Forest Service

U.S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

 FS-1187g | February 2024

WILDFIRE CRISIS

A HISTORIC YEAR

Expanding the Pace and Scale of Wildfire Risk

Reduction and Forest Health Treatments 
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A

HISTORIC

YEAR

In January 2022, we—the U.S. Department 

of Agriculture’s Forest Service—

announced the Wildfire Crisis Strategy. 

This strategy provided a vision for what 

it will take to meaningfully change 

how people, communities, and natural 

resources experience risk from wildfire. 

We made progress in implementing 

the Wildfire Crisis Strategy during 

the 2023 fiscal year. This was made 

possible due to the dedication of our 

employees and partners, as well as the 

historic investments Congress made 

through the Bipartisan Infrastructure 

Law and the Inflation Reduction Act. 

In January 2023, we announced the 

addition of 11 new Wildfire Crisis Strategy 

landscapes to the initial 10 landscapes. 

 We have now treated over 1 million 

acres across the 21 landscapes since the 

rollout of the Wildfire Crisis Strategy. 

This includes 765,450 acres treated in 

fiscal year 2023 alone as we continued to 

increase the pace and scale of our work. 

The diligent work of the agency and its 

partners to reduce hazardous fuels and 

restore forest health in these landscapes has 

begun to reduce wildfire risk for hundreds 

of communities, critical infrastructure 

such as transmission lines, and crucial 

watersheds that supply drinking water.

These successes fit into the broader 

efforts of the agency to reduce wildfire 

risk and restore forest health across 

the Nation. In 2023, we—along with 

partners, communities, and Tribes—

treated more than 4.3 million acres of 

hazardous fuels, including nearly 2 million 

acres of prescribed burning. Both of 

these are record highs in our 119-year 

history and more than 1 million acres 

accomplished than the previous year.

Pinyon, juniper, and scrub oak are common 

forest cover in the semi-arid ecosystems of 

the Dixie National Forest in southwestern Utah. 

The pinyon-juniper woodlands covering the hill 

in the background have been thinned in a fuels 

reduction treatment to reduce wildfire severity. 

USDA Forest Service photo by Lindsey Winkel.
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Wildland firefighters conducted prescribed burns 

on the Stanislaus National Forest in California. These 

burns were part of a larger agency effort to apply 

an updated management process for prescribed fire 

that mimics the established processes for fighting 

wildland fires. USDA Forest Service photo.

DOING 

BUSINESS 

DIFFERENTLY

The wildfire crisis cannot be confronted with 

business as usual. Throughout fiscal year 2023, 

we changed our way of doing business to better 

meet the challenge posed by this crisis. 

INCREASING CAPACITY

Increasing the capacity of the agency and our partners 

is crucial to expanding the pace and scale of wildfire 

risk reduction and forest health treatments.

We are focusing heavily on hiring, recruitment, and 

retention to bolster our internal capacity. Thanks to 

these efforts, permanent hiring has outpaced attrition. 

This past fiscal year, we filled a net 2,564 positions 

covering a range of key roles and responsibilities.

We expanded our circle of partners and invested in their 

capacity. This past fiscal year, we worked alongside 148 

unique partners in the landscapes. This includes 21 new 

relationships with partners we have not worked with before.

Early in 2023, we built on long-standing relationships 

with several of our partners by establishing a series 

of large, national-level agreements. These agreements 

will allow us to implement projects quickly and 

efficiently with these keystone partners across the 21 

landscapes and other at-risk lands managed by the 

Forest Service (National Forest System lands).

Tribes play a critical role in implementing the Wildfire 

Crisis Strategy. In February 2023, we released the “Strengthening Tribal Consultations and Nation-to-Nation 

Relationships: A USDA Forest Service Action Plan.” This 

action plan outlines steps the agency will take to advance 

Tribal consultation and strengthen nation-to-nation 

relationships with federally recognized Tribes. It provides 

an important foundation for how we collaborate with 

Tribes to reduce wildfire risk and restore forest health. 

As we expand cooperative stewardship and management 

opportunities with Tribes, we recognize it will be crucial 

to bolster Tribal capacity. In April 2022, we partnered 

with the Intertribal Timber Council to host a national 

roundtable discussion with Tribes to ensure that their 

voices were part of framing, developing, and implementing 

the Wildfire Crisis Strategy. This discussion led to the 

Intertribal Workforce Capacity and Development Dialogue 

Series, which took place between February and April 2023. 

Building on the best practices highlighted for the national 

roundtable, this virtual series was a thorough exploration 

of the challenges and opportunities associated with funding 

workforce development, including assessing capacity, 

recruiting and retaining talent, and policy constraints. 

“The Nature Conservancy [TNC] commends the Forest 

Service for fully committing to ‘do business differently’ 

when it comes to wildfire resilience initiatives. By prioritizing 

the landscapes most in need—and by employing the best 

science-based, collaborative forest stewardship principles—

the agency and its partners are leading the way in mitigating 

wildfire risk across the West. TNC’s new partnership with the 

Forest Service to scale up the prescribed fire workforce is 

just one example of the ‘all-of-society’ approaches we need 

to expedite forest health projects, overcome administrative 

and jurisdictional barriers, and ensure compliance with 

environmental laws and policies.”

Whitney Forman-Cook

Senior Policy Advisor, Forests and Fire

The Nature Conservancy
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Members of the San Carlos Apache Fire Module 

and the Reserve Treaty Rights Lands crew from 

the San Carlos Apache Tribe trim tree stumps. 

This was part of phase one of the Highway Tanks 

Tribal Forest Protection Act collaborative fuel 

reduction project on the Globe Ranger District 

and neighboring San Carlos Apache Indian 

ancestral land in Arizona. USDA Forest Service 

photo by Amanda Oliver.

INCREASING PACE & SCALE 

The Wildfire Crisis Strategy calls for dramatically 

increasing the pace and scale of forest health treatments 

across the West. To achieve this, we are using every 

tool and authority available and making innovative 

changes to existing systems and processes.

To expedite projects and ensure work is happening in 

the places where it is needed most, we created a strategic 

framework that will allow us to develop fuel treatment 

plans quickly and more collaboratively with partners and 

stakeholders while still maintaining compliance with 

environmental laws and policies. We also began a formal, 

holistic portfolio and project management approach to the 

Wildfire Crisis Strategy landscapes. This enables consistent 

planning and work management across landscapes.

In June 2023, we released our new National Prescribed Fire 

Resource Mobilization Strategy. It included recommendations 

to align prescribed fire implementation, support, and 

coordination across the agency. It used fire suppression 

concepts, processes, and procedures to supplement and 

prioritize prescribed fire on the landscapes. It also outlined 

a scalable management organization, in the form of regional 

prescribed fire implementation teams, sized to match the 

scope of projects. We piloted this mobilization strategy in 

California on the Stanislaus Landscape Project with great 

success, achieving years’ worth of work in just a 3-week period. 

The strategy has since been refined and its use expanded. 

We have been using the emergency authorities (Bipartisan 

Infrastructure Law, Section 40807, Emergency actions) 

granted by Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack through his 

emergency determination. These emergency authorities have 

enabled us to accelerate planning, consultation, contracting, 

hiring, and project implementation within the high-risk 

firesheds identified in the Wildfire Crisis Strategy. In fiscal year 

2023, we approved 39 fuels reduction projects in the high-risk 

firesheds. Twenty-one of these approved projects were within 

the landscapes, and they are slated to treat 1,040,470 acres in 

the coming years. We will continue using these emergency 

authorities in fiscal year 2024.

The Bipartisan Infrastructure Law established a new categorical 

exclusion for fuel breaks. As of the end of fiscal year 2023, we 

have 50 projects using this categorical exclusion authority that 

will treat 40,237 acres. These fuel break projects will help reduce 

wildfire risk to communities and critical infrastructure. 

We continued expanding the development and use of potential 

operational delineations (PODs). PODs provide a formal process to 

preplan for inevitable wildfires using a risk management approach. 

As of September, 70 PODs assessments have been completed, 3 are 

in the process, and 11 more are scheduled for fiscal year 2024.

There are several legal authorities available to the agency for 

working with Tribes. To ensure we are making the most of 

these varied authorities, we performed an inventory and review 

of these legal mechanisms to see how we can best support 

Tribal co-stewardship and partnerships. We also hosted 

joint meetings with our staff and Tribes to better understand 

Tribal Forest Protection Act provisions and more effectively 

leverage this act to support forest restoration projects. 

In addition, long-standing programs like the Collaborative 

Forest Landscape Restoration Program and the Joint Chiefs’ 

Landscape Restoration Partnership also contributed to forest 

health restoration efforts in and around the Wildfire Crisis 

Strategy landscapes. Such programs provide additional funding 

sources and opportunities to increase the pace and scale of 

work beyond those provided by the Bipartisan Infrastructure 

Law, Inflation Reduction Act, and regular appropriations. 

Throughout fiscal year 2023, we invested heavily 

in grant programs aimed at enabling wildfire risk 

reduction efforts across lands of all jurisdictions. 

In March, we invested $197 million in 99 projects through 

the Community Wildfire Defense Grant Program. Using 

funding from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, this 

grant program helps communities, Tribes, nonprofit 

organizations, State forestry agencies, and Alaska Native 

corporations plan for and reduce wildfire risks.

In April, we invested $33.7 million in Bipartisan Infrastructure 

Law funds in projects to strengthen the wood products 

economy and promote sustainable forest management. 

This included $29 million to support wood processing 

facilities and $4.7 million to fund temporary water crossings 

for skidders and other heavy forestry equipment. 

In June, we invested more than $43 million in 123 projects 

through the Community Wood Grant Program and Wood 

Innovations Grant Program. This investment was made 

possible in part by the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and 

the Inflation Reduction Act. Both the Community Wood 

grants and Wood Innovations grants promote innovation in 

wood products and renewable wood energy economies. 

Collectively, these investments will help give communities 

the resources they need to plan for and reduce wildfire 

risk while facilitating innovation both internally and 

with the wood products industry to match the pace 

and scale needed for reducing hazardous fuels. 
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LANDSCAPES

WILDFIRE CRISIS 

 STRATEGY LANDSCAPES

HIGH-RISK FIRESHEDS

ALL LAND OWNERSHIPS 

FOREST SERVICE LANDS

“Across the awe-inspiring landscapes of the West, 

forests and communities face significant threats 

from wildfire. The Forest Service has stepped up in 

a big way, addressing the crisis quickly and head-on 

through direct action and partnership. The National 

Forest Foundation is happy to be one of those 

partners, leveraging our expertise and ability to work 

quickly and efficiently to make a difference.”

Mary Mitsos

President and Chief Executive Officer

National Forest Foundation
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LANDSCAPE

ACCOMPLISHMENTS 

The 21 Wildfire Crisis Strategy landscapes span 135 

high-risk firesheds across 10 States in the West. These 

landscapes represent some of the areas with the highest 

wildfire risk and most vulnerable communities and 

critical infrastructure. Each landscape includes a 

mix of land jurisdictions, including National Forest 

System lands, other Federal lands, Tribal lands, State 

lands, municipal lands, and privately owned lands.

Although our landscape investments are multijurisdictional, 

the following updates include accomplishments 

on National Forest System lands only.

AT-RISK COMMUNITIES

 At-risk communities as identified by wildfirerisk.org.

MILES OF TRANSMISSION LINES

 Transmission lines are lines 345 volts or over from datasets 

managed by U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s 

Homeland Infrastructure Foundation-Level Data (HIFLD).

NUMBER OF WATERSHEDS

 Municipal supply watersheds data from the USDA 

Forest Service Southern Research Station.

ACRES TREATED

 Acreage is for fiscal year 2023 only; some landscapes 

also had work completed in the prior fiscal year.

LANDSCAPE 

Four Forest Restoration Initiative AZ 58 572 124 131,682

Greater Prescott Area Wildfire

Protection and Restoration AZ 13 40 23 13,762

San Carlos Apache Tribal Forest Protection AZ 20 129 27 14,780

Klamath River Basin CA, OR 22 362 160 164,642

North Yuba CA 6 0 29 21,483

Plumas Community Protection CA 31 0 52 49,496

Sierra and Elko Fronts CA, NV 54 51 72 25,085

Southern California Fireshed Risk

Reduction Strategy CA 75 220 231 33,370

Stanislaus CA 18 0 20 17,967

Trinity Forest Health and Fire-Resilient

Rural Communities CA 15 0 48 16,175

Colorado Front Range CO 80 9 155 19,644

Nez Perce-Clearwater-Lower Salmon ID 4 0 45 8,518

Kootenai Complex ID, MT 14 0 42 17,265

Southwest Idaho ID 10 0 62 73,910

Enchanted Circle NM 20 6 38 5,188

Central Oregon OR 15 228 53 50,836

Mount Hood Forest Health and

Fire-Resilient Communities OR 16 138 40 15,907

Pine Valley UT 7 72 18 9,632

Wasatch UT 31 3 69 15,866

Central Washington Initiative WA 22 393 186 33,849

Colville Northeast Washington Vision WA 6 0 140 26,393
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Deputy Forest Supervisor Kurt Davis on the 

Coronado National Forest shakes hands with 

Chairman Rambler from the San Carlos Apache Tribe 

after the signing of the historic San Carlos Tribal 

Forest Protection Act (TFPA) on August 1, 2023. 

This agreement allows the San Carlos Apache Tribe 

to collaborate on cross-boundary landscape-scale 

restoration projects in the Apache-Sitgreaves, 

Coronado, and Tonto National Forests and adjacent 

Tribal ancestral lands. USDA Forest Service photo.

CHALLENGES

AND 

OPPORTUNITIES 

While the 2023 fiscal year was marked by success, there 

were also challenges that we and our partners faced. 

We are looking for the opportunities to overcome 

these challenges when and where possible. 

Inflation and a high demand for contractors led to increased 

project costs and implementation times. In some cases, bids 

received on contracts were double the projected estimated 

cost. Uncooperative weather constrained the ability to 

implement some project work as well. As we continue to 

use the new National Prescribed Fire Mobilization Strategy, 

we will capitalize on potential burn windows by being 

more responsive with the resources available nationwide. 

The transportation costs and lack of market potential 

associated with small-diameter wood and noncommercial trees 

continue to pose a significant challenge in efforts to reduce 

hazardous fuels. We are collaborating with the wood products 

industry and other partners to find innovative solutions to this 

challenge. For example, we partnered with Resources for the 

Future and the U.S. Endowment for Forestry and Communities 

to host a series of roundtables that, in part, explored this 

topic. We are also working with the National Wild Turkey 

Federation on an innovative Timber Transport Pilot Project 

aimed at ensuring timber can be removed and processed, 

even if local mill capacity may not be enough. Investments 

made through grant programs like Wood Innovations and 

Wood Products Economy are also aimed at researching and 

developing new solutions to this longstanding challenge.

Smoke management continues to pose challenges, as there 

are negative human health impacts from all forms of 

wildland fire smoke. We are working alongside the U.S. 

Department of the Interior, Environmental Protection 

Agency, and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to 

both protect public health from the impacts of smoke while 

enabling land management practices that reduce the risk of 

large, high-severity wildfire events. This interagency effort 

will advance public health preparedness, minimize smoke 

impacts to the public, and ensure regulatory pathways under 

the Clean Air Act allow for increased use of prescribed fire.

We have also been exploring innovative opportunities 

to improve access to housing for our employees in areas 

with a higher cost of living. For example, we entered a 50-

year lease agreement in Summit County, CO, to provide 

affordable housing opportunities to local workers and Forest 

Service employees through offering the Dillon Ranger Work 

Center property for lease in a first-of-its-kind agreement.

Uncompetitive pay has also posed a challenge to recruiting 

and retaining employees. This is especially true with our 

wildland firefighters. Thanks to investments outlined 

in the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, we have been able 

to offer a pay supplement to our firefighters. However, 

this is not a permanent fix. Without a permanent pay 

solution, firefighters face a pay reduction from current 

supplemental levels down to previous levels, meaning a 

drop of $20,000 per year for most firefighters. Permanent 

pay reforms require authorizing legislation, and we are 

committed to working with congressional leaders on 

developing a comprehensive legislative proposal. 

While we have increased the pace and scale of treatments 

within the National Forest System, it has so far been difficult 

to do the same across other lands. To address this, we 

partnered with the Wildland Fire Leadership Council to host 

an all-lands wildfire resilience framework workshop

in September. The Council will use the information gathered 

in this workshop to develop an all-lands “playbook” that 

States, municipalities, Tribes, and private landowners could 

use to reduce wildfire risk at the pace and scale needed.

“Addressing the wildfire crisis is going to be an 

intergenerational process. Figuring out how we can all 

work together, using our strengths to overcome our 

weaknesses and increase the proactive use of fire, will be 

critical to starting down this pathway. These investments 

in place-based solutions are exactly what we need to set 

out strategically on our journey down this road.”

Bill Tripp

Director of Natural Resources and Environmental Policy 

Karuk Tribe, Department of Natural Resources
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NEXT STEPS

We will build on the successes of fiscal year 2023 by continuing 

to restore forest health and reduce wildfire risk to communities, 

critical infrastructure, water supplies, and ecosystems.

In fiscal year 2024, we will invest approximately $400 million of the Inflation 

Reduction Act and Bipartisan Infrastructure Law funds to ongoing efforts on 

the 21 Wildfire Crisis Strategy landscapes, making the total investment to date 

$1.6 billion. Inspired by the success of programs such as the Collaborative Forest 

Landscape Restoration Program, we will invest an additional $100 million with 

our new Collaborative Wildfire Risk Reduction Program and expand work in 

high-risk wildfire areas in wildland-urban interface outside of these landscapes.

The 2024 fiscal year will be the last to rely on Inflation Reduction Act 

funds, while Bipartisan Infrastructure Law investments will continue in 

annual increments through 2026. As these historic investments come to 

an end, we will continue to explore other vehicles for implementing the 

Wildfire Crisis Strategy (e.g., the Joint Chiefs’ Landscape Restoration 

Partnership program, Collaborative Forest Landscape Restoration Program, 

and regular appropriations). However, we know that these program areas 

will not be sufficient for the amount of work that needs to occur.

We recently implemented a new community navigator program. These 

community navigators will support leaders in historically underserved 

communities to find and access funding and partnership support. 

Connecting communities to the appropriate resources will build 

wildfire and climate resilience when and where they need it most. 

The Wildfire Crisis Strategy Implementation Plan calls for developing long-term 

maintenance plans beyond the initial 10-year period. We will begin developing 

those long-term maintenance plans for the landscapes this fiscal year. 

Americans need healthy, resilient forests that can withstand stresses like 

wildfires, droughts, and insect outbreaks. These stressors are inevitable, but 

they need not be catastrophic. Hand-in-hand with our partners, we will 

continue implementing the Wildfire Crisis Strategy to achieve this vision. 

“It has been the National Wild Turkey Federation’s honor to stand with our 

longest tenured partner, the USDA Forest Service, to confront the American 

wildfire crisis. It has not been easy as we have ‘ridden the bike while building it,’ 

overcome barriers and entered into a new business model. We have pushed each 

other and worked together to build this new machine that will move us to the 

pace and scale necessary to restore these landscapes.”

Tom Spezze

National Director of Field Conservation and State Policy

National Wild Turkey Federation

Hotshot crews are often the first to 

respond to a wildfire. USDA Forest 

Service photo by Josh Acevedo.
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WILDFIRE CRISIS

strategy

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Cover photo: Forest Service partners meet near Chama, NM, to learn how work on this landscape will protect human communities, 

wildlife habitat, and critical watersheds. Wildfire risk extends beyond lands managed by the Forest Service, and these partners 

are critical to the long-term success of the agency’s Wildfire Crisis Strategy. USDA Forest Service photo by Preston Keres.