By Joseph Beaudet
The Sheridan Press
Via- Wyoming News Exchange

SHERIDAN — Congress approved a pay increase for federal wildland firefighters in 2021. The pay increase is about to expire, which could create a pay cliff for the firefighters. A U.S. Senate bill currently being debated aims to avoid that pay cliff.

The Wildland Firefighter Paycheck Protection Act, sponsored by Kyrsten Sinema, I-AZ, has the bipartisan support of several senators from across the nation, including Sens. Cynthia Lummis and John Barrasso, both R-WY. The bill would include provisions to an increased permanent payscale for U.S. Forest Service and U.S. Department of the Interior wildland firefighters and would include premium pay for firefighters deployed to long duration wildfire, prescribed fire and severity incidents and establishes rest and recuperation leave for employees involved in fighting wildfires. In doing so, the bill would likely help aid firefighter recruitment and retention efforts, as well.

“One of the real problems with getting enough firefighters in terms of recruitment and retention has to do with the fact that the pay is too low,” Barrasso said in a phone interview. “So, we’ve actually passed a bill previously to raise the pay.”

Provisions in the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, passed in 2021, provided more than 12,000 U.S. Forest Service firefighters with a pay supplement equal to $20,000 per year, according to Sara Evans Kirol, public affairs officer for the Bighorn National Forest. The pay supplement is set to run out at the end of the month.

“So, what we’re trying to do is say ‘Hey, let’s continue what we know is working,’ continue with the higher levels of pay because it’s important in terms of having the wildfire firefighters available when we need them,” Barrasso said. “And, you never know when you’re going to need them.”

While the number of wildfires has remained relatively consistent since 1983 — an average of about 70,000 per year according to National Interagency Fire Center data — the number of acres burned each year has increased over the same time period, making the need for wildland firefighters more evident.

“With climate change fueling more severe wildfires and extending fire seasons into fire years, hiring and retaining the federal wildland firefighters needed to combat this growing challenge is more important than ever,” Evans Kirol wrote in an email.

Evans Kirol said the Forest Service has been successful in its recruitment and retention efforts, largely because of the pay supplement currently in place. Without the reforms in the paycheck protection act and President Joe Biden’s FY2024 budget request — which includes a request to increase the USDA and DOI budgets by a total of $252 million to raise the base pay and add premium pay for wildland firefighters — the Forest Service could be faced with challenging circumstances in their firefighter hiring and retention efforts.

Should the bill not be passed and signed by the end of the month, firefighters could see a steep drop in pay.

“…(W)e know avoiding this pay cliff is imperative for retaining and recruiting the federal wildland firefighting workforce,” Evans Kirol wrote in an email.

With the threat of a severe pay cliff looming, Forest Service officials have worked to avoid it should the bill not be passed and signed by Sept. 30.

“We have been judicious and have carefully planned to have some funds available beyond Sept. 30 to protect firefighters from the pay cliff disaster,” Jaelith Hall-Rivera, deputy chief of state, private and tribal forestry, said in a newsletter to USFS employees.

The Wildland Firefighter Paycheck Protection Act was placed on the U.S. Senate calendar earlier this month, though it has not been discussed on the Senate floor at the time of reporting. Charlotte Taylor, a Barrasso spokesperson, said the senator believes Congress should approve it promptly to avoid an interruption in pay for wildland firefighters.