Burgum established U.S. Wildland Fire Service by secretarial order, overriding Congress's refusal to fund it

On January 12, 2026, Interior Secretary Doug Burgum signed Secretary's Order 3448, formally establishing the U.S. Wildland Fire Service and consolidating wildfire management programs from the Bureau of Land Management, Fish and Wildlife Service, National Park Service, and Bureau of Indian Affairs into a single entity. The move proceeded the same week Congress passed FY2026 Interior appropriations that explicitly zeroed out the administration's $6.5 billion USWFS funding request and declined to endorse the consolidation, with Senate Appropriations Committee Vice Chair Patty Murray specifying the bill "does not endorse the consolidation of federal wildland firefighting into one agency."

The effort traces to Executive Order 14308, signed by President Trump in June 2025, which called for consolidating Interior and Agriculture Department fire programs "to the maximum degree practicable." Congress blocked the inclusion of Forest Service firefighters—who handle the majority of U.S. wildfires—limiting the new agency to Interior's programs only. An Interior spokesperson characterized the Secretary's Order as a "phased approach" requiring no structural changes needing congressional authorization.

The new agency simultaneously mandated a full suppression policy under Burgum's direction, requiring all wildfires under its management to be extinguished as quickly as possible—reviving an approach dating to a 1935 "10 a.m. rule" that wildfire scientists say worsens long-term fire risk by preventing the natural burning that reduces accumulated fuel loads. Critics noted the policy benefits private fire aviation companies. Chief beneficiary Bridger Aerospace was founded by Sen. Tim Sheehy (R-MT), who sponsored legislation to codify the agency consolidation within weeks of taking office; Sheehy held Bridger assets in a blind trust.

Updates

On June 28, 2026, three federal wildland firefighters died in a fast-growing fire near the Colorado-Utah border. One worked for the USWFS; two worked for the Forest Service. Former officials reported confusion among firefighters about chain-of-command responsibilities under the new agency's organizational structure. Sources: The Independent / AP, Jun 30, 2026.