State legislators received an update Wednesday on the goals of the federal government’s effort to streamline wildfire fighting resources.
The U.S. Department of the Interior launched the Wildland Fire Service earlier this year with the goals of making the nation's wildfire response more efficient, unified and better prepared for increasingly destructive wildfire seasons.
Brad Shoemaker, the service’s fuels and post-fire specialist, told members of Montana’s Environmental Quality Council that 2026 will not be a year of wholesale change.
"We’re doing a lot of assessments and we’re looking at how things are working and what needs to change," Shoemaker told the council.
Democratic State Sen. Willis Curdy, a retired wildland firefighter, pushed back on claims the Service will usher in a new era of streamlined firefighting.
“I don’t see anything that you offer that’s going to be more efficient. Convince me," Curdy said.
Wildland Fire Service Northern Rockies Fire Chief Aaron Thompson:
“I appreciate the question," Thompson said. "What we see is at that local dispatch center, instead of four dispatchers having to coordinate with their four different supervisors to dispatch an engine to an initial attack fire, those dispatchers are all working underneath the Fire Service now.”
The Wildland Fire Service unifies operations previously managed by several federal agencies.
