Editor’s note: On Sept. 27, 2023, the Wildland Fire Mitigation and
Management Commission released its 340-page report that included 148
recommendations to the administration as well Congress and the state,
local and tribal governments.

On March 12, the U.S. Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources
held a hearing with members of the administration and of the commission.
(See the April 4, 2024 edition of the Idyllwild Town Crier).

On March 14, the U.S. Senate Committee on Homeland Security and
Governmental Affairs held its own hearing on the report as well as the
growing threat of wildfires and how the committee can help with
preparation, response, recovery and mitigation of wildfires.

Sen. Gary Peters (D-MI), committee chair, opened the hearing with the
following warning, “Wildfires are an increasing threat to our country.
They have gotten bigger, burned more land, and put more communities in
danger … This year, they will likely get even worse.”

“This is a national priority,” said Sen. Mitt Romney (R-UT) in his
opening statement. “It is a tragedy that we continue to have wildfires
of the nature we have … Across the country, more and more states are
affected by wildfire. It’s not just a few states in the American West.
It’s a national concern.”

Peters, Romney and the other senators who attended the hearing were all
agreed that the Homeland Security Committee must play a central role in
the federal government’s response to this threat and growing problem.

Among the topics and areas about which the members asked questions of
the witnesses, were collaboration among federal, state, local and tribal
firefighting agencies, adequate funding, especially for firefighter pay,
but also for recovery efforts, and regulatory conflicts.

One of the major themes, which several witnesses emphasized, was the
federal government’s reaction to hurricanes compared to wildfires.

David Fogerson, Nevada’s emergency manager and Homeland Security chief,
specifically addressed this difference in his testimony and recommended,
“We must collectively plan for wildfire response and recovery as we do
hurricanes … Our nation’s response to wildfire is quite different.”

The National Hurricane Center has a role in forecasting and then
describing the strength and direction of a hurricane. Once identified,
federal agencies begin to deploy resources to the areas that are likely
targets of the hurricane. Funds also are distributed to state and local
agencies to pre-position equipment and staff to respond.

But a “red flag warning,” Fogerson noted, does not initiate a similar
response among federal, state, local and tribal agencies. Principal
responsibility for combating wildfire remains with the land management
agency, even after the fire crosses boundaries.

He was not the sole witness to despair this difference. Christopher
Currie, director for Homeland Security and Justice at the U.S.
Government Accountability Office, also mentioned it.

He stressed the need for more effective federal coordination regarding
responses to wildfire and post-fire recovery. Currently, this is
difficult, he noted, because nearly 30 federal agencies have some
responsibility in disaster recovery. Besides the variety of land
management agencies, the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) is a
primary actor in these activities. The Corps of Engineers and the
Environmental Protection Agency also have prominent roles.

“The consequences of poor collaboration can be significant,” Fogerson
emphasized.

One recommendation in “ON FIRE: The Report of the Wildland Fire
Mitigation and Management Commission,” is the creation of a Fire
Environment Center, similar in function to the National Hurricane
Center. Its purpose would be to reverse the widely recognized lack of
timely, manager-focused models, technologies and forecasts to support
operational decision-making, and short- and long-term planning,
according to the report.

Experts in land management, fire management, community risk reduction
and mitigation would join forces to build better models to forecast and
to respond to wildfires.

“We need to treat and to respond to wildfires the same as we do for
hurricanes,” Currie said in response to a question from Sen. Thomas
Carper (D-DE).

Lucinda Andreani, deputy county manager and flood control district
administrator for Arizona’s Coconino County, told the committee, “The
scale of these crises is rapidly overwhelming the capacity of local
governments.”

Health risks, particularly air quality, were discussed, too. Many
commented on the long-term deleterious effects from lingering smoke
caused by wildfires.

Sen. Jacky Rosen (D-NV) pointed out that the hazardous air quality from
smoke is not eligible for major disaster declarations under FEMA’s
Stafford Act and recommended amendments to address this dilemma.

Preparing and fighting fires was a significant portion of the hearing.
But Currie noted frequent post-fire problems. For example, housing for
those whose homes burned is not readily and easily available.

Six months after the devastating fire in Maui, Hawaii, many people are
still seeking adequate housing. Structural damage to homes from
hurricanes can often be repaired in months, but replacing a burned and
razed house can take years.

While FEMA has funds and authority to provide short-term housing and the
Housing and Urban Development Department can help with long-term
housing, there are limited and poor authorities for provision of
intermediate term housing.

One significant difference is the presence of debris, often toxic. It
takes time to find a safe location where the debris may be moved. This
delays the ability to construct a new house on the owner’s former site.

Other issues exacerbating the availability of housing include where the
fire occurred. Wildland fires are typically in remote and nonurban
areas. Also, they can occur, such as the Maui Fire, in high-cost areas.

“In a wildfire, it’s 10 times harder than a traditional disaster to
provide housing,” Currie said. “There is not a lot of affordable housing
that can be used temporarily or even hotels.”

Prescribed burns were another area that committee members probed the
witnesses about. Jamie Barnes, director and state forester for the Utah
Division of Forestry, Fire and State Lands, was adamant that prescribed
burns were a good and valuable tool for preventing fires from getting
out of control, which would also lower smoke pollution.

“We are seeing fires burn hotter and more severely, due to the excess
fuels and lack of active management on the landscape,” she said and
emphasized that regulations for multiple concerns create delays and
problems for those trying to reduce fire chances.

She used the Environmental Protection Agency regulations for air quality
as an example that often conflicted with the need to use a prescribe
burn. While the procedures used to implement the National Environmental
Policy Act (NEPA) aid in identifying special problems or threatened
areas, the act enables frequent litigation that slows and delays needed
fire mitigation, she told the committee.

“Permitting reform needs to align with NEPA,” Barnes advised and stated
that she favored greater use of categorical exclusions.

“Both FEMA and the Forest Service are typically limited in their
willingness to allow third parties to potentially fund activities of the
NEPA process on their behalf,” she said. “We’re using our good neighbor
authority in Utah to help the Forest Service. We’re not taking over the
regulatory process but providing help to them.”

Fogerson added that state and local agencies cannot use FEMA funds for
conducting controlled burns, “We have to use Agriculture [Forest
Service] or DOI [Bureau of Land Management, Fish and Wildlife Service or
the National Park Service] funding.”

And each witness and several senators noted the need to reform
firefighter pay. In his opening remarks, Peters stressed this point.
“This committee has also passed the Wildland Firefighter Paycheck
Protection Act — led by Sen. [Kyrsten] Sinema [(I-AZ)] — to establish a
permanent, updated pay scale for federal firefighters. We will continue
working to advance this bipartisan legislation through Congress to
prevent a pay cliff for wildland firefighters at the end of the fiscal
year.”

Barnes, Currie and U.S. Fire Administrator Dr. Lori Merril-Moore all
spoke in favor of improving firefighter compensation and benefits. In
his recommendations, Fogerson said, “Increase the pay, respect and
standing of our federal wildfire workforce. We need a year-round force
to support local and state government response efforts. Compensate them
fairly.”

As Romney concluded his remarks, he promised, “We’re working on
legislation to take the [commission’s] recommendations and turn them
into law. We have to have some changes. We can’t keep doing what we did
in the past.”

Reinforcing Romney, Peter’s committed, “This does not end today.
Congress and the entire federal government must do its part to improve
mitigation, response and recovery.”