Authorizes and guides expanded use of prescribed fire on Federal and other eligible lands by allowing certain hazardous-fuels and wildland fire funds to pay for planning, training, burns, equipment, and partnerships. It creates a competitive Collaborative Prescribed Fire Program, directs workforce development and liability guidance, requires coordinated environmental and air-quality review, and ties some funding eligibility to timely reporting of prescribed-fire accomplishments. The law sets a cap (up to 15% of specified hazardous-fuels funds per Secretary) for these activities, excludes pile burning from the prescribed-fire definition, requires year-to-year increases in treated acreage, and mandates annual reporting to Congress and to the national fire operations database. It also authorizes cooperative agreements, long-term contracts, and education and research to expand safe, landscape-scale prescribed burning.
Defines "congressional committees" to mean: (A) the Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources, the Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry, and the Senate Committee on Appropriations; and (B) the House Committee on Natural Resources, the House Committee on Agriculture, and the House Committee on Appropriations.
Defines "Federal land" to mean (A) land under the jurisdiction of the Secretary (Secretary of the Interior) and (B) National Forest System land.
Defines "landscape-scale prescribed fire plan" as a decision document prepared under the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 that: (A) covers a National Forest System unit, a Bureau of Land Management district, or a subunit of such a unit or district; (B) analyzes site-specific environmental consequences of prescribed fire on that land; and (C) removes the need for subsequent NEPA decisions for the covered unit, district, or subunit. (References NEPA, 42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.)
Defines "National Forest System" by reference to section 11(a) of the Forest and Rangeland Renewable Resources Planning Act of 1974 and explicitly states what is excluded: it does not include the national grasslands or land utilization projects administered under title III of the Bankhead-Jones Farm Tenant Act. (References 16 U.S.C. 1609(a) and 7 U.S.C. 1010 et seq.)
Defines "prescribed fire" as a deliberately ignited fire that: (A) burns wildland fuels under specified conditions to keep the fire within a set area and achieve planned resource management goals (control of fireline intensity and rate of spread); and (B) is carried out in accordance with applicable law and regulations.
Who is affected and how:
Federal land management agencies: Will get explicit authority to redirect a portion of hazardous-fuels budgets toward prescribed fire, must design selection and reporting systems, expand training, and coordinate with air-quality and environmental reviewers. Administrative workload will increase (project selection, monitoring, reporting, cooperative agreements).
Wildland fire workforce and prescribed-fire practitioners: Should see more funding, training opportunities, longer-term contracts, and job growth tied to expanded burn programs. Liability guidance may lower barriers to participation.
Tribal governments, State and local partners, and private landowners: Eligible to participate in collaborative projects and can receive funds or cooperative-agreement support to plan and carry out prescribed burns on or near non‑Federal lands. They must comply with reporting requirements to be eligible for some funds.
Local communities and air-quality agencies: Will be directly affected by increased prescribed burning through smoke management demands and air-quality impacts; coordination requirements aim to reduce public-health impacts but may require new monitoring and public outreach.
Public and ecosystems: Prescribed fire can reduce hazardous fuels, lower catastrophic wildfire risk, restore fire-adapted ecosystems, and protect infrastructure and communities—while also raising near-term smoke and public-perception issues that require outreach.
Budget and programmatic impact:
Risks and trade-offs:
Last progress June 10, 2025 (8 months ago)
Introduced on June 10, 2025 by Ronald Lee Wyden
Read twice and referred to the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources.
Updated 2 days ago
Last progress June 10, 2025 (8 months ago)