S. 91

Western Wildfire Support Act of 2026

Sponsor: Catherine Cortez Masto

1 cosponsor
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Official summary

Written by the Congressional Research Service.

Western Wildfire Support Act of 2025 

This bill addresses wildfires by authorizing post-fire recovery activities, supporting adoption of technology, and requiring additional federal coordination.

The bill authorizes federal wildfire response and recovery activities by

  • providing statutory authority for Burned Area Emergency Response Teams to coordinate emergency stabilization and erosion planning, and
  • establishing an account to fund federal rehabilitation projects in areas impacted by a wildfire (e.g., ecosystem restoration, replacing infrastructure critical for land management).

Additionally, for all hazard types, the bill includes post-disaster assistance in the federal disaster preparedness program and authorizes assistance to states for operating websites to provide information on post-disaster recovery resources.

The bill requires federal agencies to develop and utilize technologies for managing wildfires by

  • expediting the permitting and use of wildfire detection equipment (e.g., sensors, cameras);
  • providing funding to Indian tribes for slip-on tanker units that convert vehicles into fire engines;
  • performing research and development on wildfire response applications of unmanned aircraft systems (e.g., drones);
  • studying radio communications systems, situational awareness tools, and wildland fire predictive modeling; and
  • administering a prize competition for technological innovation for managing wildfire-related invasive species.

The bill directs federal agencies to plan and coordinate on wildfire management by

  • incorporating the best available science and planning tools into spatial fire management policies for federal lands,  
  • collaborating with state agencies for mutual aid in fire suppression (including reimbursing states for suppressing fires caused by military operations), and 
  • studying training gaps for integrating structural (e.g., local) firefighters into wildfire response.

Text of the bill

Expand all
Sec. 2. Definitions Changed · Sep 17

Where this section came from

  1. Jan 14, 2025 · Introduced in Senate Referred to Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources, Jan 14, 2025
  2. Sep 17, 2026 · Reported to Senate Marked up by Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources, Feb 4 Reported by Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources, Sep 17 Committee members' individual votes aren't in our records.
What changed in the text

… 23 unchanged passages …

What is a markup?

A markup is a committee meeting where members go through a bill and vote on changes before sending it to the full chamber.

In this Act:

(1) Congressional committees. The term congressional committees means—

(A) the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources and the Committee on Appropriations of the Senate; and

(B) the Committee on Natural Resources and the Committee on Appropriations of the House of Representatives.

(2) Federal land. The term Federal land means—

(A) public lands (as defined in section 103 of the Federal Land Policy and Management Act of 1976 (43 U.S.C. 1702));

(B) units of the National Park System;

(C) units of the National Wildlife Refuge System;

(D) land held in trust by the United States for the benefit of Indian Tribes or members of an Indian Tribe; and

(E) land in the National Forest System.

(3) Fireshed. The term fireshed means a geographically delineated forest landscape, within which a fire ignition would threaten homes, communities, or critical infrastructure.

(4) National forest system

(A) In general. The term National Forest System has the meaning given the term in section 11(a) of the Forest and Rangeland Renewable Resources Planning Act of 1974 (16 U.S.C. 1609(a)).

(B) Exclusion. The term National Forest System does not include—

(i) the national grasslands and land utilization projects administered under title III of the Bankhead-Jones Farm Tenant Act (7 U.S.C. 1010 et seq.); or

(ii) National Forest System land east of the 100th meridian.

(5) Resource management plan. The term resource management plan has the meaning given the term in section 101 of the Healthy Forests Restoration Act of 2003 (16 U.S.C. 6511).

(6) Secretaries. The term Secretaries means—

(A) the Secretary of the Interior; and

(B) the Secretary of Agriculture.

(7) Secretary concerned. The term Secretary concerned means—

(A) the Secretary of the Interior, in the case of Federal land under the jurisdiction of the Secretary of the Interior; and

(B) the Secretary of Agriculture, in the case of Federal land under the jurisdiction of the Secretary of Agriculture.

I Preparation

II Wildfire detection and suppression support

III Post-fire recovery support

I Preparation

II Wildfire detection and suppression support

III Post-fire recovery support