Letter to the Hon. Mitch McConnell, Senate Majority Leader, the Hon. Nancy Pelosi, Speaker of the House, the Hon. Charles Schumer, Senate Minority Leader, and the Hon. Kevin McCarthy, House Minority Leader - Cantwell, Murray, Colleagues Call for Wildfire Relief Funds to be Included in Next COVID-19 Relief Package

Letter

Dear Leader McConnell, Speaker Pelosi, Leader Schumer and Leader McCarthy:
As you consider an additional stimulus package to address the impacts of COVID-19 on our
nation, we urge you to include emergency support for communities recovering from devastating
and historic wildfires. A record 2020 wildfire season forced thousands of evacuations, threatened
air and water quality, and destroyed homes and businesses across the West. Congress must
provide support for these communities as they recover from the fires, and, given that many of
these fires burned on federal land, Congress must invest in land management agencies to prevent
further catastrophic wildfire.
Investments in the following initiatives would support the short and long-term recovery of local
communities impacted by both COVID-19 and a historic wildfire season:
 Local Economic Relief: The Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security (CARES)
Act, signed into law on March 27th, provided stabilization funds for Tribes, states and
larger communities. Many of the communities that were denied direct support through
the CARES Act were impacted by the historic wildfire season. In the aftermath of these
natural disasters, it is imperative that we ensure all communities are provided the
economic support they desperately need. Unfortunately, the CARES Act capped localities
able to receive direct support at those with populations of over 500,000. This excludes
towns, cities, and rural counties that have been hit hard by the COVID-19 outbreak and
fire and should be corrected. Provisions such as those included in The Coronavirus
Community Relief Act, which provides $250 billion in stabilization funds for Tribes, local
communities, cities and towns across the United States that are struggling amidst the
COVID-19 pandemic, would support communities that were excluded from economic
relief in the first COVID stimulus package.
 Investments in Fire Risk Mitigation: The severity of wildfires experienced across the
western United States was likely exasperated by both climate change and unfulfilled
forest management priorities. Many wildfires grew uncontrollable under a combination of
conditions: unseasonably warm temperatures, high winds, and extreme drought.
However, in many instances, forests where these fires occurred were also overgrown and
had dense underbrush. We must both address the causes of climate change while
investing in our land management agencies. Achieving this requires investments in
programs such as the following. One hundred million dollars should be added to each
fund.
o 21st Century Conservation Corps: By making investments in qualified land and
conservation corps, Congress can increase job training and hiring specifically for
resources management jobs. This funding will help restore forest health and
address the rise in unemployment due to COVID-19. By scaling up the existing
network of Service and Conservation Corps, a revitalized 21st Century
Conservation Corps will help employ hundreds of thousands of young Americans
and complete necessary project work on public lands and in communities across
the country.
o USFS and BLM - Hazardous Fuels: Investments in the U.S. Forest Service and
Bureau of Land Management Hazardous Fuels programs for projects that are
shovel ready, environmentally reviewed, and best for fire-risk reduction is a key
tool for restoring forest health and reducing wildfire risks. Given increased
drought risk and the damaging respiratory effects of COVID-19, there is an urgent
need to increase the pace and scale of our restoration projects, and the Hazardous
Fuels program is a linchpin in that effort.
o USFS- Collaborative Forest Landscape Restoration Program: The
Collaborative Forest Landscape Restoration Program (CFLRP) funds large-scale,
community-driven restoration projects with the goal of reducing the risk of
megafire, supporting jobs in rural communities, and enhancing wildlife habitat
and recreational opportunities across the nation.
o USFS - Vegetation and Watershed Management: This program ensures the
productive and sustainable use of National Forest System lands by improving the
growth and health of timber stands, reducing the risk of severe flooding and
erosion in forests affected by severe fire, and helping keep water clean.
o USFS - Water Source Protection Program: This program which was
established in the 2018 Farm Bill to encourage partnerships between agricultural
producers, businesses, cities, and the U.S. Forest Service. These partnerships will
improve forest health, benefit downstream communities, and bring in new
investments from non-federal partners. However, the program has not yet
received dedicated funding. As climate change continues to stress our forests and
watersheds, investments in local, collaborative programs like WSPP are critical.
o USFS - Landscape Scale Restoration: The Landscape Scale
Restoration program is a competitive grant program that funds priority projects
identified in State Forest Action plans. Additional funding will help states get
ahead of wildfire risk by treating priority acres in the Wildland Urban Interface,
ultimately reducing risks and costs associated with wildfire.
o USFS - National Fire Capacity (previously State Fire Assistance): The
National Fire Capacity program administers the Firewise program, and helps the
Forest Service support and assist State Foresters and local communities in
building capacity for the prevention, mitigation, control, and suppression of
wildfires on non-Federal lands. The program helps State agencies create more
fire-adapted communities by implementing pre-fire prevention and mitigation
programs described in State Forest Action Plans.
o FEMA - Building Resilient Infrastructure and Communities (BRIC)
Program: The BRIC program supports states, local communities, tribes and
territories, as they undertake hazard mitigation projects reducing the risks they
face from disasters and natural hazards. Investments in BRIC will help protect
homes and businesses from fire risks, and ultimately reduce the cost of responses
to natural disasters, including wildfire.
 Federal Support for Fire Response Efforts: In addition to investments in our land
management agencies, investments that support our wildland firefighting workforce are
critical to ensure communities are properly equipped for fire season. We encourage
investment in programs such as:
o FEMA - Staffing For Adequate Fire And Emergency Response (SAFER)
Grants: The Staffing for Adequate Fire and Emergency Response Grants
(SAFER) program was created to provide funding directly to fire departments and
volunteer firefighter interest organizations to help them increase or maintain the
number of trained, "front line" firefighters available in their communities. Further
investments in these grants will enhance local fire departments' abilities to comply
with staffing, response and operational standards.
o Interagency Hotshot Crews: We must make investments to address the demand
for Interagency Hotshot Crews (IHC) as wildfire season grows longer each year.
Many of the most intense wildfires burned at the end of the traditional season in
2020, when many IHC crews had already completed their contracts or were about
to lose their funding, which greatly limited the available resources. Less than a
third of the Hotshot Crews who were working at the beginning of the season were
still working in October, even though there was still a need for these resources.
Increasing available funding for those operations and for additional Hotshot
Crews are desperately needed as wildfire seasons grow longer and more intense.
o Increasing Pay and Benefits for Wildland Fire Workforce: Firefighting
personnel make sacrifices every day to keep our communities safe. As fire
seasons grow longer, we must expand the benefits they receive, and ensure they
are fully supported, compensated, and cared for. We encourage you to direct,
through the appropriate report language, the Secretaries of Interior and
Agriculture to coordinate with the Office of Personnel Management to review and
increase the pay scale for all federal wildland firefighters, and to consider
reclassifying seasonal federal firefighter positions as permanent. The pay scale
used to compensate these individuals should reflect the hazardous conditions they
endure and extensive training that is required of them. The Secretaries of Interior
and Agriculture should ensure that this pay scale is competitive with other
wildland firefighting opportunities outside of the federal government. A wage
increase, paired with greater job stability in permanent positions will also help to
fill vacancies as the wildfire season grows longer. Additionally, the Secretaries of
Interior and Agriculture should consider waiving the annual salary cap restrictions
for fire personnel who exceed the GS pay ceiling while working overtime on
wildfire emergencies.
 Fire Recovery Efforts: We must support the work being done by local, state, and federal
officials to revitalize the environmental health, water quality, and economy of
communities impacted by wildfires. Congress should consider investments in the
following programs:
o USDA - Emergency Watershed Protection (EWP) Program: Congress created
USDA's EWP Program in 1973 to help communities protect their watersheds and
mitigate damage after a natural disaster. EWP is funded on an as-needed basis,
but as of August 25, the USDA had less than $43 million left to spend on EWP
projects. Without supplemental funding, the USDA may not have the funds to
partner effectively with local governments and private property owners as they
recover from natural disasters. Additionally, given that states and local
governments are still feeling the economic impacts of COVID-19, which may
make it difficult to meet the local match requirements typically required for EWP
projects, we encourage providing direction that would allow the USDA to cover
up 100% of EWP project costs.
o Long Term Investment in the U.S. Forest Service: The National Interagency
Fire Center estimates that over 47,000 fires burned more than 8.5 million acres.
Over two-thirds of the affected acreage is on federal land and almost 4 million, or
45 percent, is Forest Service land. Because significant wildfires affected Forest
Service land in Colorado, Oregon, Utah, California, and elsewhere, states
continue to struggle to to restore land, water, infrastructure, and ecosystems. The
Forest Service will be an important partner in long-term recovery efforts and must
be able to invest in rehabilitation on National Forest System lands, including
reforestation, repairing trails and facilities, restoring habitat, and other measures.
While both the Department of the Interior and the Forest Service fund short-term
burned area stabilization, the Forest Service has limited ability to fund burned
area rehabilitation activities. Therefore, Congress must provide sufficient funding
and direction to support long-term wildfire recovery and rehabilitation on Forest
Service land.
Communities that have been fighting the public health and economic impacts of COVID-19 are
now also now beginning the long journey of recovering from catastrophic wildfire. Congress has
the power to not only help these communities recover, but also to make federal investments in
sustainable forest management to ensure they are better prepared for the next season. We urge
you to consider the timely need for wildfire mitigation, suppression, and recovery in the next
COVID-19 stimulus package.
Thank you for your consideration of this request.

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