US Wildland Fire Service to Debut in January 2026

Direct link to September 16th video from KREM12 on Youtube

I thank Mike Archer of Wildfire News of the Day and my friends at the B10 NJ Wildland Fire Page for making me aware that on September 15th the Department of the Interior and the Department of Agriculture announced the establishment of the U.S. Wildland Fire Service in January 2026 to implement President Trump's June 12th Executive Order “Empowering Commonsense Wildfire Prevention and Response. Please see the September 15th Press Release from the Department of the Interior for more information. In brief, the U.S. Wildland Fire Service plan

focus(es) on on five interdependent priorities:

• Address systemic inefficiencies and modernize aviation and coordination systems

    ◦ Create a joint federal firefighting aircraft service

    ◦ Consolidate predictive services into a national intelligence capability

• Strengthen interagency wildfire coordination and response

    ◦ Modernize and right-size qualifications and training

    ◦ Standardize the Emergency Firefighter Program

• Improve federal partnerships and reduce administrative burden

    ◦ Streamline cooperative agreements

    ◦ Establish a joint contracting, procurement and payment center

• Ensure wildfire research, technology, and IT investments are mission-ready

    ◦ Build a modern, cohesive Wildfire Enterprise IT System

    ◦ Modernize personal protective equipment standards to better safeguard firefighters

• Integrate pre- and post-fire activities into a complete wildfire strategy

    ◦ Deploy a unified wildfire risk mapping tool

    ◦ Establish a consistent Emergency Stabilization and Rehabilitation framework

    ◦ Expand beneficial use of biomass and residual forest products

I think that the creation of the U.S. Wildland Fire Service is a good step forward to managing wildfires in the United States. I look forward to following the new service after it is implemented in January 2026