Wildfire
Bad news: the U.S. is experiencing more frequent and intense wildfires. Good news: policy informed by science, evidence, and Indigenous perspectives can lessen the disastrous effects.
Despite growing federal spending on suppression, wildfires continue to grow in size and severity in the United States. Science, data, technology, and talent have huge potential to enhance proactive wildland fire management and empower communities to prepare for, respond to, and recover from wildfires. Our team is working to build a more fire-resilient nation through policy development and analysis, fellowships, and issue education. Learn more about our work below.
FAS supports the bipartisan Regional Leadership in Wildland Fire Research Act under review in the House, just as we supported the earlier Senate version. Rep. David Min (D-CA) and Rep. Gabe Evans (R-CO) are leading the bill.
The current wildfire management system is inadequate in the face of increasingly severe and damaging wildfires. Change is urgently needed
“FAS is very pleased to see the Fix Our Forests Act, S. 1426, advance out of Committee. We urge the Senate to act quickly to pass this legislation and to ensure that federal agencies have the capacity and resourcing they need to carry out its provisions.”
Wildland firefighters manage, suppress, and prescribe fires on our nation’s public lands, protecting all of us. Yet it is becoming ever clearer that we as a nation are failing to protect them.
