The Mountaineers
The growing impact of wildfire and smoke on Washington's lands, waters, and communities increasingly affects our outdoor experiences. With the wildfire season in full force this summer, fires continue to burn and affect communities across Washington, including in the North Cascades and in the Yakima Valley.
As we grapple with the many challenges presented by more frequent and intense wildfires, it can be hard to know how to help. It’s important that our community better understand how the wildfire crisis is playing out in Washington and how we as outdoor enthusiasts and advocates can support a wildfire-resilient future for our public lands.
The Mountaineers is striving toward that future by engaging in joint advocacy with our partners at Outdoor Alliance. The coalition is building support for funding and legislation to support wildfire response and resiliency. Join our advocacy by sending a message to your members of Congress urging their support of several bills that invest in solutions to the wildfire crisis.
Legislative Solutions to the Wildfire Crisis
A warming climate combined with the legacy of commercial logging, fire suppression, and other factors has brought our forests out of balance. Thanks to increased federal funding from recent initiatives like the Wildfire Response and Drought Resiliency Act, the 2021 Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, and the 2022 Inflation Reduction Act, the Forest Service and other agencies now have a better opportunity to make forests and communities more resilient to wildfire.
Last fall, a federal commission of fire experts and land management agency leadership released a report outlining tangible guidance for wildfire response. These action steps can make communities safer from fire, help people recover after a fire, and improve the wildland fire and restoration workforce.
Lawmakers in Congress have introduced legislation that would enact some of the report’s recommendations and tackle wildfire challenges with additional improvements to and investments in fire planning and response. Here are some specific wildfire-related bills we’re supporting this Congress, including bills sponsored by Washington state members of Congress:
National Prescribed Fire Act (S. 4424/H.R. 8557)
Fire is a natural part of U.S forests that brings numerous ecological benefits. Prescribed fire has been used as a traditional land management tool by Native peoples since time immemorial. The National Prescribed Fire Act - introduced by Rep. Kim Schrier (WA-08) - would increase the use of prescribed fire to help reduce wildfire risk and improve forest health.
“Here in Washington state, we’ve experienced the devastating impact of catastrophic wildfires firsthand, and as fires continue to grow in severity throughout the West, it’s imperative for Congress to act now and address this issue,” said Congresswoman Schrier. The bill creates targets and incentives for prescribed fire use, and improves work benefits and liability protections for prescribed burners.
Enhancing Mitigation and Building Effective Resilience (EMBER) Act (S. 4628)
This bill focuses on post-fire recovery and mitigation, including co-stewardship with Native tribes. Importantly, the EMBER Act would require land managers to adopt performance metrics for wildfire mitigation that go beyond acres treated to include protection of cultural, ecological, and social values. The Mountaineers supports co-stewardship of our lands and waters between land management agencies and tribes and synergy between outdoor recreation management and wildfire resilience.
Modernizing Wildfire Safety and Prevention Act of 2024 (H.R. 8656)
In Washington and across the West, wildland firefighters are increasingly tasked with both addressing fires in their state as well as mobilizing to support wildfire response elsewhere. This bill would improve training and job benefits for wildland firefighters. The bill would also improve science and technology around wildland firefighting and create a national smoke monitoring and alert system to help forecast air quality impacts from fire.
Wildland Firefighter Paycheck Protection Act of 2023 (H.R.5169/S.2272)
This legislation would make permanent the firefighter pay raise from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law. Currently, the federal government is struggling to retain wildland firefighters and this legislation would bring the critical investments needed to ensure that federal firefighters continue to receive fair pay for their work.
Fire Ready Nation Act (S. 4237/H.R. 8449)
Introduced by Senator Maria Cantwell (D-WA) in 2022, The Fire Ready Nation Act would formalize and fund the firefighting duties already performed by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). More specifically, the Act would enhance National Weather Service firefighting tools, improving wildfire forecasting and the agency’s ability to identify impacts of changing weather conditions.
In addition to these legislative fixes, we’re advocating for fire resiliency efforts as a part of the process to improve the Northwest Forest Plan. This Plan update will give the Forest Service a better roadmap to manage forests in Washington, Oregon, and California using climate-smart strategies. We’ll keep our community informed of how to participate in the public process this fall.
Take Action
The outdoor community is uniquely positioned to be effective advocates for solutions to the wildfire crisis because of our connection to the places where we recreate. The lead photo of this blog of a Mountaineers trip affected by the Bolt Creek Fire is just one way that our community’s outdoor experiences can translate to compelling storytelling for advocacy on a national scale. Your voice is needed as we advocate for investments in the ways to address, prevent, and recover from severe wildfire.
Use our action form to share a personal story with your Representative and Senators, and ask them to support solutions that will help address causes of wildfire, invest in fire mitigation and recovery, and tackle climate change. Together, we can chart a more sustainable future for the Northwest’s forests, mountains, and river valleys and the transformational outdoor experiences they provide.
The Mountaineers appreciates working with Outdoor Alliance on this advocacy. Be wildfire smart on the landscape this summer with these fire safety tips and resources and by checking for current fires before you head out on public lands.
