Wildfire Management Appropriations: Data, Trends, and Issues
Released: 2016-08-02T00:00:00

W ildfire (or wildland fire), an unplanned and unwanted fire, can have beneficial and harmful impacts on human, historical, cultural, and ecological resources. Wildfires can damage timber resources and soils and degrade water quality and watershed functions. Wildfires can also damage communities, destroy homes, and lead to loss of human life. In addition, wildfire can reduce fuel loads, increase ecosystem health and functioning, and restore fire-adapted ecosystems.

Wildfire Statistics4

In 2015, more than 68,000 wildfires burned approximately 10.1 million acres, 7.4 million of which were federal lands. This figure was the largest acreage burned on record and is larger than the acreage burned in the previous two years combined (4.3 million acres in 2013 and 3.6 million acres in 2014).

Although acreage burned is one indicator of the annual level of wildfire activity, it may also be misleading, since many of these fires may have occurred in areas that are large and relatively undeveloped, with very little impact on human development or communities. Acreage burned also does not indicate the severity of the wildfire or the degree of damage caused to the ecosystem. Thus, other indicators of wildfire activity should also be considered in conjunction with acreage burned, such as the severity of each wildfire or the cumulative number of severe wildfires in a year. In 2015, 1.5% (1,052) of the wildfires were classified as large or significant wildfires. Another statistic used to examine annual wildfire severity is the number of days spent at the highest national preparedness levels. The National Fire Preparedness Levels (PLs) are indicative of the level of nationwide mobilization of resources, with higher numbers indicating higher levels of response. For the six-year period of 2009 through 2014, the PL was at the highest level (PL5) for a total of 7 days; in 2015, the PL was at PL5 for 24 days.

Wildfires can have a devastating impact on those communities adjacent to or within wildfire activity. Data reflecting the level of destruction caused by a wildfire can be useful but are not consistently collected on a nationwide scale. In 2015, 4,636 structures were destroyed by wildfires. Wildfires also pose safety risks; in 2015, 13 firefighter fatalities were reported.

Wildfire Management Activities and Responsibilities

Wildfire management is a series of coordinated activities undertaken by federal, state, and local authorities to prepare for, resolve, and recover from wildfire events. Resolution of an active wildfire may involve immediate and aggressive measures to suppress a wildfire (e.g., personnel and large air tanker response for a wildfire moving quickly toward a populated area), or it may involve immediate but less intense measures (e.g., monitoring a grassland wildfire where there is no immediate threat to humans).

Wildfire management activities are generally categorized as fuel reduction, preparedness, suppression, or site rehabilitation.

Fuel reduction is manipulation (including combustion) or removal of fuels to reduce the likelihood of ignition and/or to lessen potential damage and resistance to control. Preparedness is any activity that leads to safe, efficient, and cost-effective fire management. Preparedness includes the range of tasks necessary to build, sustain, and improve the capability to protect against, respond to, and recover from incidents. Suppression is the work associated with extinguishing or confining a fire. Site rehabilitation includes efforts undertaken, generally within three years of a wildfire, to repair or improve fire-damaged lands unlikely to recover to a management-approved condition within a specified time frame or actions taken to repair or replace minor facilities damaged by fire.

A number of federal, state, and local agencies can and do respond to wildfires. States are responsible for responding to wildfires that begin on nonfederal (state, local, and private) lands, except for lands protected by the federal agencies under cooperative agreements. The federal government is responsible for responding to wildfires that begin on federal lands. The U.S. Department of Agriculture's Forest Service (FS) carries out wildfire response and management across the 193 million acres of national forests and national grasslands. The Department of the Interior (DOI) carries out wildfire management and response for more than 400 million acres of national parks, wildlife refuges and preserves, Indian reservations, and other public lands. Sometimes more than one agency may respond, depending on where the fire occurs, the potential threats, and the expertise required. In these cases, the National Interagency Fire Center (NIFC) coordinates the national mobilization of resources for wildfire and other incidents throughout the United States.

Wildfire Management Appropriations

Both DOI and FS receive annual discretionary appropriations for wildfire management activities through the Interior, Environment, and Related Agencies appropriations bills. Wildfire management funding for DOI is provided to the Office of Wildland Fire, which then allocates the funding to four DOI agencies—Bureau of Land Management (BLM), Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA), National Park Service (NPS), and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS). Congress also provides funding for wildfire-related activities through the Federal Emergency Management Agency, such as emergency financial assistance for some nonfederal wildfires through Fire Management Assistance Grants and the Disaster Relief Fund; those funds and activities are discussed in other CRS products.

DOI and FS each have two accounts for wildfire: a Wildland Fire Management (WFM) account and a Federal Land Assistance, Management, and Enhancement Act (FLAME) account. FLAME is a reserve fund for wildfire suppression that requires certain conditions be met to transfer funding from FLAME to the WFM account. The WFM appropriation is distributed among two programs: F ire O perations and O ther F ire O perations . The F ire O perations program receives the bulk of the WFM appropriation and funds two activities: preparedness and suppression. Appropriations for preparedness are used to support efforts that assist with fire prevention and detection, equipment, training, and baseline personnel. Suppression appropriations are used primarily for wildfire response. The O ther F ire O perations program funds hazardous fuels reduction activities, such as restoring forest vegetation type and structure to improve a forest's resilience and resistance to catastrophic wildfires. The Other Fire Operations program also funds joint fire research and science programs (e.g., NIFC operations) and programs to provide financial and technical assistance for state and volunteer wildfire management. Table 1 contains annual total wildfire management appropriations from FY2007 to FY2016. Appropriations for preparedness, suppression, hazardous fuels reduction, FLAME, and additional suppression appropriations are discussed in more detail below.

Wildfire management appropriations began to increase in the late 1990s and increased significantly after FY2000, partly in response to the severe 2000 fire season ( Figure 1 ). As measured in constant 2015 dollars, wildfire appropriations have varied between $3.8 billion in FY2001 and nearly $5.0 billion in FY2008 and in FY2016 (to date). From FY2007 to FY2016, combined FS and DOI wildfire management appropriations have averaged $3.8 billion.

The majority of wildfire management appropriations go to FS. From FY2007 to FY2016, FS received on average 76% of the total wildfire management appropriations and DOI received 24%. In addition, FS wildfire management appropriations constitute a large portion of total FS discretionary funding. For example, in FY2016, FS wildfire management appropriations are approximately 61% of the agency's discretionary funds, although not all of those funds counted against discretionary spending limits. Figure 2 reflects the proportion of FS discretionary funding between wildfire and non-wildfire activities over the past 10 years.

Wildland Fire Management Account

Of the two programs funded by both agencies' WFM accounts, Fire Operations receives the largest share of the funding, accounting for 78% of the combined WFM appropriation on average over the last five years. Whereas the Fire Operations programs are relatively similar in FS and DOI, the Other Fire Operations program funds some different activities in FS and DOI. For FS, the Other Fire Operations program includes appropriations for hazardous fuels management, as well as fire assistance and joint fire science activities. For DOI, Other Fire Operations includes appropriations for fuels management and joint fire science activities, and it also includes appropriations for burned area rehabilitation. Burned area rehabilitation for FS is funded in the suppression activity.

Fire Operations: Preparedness

Appropriations for preparedness are used to support efforts that assist with fire prevention and detection, equipment, training, and baseline personnel. FS uses preparedness funds to establish and maintain web-based decision support tools; manage and modernize aviation assets; and conduct predictive services analysis, among other things. DOI uses preparedness funds to prepare and execute fire management plans and cooperative agreements; provide infrastructure support; manage firefighting assets; support NIFC; and more.

Congress appropriated a total of $1.41 billion for preparedness activities in FY2016 ($1,082.6 million for FS; $323.7 million for DOI), a decrease from the $1.46 billion appropriated in FY2015. Over the past five years (FY2012-FY2016), the funding level for the DOI preparedness activity saw minor fluctuations through FY2014 but increased 10% with the FY2015 appropriation ($319.0 million). Over the past five years (FY2012-FY2016), appropriations for FS preparedness have averaged $1.0 billion annually, although FS preparedness funding increased by close to 50% from FY2011 ($673.7 million) to FY2012 ($1,004.4 million). This increase was mostly due to a restructuring of the preparedness and suppression activities, which included shifting aviation charges and other changes to the preparedness activity.

Fire Operations: Suppression

Funds for suppression typically are provided through two accounts in annual Interior appropriations laws: the WFM account and the FLAME account. In addition, other appropriations laws, such as supplemental appropriations laws, sometimes provide additional suppression funds for these accounts. Suppression funding data are thus presented in this report in three different sections corresponding to the three different funding sources and then collectively discussed at the end of this section. More information on wildfire suppression spending is also available in CRS Report R44082, Wildfire Suppression Spending: Background, Issues, and Legislation in the 114th Congress .

WFM suppression appropriations are used primarily for wildfire response. Some items covered by the FS suppression activity are firefighter salaries, aviation asset operations, incident support function, and suppression resources for DOI incidents on a reciprocal non-reimbursement basis. The FS suppression activity also covers personnel and resources for the Burned Area Emergency Response (BAER) program. Items covered by the DOI suppression activity include selected personnel expenses above what is covered by the preparedness subaccount, temporary emergency firefighters, and aircraft flight operations and support. Both FS and DOI typically request suppression funds based on the 10-year suppression obligation average.

The suppression activity received $1,102.7 million in FY2016 ($811.0 million for FS; $291.7 million for DOI), a 10% increase over FY2015 levels ($999.7 million combined). Over the last five years (FY2012-FY2016), combined appropriations for WFM suppression have averaged $929.7 million annually and have increased in each successive year since FY2013.

Other Operations: Hazardous Fuels

FS's hazardous fuels appropriation and DOI's hazardous fuels reduction appropriation are used to decrease fuel loads, or alter the arrangement of fuel loads, on federal lands in an effort to make fires less intense and more controllable. Appropriations for this activity are used for fuel reduction projects, or treatments , on federal lands and in high-priority areas in the wildland-urban interface.

In FY2016, Congress appropriated $545.0 million for hazardous fuels reduction activities to both FS ($375.0 million) and DOI ($170.0 million), a 4% increase over the total FY2015 level ($525.7 million). On average, the combined hazardous fuels reduction appropriation has been $492.2 million annually over the last five years (FY2012-FY2016). Since becoming a stand-alone budget item in FY2001, the hazardous fuels subaccount has received the third-largest share of WFM appropriations for both agencies.

FLAME

Congress established a FLAME account—under the Federal Land Assistance, Management, and Enhancement Act of 2009 —to cover the costs of large or complex fires and to be used when amounts provided in the FS and DOI WFM accounts for suppression are exhausted. Both the Secretary of Agriculture and the Secretary of the Interior may transfer funds from their agency's FLAME account into their agency's WFM account, for suppression activities, upon a secretarial declaration. The declaration may be issued if a fire covers at least 300 acres or threatens lives, property, or resources, among other criteria. The conferees of the FY2010 Interior appropriations bill stated their intent that the funding in the FLAME account, together with appropriations to the WFM account, should fully fund anticipated wildfire suppression needs and prevent future borrowing of funds from non-fire programs.

DOI transferred $105.0 million from the FLAME reserve fund in FY2016, which exhausted the entire FY2015 FLAME appropriation and any unobligated balances carried over from previous fiscal years. FS also exhausted its FY2016 FLAME appropriation and transferred all FLAME funds in FY2016.

Table 2 contains FLAME account funds for FY2007 to FY2016. Since the first appropriation in FY2010 through FY2015, Congress had appropriated $404.2 million on average annually to both FLAME accounts. In FY2016, Congress appropriated $1.0 billion to the FLAME accounts ($823.0 million to FS; $177.0 million for DOI).

Supplemental Appropriations

If the funding in the WFM suppression activity and FLAME account are exhausted during any given fiscal year, FS and DOI are authorized to transfer funds from their other accounts to pay for continued suppression activities. This practice is sometimes referred to as "fire borrowing" or "fire transfers." When it occurs, the agencies must submit a request for supplemental appropriations to repay borrowed funds. Congress may provide these funds through legislation that supplements the annual Interior appropriations law or in the following fiscal year's annual appropriation law for the agencies. Bill or report language typically specifies how the additional funds are to be used (e.g., for wildfire suppression, for fire transfer reimbursement, for emergency rehabilitation), although for record-keeping purposes, these funds are generally reported in the agencies' WFM suppression activity. Congress has, at times, designated the funds as emergency funding, not subject to certain discretionary spending limits. For example, $700.0 million was provided in FY2016 as additional wildfire suppression appropriations for FY2015 wildfire suppression activities. The $700.0 million was designated as emergency spending and not subject to certain discretionary budgetary constraints, but the additional funds provided in FY2013 and FY2014 were not similarly designated.

A breakdown of additional funds since FY2007 is provided in Table 2 . Congress has provided additional wildfire funds in 6 of the 10 fiscal years since FY2007. Since the establishment of the FLAME account in FY2010, Congress has provided additional funds during three fiscal years (FY2013, FY2014, and FY2016).

Total Suppression Appropriations

For any given fiscal year, total suppression appropriations to DOI and FS may be a combination of three sources: the WFM suppression activity, the FLAME account, and supplemental appropriations. In FY2016, the total combined suppression appropriation was $2,802.7 million, including a $700.0 million supplemental appropriation. This figure is more than double the FY2015 total combined suppression appropriation ($1,394.7 million) and the second-highest suppression appropriation to date. The highest appropriation was in FY2008, when Congress provided $2,845.4 million ($3,154.7 million in FY2015 dollars) in total combined suppression appropriations. The FY2008 total appropriation included a total of $1,710.0 million provided in three supplemental appropriations to cover suppression costs incurred in both FY2007 and FY2008. Total suppression data over the last 10 years are presented in Table 2 (nominal dollars) and displayed in Figure 3 (constant FY2015 dollars).

FY2017 Requested and House-Passed Wildfire Management Appropriations

The Administration requested a total of $4.4 billion for wildfire management for FY2017 ($3.3 billion for FS and $1.1 billion for DOI). This figure is a decrease of $472.9 million from the FY2016 enacted level of $4.9 billion (see Table 3 ), which included a $700.0 million supplemental appropriation. The Administration proposed a new funding mechanism for wildfire suppression activities, which includes eliminating the FLAME reserve account and providing a portion of the suppression appropriation outside discretionary spending limits.

On July 14, 2016, the House passed H.R. 5538 , the FY2017 Interior, Environment, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act. H.R. 5538 would provide a total of $3.9 billion for wildfire management for FY2017 ($3.0 billion for FS and $0.9 billion for DOI), $505.5 million below the requested amount. This appropriation would fully fund the 10-year suppression obligation average, provide additional funds for hazardous fuel management, and include $407.0 million for both FLAME accounts. H.R. 5538 would not adopt the Administration's proposal to eliminate the FLAME account or provide a budgetary adjustment mechanism to fund a portion of the wildfire suppression appropriation. The House Committee on Appropriations supports such a proposal but declines to make a recommendation in regard to the budgetary adjustment mechanism, citing lack of jurisdiction. The House bill would make the FS WFM appropriation available for three fiscal years (through FY2019). Previously, these appropriations were provided without a fiscal year limitation, meaning that any unobligated balance could carry over indefinitely.

On June 16, 2016, the Senate Committee on Appropriations reported S. 3068 , the FY2017 Interior, Environment, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act. S. 3068 would provide a total of $4.4 billion for wildland fire management for FY2017 ($3.3 billion for FS and $1.1 billion for DOI), $16.1 million above the requested amount, although $661.3 million would be designated as emergency spending for wildfire suppression purposes and not subject to certain discretionary spending limits. The Senate committee bill would not provide any appropriations to the FLAME reserve accounts and includes a recommendation and legislative language to adopt the framework of the Administration's proposed new funding mechanism for wildfire suppression activities.

Administration's Wildfire Suppression Funding Proposal

Starting in FY2015, and continuing in FY2016 and FY2017, the Administration has proposed a new funding mechanism for wildfire suppression activities, which includes eliminating the FLAME reserve account. Therefore, the Administration did not request an appropriation to the FLAME reserve account for those years. Congress did not adopt the proposal in FY2015 or FY2016. Currently, wildfire suppression is funded by appropriations that are subject to the statutory discretionary spending limits established in the Balanced Budget and Emergency Deficit Control Act of 1985. The Administration's proposal would maintain this funding stream for most wildfire suppression operations, but it also would establish a new adjustment to the discretionary limits that could be used to fund suppression activities in emergency situations. In FY2017, the maximum amount of this adjustment would be $1.4 billion across both FS and DOI (although the Administration is not requesting the maximum adjustment for FY2017 and is requesting an adjustment of up to $1.2 billion). The maximum adjustment amount would increase each fiscal year until FY2022, when it would be $2.7 billion. This adjustment would allow FS and DOI to request additional wildfire suppression funds—up to the maximum amount of the adjustment each fiscal year—that effectively would not be subject to the discretionary budget limits. Similar legislative proposals have been introduced in the 114 th Congress.

Issues

Congress is debating several issues related to federal funding for wildfire management. Issues under debate include the level and direction of federal spending on wildfire management as well as the effectiveness of that spending (e.g., whether the funding is allowing agencies to meet wildfire management targets and the adequacy of those targets). Wildfire spending has more than tripled since the 1990s, increasing from $1.6 billion in FY1995 in constant dollars to $4.9 billion in FY2016. A significant portion of that increase is related to rising suppression costs, even during years of relatively mild wildfire activity, although the costs vary and are difficult to predict in advance. Congress also is debating the level of appropriations dedicated for certain wildfire management activities, such as whether the rising cost of suppression should come at the expense of funding other activities or whether investing more funds in hazardous fuel reduction activities now may help reduce wildfire costs in the future.

When wildfire suppression funding is exhausted during a fiscal year with severe fire activity, the agencies may have to transfer funds from non-wildfire management suppression accounts, which may impact the performance of those activities. Congress then faces a decision as to whether to reimburse the accounts from which funding was transferred or to otherwise provide supplemental appropriations, sometimes outside of its regular budget. If a reimbursement decision is made after the end of the fiscal year in which transfers were made, the decision may disrupt the regular budget cycle and complicate discussions about how much suppression funding is needed for coming fiscal years during the appropriations process.

Congress has provided funding for wildfire management in addition to what was provided in the Interior appropriations bill—usually for wildfire suppression—for 6 of the last 10 years, including FY2013, FY2014, and FY2016. This fact may lead to questions regarding the structure of wildfire funding and wildfire suppression funding estimation methods, among other things. Wildfire suppression funding estimates depend on multiple factors (e.g., weather, fuel load, nearby dwellings, access to wildfire site), and numerous reasons have been given as to why suppression estimates have at times not accurately forecast suppression expenses, with estimates typically underestimating suppression spending. Wildfire suppression is complicated, and both the efficiency of resources used for wildfire suppression and the federal protocol for wildfire management have an impact on wildfire suppression costs.

Analyzing trends in wildfire management could provide insights useful for Congress during these debates. However, analyzing wildfire funding trends over time—particularly prior to FY2001—is challenging for many reasons. The agencies' account structures have changed over time, with different activities funded through different programs. Additional accounts and programs have been created. For example, the FLAME account was established in FY2010, with appropriations that previously had gone entirely to WFM suppression then being allocated between two different accounts. A further complication is that costs for one wildfire season (using a calendar year) often are covered by appropriations for two fiscal years, and sometimes appropriations are enacted in one fiscal year to cover costs incurred in previous fiscal years.