Wildland Fire News

A selection of news releases and stories related to wildland fire management. For details about ongoing wildfires, visit the National Interagency Fire Center.

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In the News: Does thinning work for wildfire prevention? (www.hcn.org)
A wildland firefighter saws through dense foliage. Photo by Joe Bradshaw, BLM.
2/16/2023
Severe wildfire — which kills most of the trees in its path — has increased eightfold in 30 years. Thinning and prescribed fire are critical for preserving Western forests. But they won’t save forests on their own: climate action is imperative, too.
Wildland Fire Mitigation and Management Commission Releases Strategy to Meet Aerial Firefighting Equipment Needs
Four crew members look out from a helicopter in the sky.
2/13/2023
Today, the Biden-Harris administration's Wildland Fire Mitigation and Management Commission released a report outlining a strategy to meet aerial firefighting equipment needs through 2030.
A Research Project Aims to Improve Forest Resiliency to Future Wildfires
Green corn lilies amid a barren forest floor and blackened trees. By Ryan Mikulovsky, USFS.
2/7/2023
A research project that recently received funding from the Joint Fire Science Program, with support from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, aims to help the Mendocino and Shasta Trinity national forests recover from extreme wildfires while developing forest conditions that will build resiliency to climate change, fires, and other disturbances.
Improving Wildfire Risk Reduction through Ecosystem Mapping
A wildland firefighter holds a drip torch over dry grass amid trees. By Jeff Adams USFWS.
2/6/2023
The Bipartisan Infrastructure Law is providing an additional $20 million to the Joint Fire Science Program over five years to support wildland fire science. One proposal that received funding through the law will develop improved ecosystem maps to support strategic fire and fuel management planning at regional and landscape scales.
In the News: To Find and Fight Fires (express.adobe.com)
The Summit Trail Fire.
2/2/2023
Hundreds of wildland fires burned more than 3 million acres in over 580 blazes across Alaska in 2022, the fifth largest area burned since 1990. How do fire managers track and monitor these fires while dispatching and protecting firefighters? The answer, in part, is satellites.
dotGov Notes: The Office of Wildland Fire Quarterly Bulletin (content.govdelivery.com)
Newsletter subscribe screen on a laptop and cell phone on a desk with a cup of coffee.
1/30/2023
The winter 2022/2023 edition of the Office of Wildland Fire's quarterly newsletter discusses accelerating the pace and scale of wildfire risk reduction and resilience, the new firefighter classification series, developing a firefighter health and wellbeing program, and more.
Director’s Report: A Historic Down Payment on the Future
Wildland firefighters look out at flames burning in dried grass. By Austin Catlin, BLM.
1/30/2023
The Bipartisan Infrastructure Law is a historic down payment on the future that will help overcome the worsening climate crisis and increasingly severe wildfires. Accelerating the pace and scale of the Interior Department’s wildland fire management activities is a priority in 2023.
Welcome to LANDFIRE, Where Consistent Data has Improved Fire Modeling
A fire behavior analysis for the 2022 Moose Fire in Idaho, completed in WFDSS using LANDFIIRE.
1/23/2023
Predicting a wildfire’s movement is a complex task. Technology like the geospatial mapping program LANDFIRE makes the process more rapid and accurate.
dotGov Notes: Update on Implementation of Wildland Firefighter Occupational Series (content.govdelivery.com)
A firefighter uses a drip torch at night. Flames rise from vegetation. Photo by Austin Catlin, BLM.
1/9/2023
In 2022, a new occupational series was created for federal wildland firefighters, as directed by the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law.The agencies are now working on its implementation and are on track to meet the June 2023 deadline.
Addressing the Threat of Wildfires to Water Supplies: Meet Laura Harger
Reclamation’s Wildland Fire Management Program Coordinator at the Whiskeytown Reservoir.
1/4/2023
As the National Wildland Fire Management Program Coordinator for the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation, Laura Harger is developing the bureau’s program to address wildfires and the risks they pose to water supplies and hydropower production.
Deputy Secretary Beaudreau Announces $228 Million for Wildfire Mitigation and Resilience from Bipartisan Infrastructure Law
Two firefighters mopping up spot fires
12/14/2022
Today, Deputy Secretary Beaudreau announced the allocation of $228 million from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law to support wildland fire management in fiscal year 2023.
In the News: California needs to burn. Native women are leading the way. (www.washingtonpost.com)
A prescribed fire burns around a fallen tree in a forest at dusk. Photo by NPS.
12/14/2022
Decades of fire suppression, logging, and climate change have resulted in catastrophic wildfires in California. A group of Indigenous women from the Karuk Tribe in Northern California are bringing back a centuries-old practice of prescribed burning to help manage a landscape that’s been pushed wildly out of balance.
In the News: Wildfire Smoke Can Slash California Solar Power Output by Nearly a Third (www.bloomberg.com)
Smoke rises from the South Moccasin Fire in Montana. Photo by Lauren Kokinda, BLM
12/14/2022
A new study from the National Center for Atmospheric Research shows that smoke can cut solar power production by nearly a third. Scientists examined a period in September 2020, when smoke from some of the largest fires in California history shrouded much of the state in a sickly orange haze .
Director’s Report: Laying the Foundation for Significant New Investments in Wildfire Management through the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law
A Yosemite helitack crews work around a helicopter, smoke rising behind. By Yosemite National Park.
11/29/2022
The Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, signed one year ago, provides a once-in-a-generation investment to help tackle the climate crisis and improve the resiliency of our lands to wildfire. In 2022, it helped the Interior Department lay the foundation for significant additional investments in wildfire management.
dotGov Notes: The Office of Wildland Fire Quarterly Bulletin (content.govdelivery.com)
Newsletter subscribe screen on a laptop and cell phone on a desk with a cup of coffee.
11/29/2022
The fall 2022 edition of the Office of Wildland Fire's quarterly newsletter discusses increased investments in wildland fire management on the one-year anniversary of the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, funding opportunities for wildland fire science, career opportunities in fire, and more.

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