Western Wildfire Support Act of 2025
The Western Wildfire Support Act of 2025 aims to strengthen federal actions around wildfires in the western United States by improving preparation, detection, suppression, and post-fire recovery. It would increase transparency in firefighting spending, establish mechanisms to reimburse states for certain fires caused by military training, and require strategic, science-based planning for firesheds (the geographic areas where fires threaten communities and infrastructure). The bill also authorizes new programs and studies to integrate local firefighters, deploy and modernize detection and suppression technologies (including drones and unmanned aircraft systems), and support post-fire recovery through emergency stabilization teams, long-term rehabilitation funding, online resources for disaster aid, and an innovation prize focused on wildfire-related invasive species. Several provisions define key terms and set thresholds for what counts as a “catastrophic wildfire” for reporting and planning purposes. Overall, the act would expand federal planning and investment tools for wildfires, foster collaboration with state and local partners (including Indian Tribes), and promote technology development and faster, more coordinated responses—while also creating new funding and accountability mechanisms for post-fire recovery and land management.
Key Points
- 1Firefighting account transparency and catastrophic wildfire definition
- 2- Reforms to annual reporting on wildfire-related funding and costs, with a new focus on detailed cost categories (ground operations, aircraft, personnel, on/off-incident costs, and administrative costs) and a defined category of “catastrophic wildfires” that trigger analyses.
- 3Reimbursement for wildfires caused by military training
- 4- Requires reciprocal fire protection agreements with states to reimburse state fire agencies for suppression services needed when fires are caused by Department of Defense training activities, with cost itemization and funding from DoD sources.
- 5Strategic wildland fire management planning
- 6- A coordinated, science-informed effort to review and update spatial fire management policies for firesheds on federal land, including regular updates, risk identification for responders and infrastructure, and collaboration with states to delineate operational wildfire control locations and risk factors.
- 7Wildfire detection, suppression tech, and drone-related studies
- 8- Expands wildfire detection capabilities (sensors, cameras, satellite use), supports slip-on tanker unit pilots (with reporting on purchases and barriers), advances UAS/R&D for fire applications, and studies drone incursions’ impacts on suppression with potential counter-drone options.
- 9Post-fire recovery and long-term rehabilitation
- 10- Establishes permanent Burned Area Emergency Response (BAER) teams for immediate stabilization and erosion control; creates a Long-Term Burned Area Rehabilitation account (up to $100 million annually) for ecosystem restoration and critical infrastructure repair, with priority given to projects affecting downstream water resources; and introduces a Theodore Roosevelt Genius Prize to spur innovations in managing wildfire-related invasive species, including an advisory board and annual prizes (authority limited to 2028).