Federal firefighting agency ‘consolidation’ plan deadline next week
Jordan Hansen
(Daily Montanan) A major deadline set by an Executive Order from President Donald Trump to consolidate the firefighting apparatus in the Department of Interior and the U.S. Forest Service is approaching, with some advocacy organizations hoping it will improve coordination.
Interior and the Forest Service, which is housed in the Department of Agriculture, need to present a plan by Sept. 10 on how they’re going to consolidate firefighting efforts. A second deadline, on Dec. 9, requires the two departments to unveil a plan to increase state and local firefighting capacity.
Partners in Wildfire Prevention, a coalition which includes clean energy interest groups, economic organizations, the Western Fire Chiefs Association and the Theodore Roosevelt Conservation Partnership, said there’s not enough attention on the issue of wildfires at the national level. They view the order as some acknowledgement of that and are hopeful it improves fire response.
“What we don’t know yet is exactly what the decisions are that come out of the order,” said Chet Wade, a spokesperson for the group. “That’s why we think it’s important to draw attention to it. And what we hope to see is greater collaboration, stronger communication, better more effective operations.”
The order places more emphasis on using technology to fight fires. This mostly deals with early detection – computer-assisted systems can report fires, and aerial capacity, both with suppression efforts and fire reconnaissance is where more technology for managing fires could be implemented.
“There are lots of new technologies, you know, using satellites, using AI, using other sensors that allow for either monitoring and understanding when there is a higher risk and what can be done about it, or responding quickly,” Wade said.
Not all groups have been rosy about the prospect of the order, with Andy Stahl, director of Forest Service Employees for Environmental Ethics, telling the Daily Montanan earlier this year it was just an effort to rile up members of President Trump’s base.
It’s unclear what the changes will ultimately mean to day-to-day operations.
“At the direction of President Donald J. Trump, we are unifying federal wildfire programs to streamline bureaucracy and leverage new technologies and partnerships to better equip local responders, accelerate suppression efforts, and strengthen preventative measures—all essential to protecting communities and conserving our public lands,” Erin McDuff, an Interior Department spokesperson wrote in an email to the Daily Montanan in late June.
Montana has seen a fire season devoid of large fires. On Monday, the state’s fire tracking website said there have been 1,942 wildland fire incidents this year, but acreage burned is lower than last year. Gov. Greg Gianforte said late last month “aggressive” work by firefighters in the state had limited the acreage burned this year to about a third of what it was in 2024.
Fires across the state appeared to mostly be under control, with a spate of fires that kicked up during a warm week in late August mostly tampered down.
The Windy Rock fire, 15 miles from Drummond was the exception, which was listed at 4,130 acres and was 1% contained on Wednesday. There is a public meeting scheduled for 5 p.m. at the Helmville Community Center on Wednesday.
The fire is being managed by a large, national team. No structures have been destroyed by the fire to date.
It’s been an expensive fight, though, and the fire’s cost for suppression efforts was listed at nearly $25 million. Firefighting costs are split between state and federal governments and are divided out at the end of the year.