"The House of Representatives narrowly passed legislation Friday boosting the pay of wildfire fighters and taking steps to improve fire resilience in Western forests.

The package combines nearly 50 Western resiliency and wildfire-related bills, including a provision to increase federal wildland firefighters’ pay to match that of their state counterparts. It would also give force of law to the Forest Service’s current 10-year plan.

That plan, announced by Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack in January, instructs the Forest Service to increase the area it treats by about 20 million acres’ worth of national forests and grasslands, along with support for about 30 million acres of state, local, private and tribal lands."

Zack Budryk reports for The Hill July 29, 2022. [2]

SEE ALSO:

"House OKs Massive Drought, Wildfire Response Package" (E&E News) [3]