BRUSH Fires Act

The BRUSH Fires Act requires the Secretary of Agriculture (through the Forest Service) to carry out a one-year study assessing how effective current wildfire mitigation methods are at reducing wildfire risk and limiting damage in shrubland ecosystems and in communities within or adjacent to those areas. The study will evaluate hazardous fuels management (including strategic fuel breaks) and efforts to maintain native shrub ecosystem health (such as controlling invasive species and promoting resprouting of native shrubs), along with policies to limit ember ignitions from the public and man-made sources (including electrical infrastructure). It will also analyze how factors like weather, seasonality, and topography affect method effectiveness, identify barriers to implementation, and evaluate partnerships with non-Federal entities. The Secretary must deliver a public report to Congress within 90 days after the study is complete, detailing best practices, areas needing further research, policy comparisons with current Forest Service approaches, and opportunities to improve coordination—especially for reducing ember-related risks in the wildland-urban interface. Definitions clarify that “covered ecosystems” include chaparral, coastal sage scrub, sagebrush, shrub-steppe, xeric shrubland, and other dryland shrub ecosystems.