S. 91

Western Wildfire Support Act of 2026

Sponsor: Catherine Cortez Masto

1 cosponsor
Follow this bill

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

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

Sec. 303. Burned area rehabilitation Added Sep 17

Where this section came from

Not in the first version (Introduced in Senate, Jan 14).

  1. 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 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.

(a) Establishment of account. There is established in the Treasury of the United States the Long-Term Burned Area Rehabilitation account under the Wildland Fire Management account for the Department of Agriculture, which shall be available to the Secretaries.

(b) Presidential budget requests. For fiscal year 2026 and each fiscal year thereafter, the Secretary concerned shall submit through the budget request of the President a request for amounts in the National Forest System appropriation account to carry out the activities described in subsection (c).

(c) Authorized activities. The Secretary concerned shall carry out rehabilitation projects located at sites impacted by a wildfire or post-wildfire flooding primarily on Federal land, but may include areas on non-Federal land (with the express consent of the landowner), that—

(1) restore the functions of an ecosystem, including—

(A) identifying areas where natural regeneration is unlikely to occur;

(B) revegetation and reforestation, including coordinating any necessary site preparation, salvage harvesting, and replanting;

(C) watershed restoration;

(D) invasive species mitigation and removal; and

(E) wildlife habitat restoration; or

(2) repair or replace infrastructure or facilities critical for land management activities.

(d) Duration of activities. A rehabilitation project under subsection (c) shall—

(1) begin not earlier than the date on which the wildfire was contained; and

(2) be completed, to the extent practicable, not later than 5 years after the date on which the wildfire was contained.

(e) Agreement authority

(1) In general. The Secretary concerned may enter into agreements with States, local governments, Indian Tribes, and other non-Federal entities to carry out activities described in subsection (c).

(2) Cost share. The non-Federal share of the costs of implementing activities under an agreement entered into under paragraph (1)—

(A) shall be not more than 20 percent; and

(B) may include in-kind contributions.

(3) Savings provision. Nothing in this subsection—

(A) requires the Secretary of Agriculture to enter into agreements with non-Federal entities to carry out activities described in subsection (c); or

(B) limits the effect of the prioritization requirements under subsection (f).

(f) Prioritization of funding. The Secretary concerned shall prioritize, on a nationwide basis, projects for which funding requests are submitted under this section based on landscape and watershed benefits.