WASHINGTON (CN) — Less than a week after smoke from Canadian wildfires blanketed the capital and much of the northeastern U.S., the Biden administration urged members of Congress on Wednesday to approve permanent pay raises for wildland firefighters.
Interior Secretary Deb Haaland and Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack issued the call in a joint memo sent to a slate of federal agencies, outlining priorities and the approach to combating wildfires in 2023.
The letter touts President Joe Biden’s budget proposal for fiscal 2024 and emphasizes a need for Congress to approve permanent pay increases and better benefits for firefighters.
More than 14,000 Forest Service and 5,000 Interior Department firefighters have received more than $381 million in temporary pay supplements through the bipartisan infrastructure law. The law increased pay by $20,000 or 50% of base salary, whichever was lower.
When those funds run out by Sept. 30, however, base salaries will return previous levels — for some, that means about $15 an hour.
Last week, the Senate heard testimony from Forest Service officials about how wages represent the largest barrier to wildland firefighter recruitment and retention.
For a wildland firefighter working in Arizona on a six-month contract, according to one listing on the government job board USAJobs, the projected salary ranges from $34,000 to $44,000 — not including the $20,000 bonus under the expiring infrastructure law. For the same six-month period, however, the Oregon-based logging company Miller Timber Services is advertising wildland firefighting positions that pay up to $4,565 bi-weekly, or more than $50,000.
Haaland and Vislack said that Biden’s proposed budget would provide permanent support for pay and benefits.
“Wildland firefighters perform physically demanding, rigorous and dangerous work that is essential to protect people and communities,” Vilsack said in a statement. “We need to better support our firefighters and that’s why President Biden has proposed long-term reforms that will provide permanent pay increases, better housing, better mental and physical health resources, and better work-life balance.”
Firefighters have lobbied Congress to make the increase permanent, saying failure to act could cause an exodus of the workforce.
“Even if there’s a slight lapse in the funding to keep giving us what we’re already getting, people are going [to] walk,” Justin Brown, a federal wildland firefighter, told Federal News Network in April. “Then we’re going to have no specialists in wildland firefighting … Without us, it’s going to fall apart.”
The Forest Service requested $180 million in its 2024 budget request to fund a permanent pay increase for its firefighting staff.
Haaland and Vilsack wrote that Biden's budget would support premium pay for all federal responders who are mobilized to a wildfire, while also funding facility improvements and maintenance and increasing the number of personnel. The agencies have a goal of employing 17,000 wildland firefighters by the end of the year.
Nearly 69,000 wildfires burned more than 7.5 million acres across the United States last year, according to the government's memo. The number of wildfires is rising, with the 10-year average up by more than 10,000 fires from 2021.
The memo comes less than a week after smoke from fires in Canada blanketed large swaths of the East Coast. The U.S. has deployed more than 600 firefighters and support equipment to support Canada in combatting the blazes.
“It is yet another alarming example of the ways in which the climate crisis is disturbing our lives and our communities,” press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said last week.
On the West Coast of the United States, meanwhile, wildfire season is only getting underway. Haaland and Vilsack said the Interior and Agriculture departments are increasing hazardous fuels treatments and post-wildfire restoration, as well as funding more research on wildland fires.
“Climate change is driving a devastating intersection of extreme heat, drought and wildland fire danger across the United States, creating wildfires that move with a speed and intensity unlike anything we have ever seen. I know firsthand the impact this is having across the West,” Haaland said. “We must use every opportunity provided by President Biden’s Investing in America agenda to support the wildland firefighters who put their lives on the line to keep communities safe.”
The memo is directed to the U.S. Forest Service, Bureau of Indian Affairs, Bureau of Land Management, National Park Service, and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. Haaland and Vilsack highlighted strategic priorities around reducing wildfire risk, restoring ecosystems and post-fire recovery. The memo highlights a recently updated federal fire management strategy.
“This is an unprecedented moment, not only in terms of the growing wildfire crisis, but also in the opportunities presented by our long-term strategies, increased investments, and improved workforce support,” Haaland and Vilsack wrote. “Your leadership is essential to maximize the impact of these historic investments, and to inspire the next generation to join us in tackling the challenges of wildland fire management.”
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