Part ofwildfire management →

HR8557FEDERALin_committee

High Impact

National Prescribed Fire Act of 2024

April 28, 2026

wildfire management forestry environmental policy indigenous land management federal budget public lands

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Where This Stands

Introduced

Committee

Floor Vote

Passed

Signed

Currently in_committee. The next step in the legislative lifecycle is Floor Vote.

Last action

Referred to the Subcommittee on Forestry.Sep 3, 2024

Lead sponsor

Kim Schrier

Version history

Only one version on file - nothing to compare yet. As later stages (committee substitute, engrossed, enrolled) are captured, the redline appears here.

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The Frame

What this does

The bill authorizes $300 million annually for programs, which aims to reduce the scale and cost of future uncontrolled wildfires on federal lands.

Who is mentioned in the record

Potentially affected actors named in the source documents. Mention is not a position.

Tribal and Indigenous communities

The bill formally acknowledges their traditional cultural burning practices and supports their integration into federal land management.

Department of the Interior and Forest Service

These agencies are tasked with implementing new prescribed fire programs, managing new funding accounts, and conducting annual reporting.

Private landowners near federal land

Increased prescribed fire activity on adjacent federal lands may alter local air quality and wildfire risk profiles.

What changed

Current stage: in_committee.

What's next

Floor Vote.

Summary

This bill directs the Department of the Interior and the Forest Service to increase the use of controlled, intentional fires (s) on federal lands to reduce wildfire risks. It establishes dedicated funding accounts, supports indigenous practices, and creates new programs for training, liability management, and environmental review.

Key Facts

Authorizes $300 million in annual appropriations for prescribed fire accounts starting in fiscal year 2024.
Directs the Secretary of the Interior and the Secretary of Agriculture to expand prescribed fire use on federal lands, specifically targeting the western United States.
Formally acknowledges and supports the use of cultural burning by Tribes and Indigenous practitioners.
Requires the Secretaries to submit annual budget justifications for prescribed fire activities.
Establishes a 'landscape-scale prescribed fire plan' framework to streamline environmental reviews under the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA).
Mandates the creation of a prescribed fire education program and human resources initiatives.
Requires annual reporting on prescribed fire implementation and data to a national fire planning database.
Directs a study on the feasibility of a prescribed fire claims fund to address liability concerns.

Why It Matters

The bill authorizes $300 million annually for programs, which aims to reduce the scale and cost of future uncontrolled wildfires on federal lands.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is a 'prescribed fire'?

It is a fire deliberately ignited under specific environmental conditions to burn wildland fuels, intended to meet resource management objectives while remaining confined to a predetermined area.

How will this affect wildfire costs?

The bill cites data suggesting that states with active prescribed burning programs spend less than 1% of the annual cost on wildfire suppression compared to states without such programs.

Does this bill change environmental review requirements?

Yes, it introduces 's' which are intended to analyze environmental consequences for large areas and potentially remove the need for repeated, site-specific NEPA decisions.

News Coverage

No news coverage found yet. Articles are indexed twice daily.

Discoveries

Patterns POLISCOPE noticed across the record. These are observations to investigate, not conclusions.

policy shift90% confidence

Shift toward landscape-level environmental review

The bill attempts to reduce administrative burden by allowing broad 'landscape-scale' environmental reviews to replace site-specific ones for prescribed fires.

Department of the Interior Forest Service

Connected Entities

organizationForest Service“Federal agency tasked with managing prescribed fire programs.”Map →

organizationDepartment of the Interior“Federal department tasked with managing prescribed fire programs.”Map →

personKim Schrier“U.S. Representative who introduced the bill.”Map →

personDavid Valadao“U.S. Representative who co-sponsored the bill.”Map →

Analysis Score

0–100

Significance85
How much this matters to a regular citizen
Controversy30
Intensity of disagreement among stakeholders
Entertainment10
Compellingness for a non-policy-wonk reader
Buzz40
Current news / social attention level

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