entities have the capacity to protect communities and infrastructure, limit impacts to natural resources and watersheds, and protect wildland firefighter health and safety.
Sponsors: Representatives Springer, Abell, Reed and Reeves.
Brief Summary of Bill
  • Requests the federal government to take certain actions regarding its wildland fire response consolidation.
Hearing Date: 1/30/26
Staff: Lily Smith (786-7175).
Background:

The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) and the Department of the Interior (DOI) house the five federal agencies with primary responsibility for wildland fire management on federal lands.  Within the USDA this is the Forest Service (USFS), and within the DOI they are the Bureau of Indian Affairs, the Bureau of Land Management, the Fish and Wildlife Service, and the National Park Service.

 

On June 12, 2025, President Trump signed Executive Order 14308 to streamline federal wildland fire governance, among other objectives and directives.  This order directs the DOI and USDA to consolidate their wildland fire response programs.

 

In response, the DOI issued Secretarial Order 3443, creating the United States Wildland Fire Service (USWFS) to consolidate and unify the wildland programs across all DOI agencies and directing several unification and coordination actions with the USFS.  The USDA issued Secretary's Memorandum 1078-017, which likewise directed the USFS to take several internal and external restructuring actions in coordination with the DOI.
Summary of Bill:

The Legislature requests that the federal government take appropriate steps to ensure the federal wildfire response entities have the capacity to protect communities and infrastructure, limit natural resources impacts, and protect wildland firefighter health and safety, including through the following:

  • ensure that the consolidation of the USWFS is fully operational and staffed by April 1, 2026;
  • delay any further reorganization until wildland fire activity has subsided; and
  • provide that the unification process is done carefully and deliberately to avoid a future reduction of wildland firefighting capacity.
Appropriation: None.
Fiscal Note: Not requested.