Forest Service Salaries & Expenses

Dept. of Agriculture Forest Service Wildland Fire Management

Wildfire-Specific Spending: Yes

Wildfire Activities Funded: “Other”

6,536
TOTAL APPROPRIATIONS (IN MIL)
FY2017 – FY2026

Description

This line item covers all salaries and expenses for the Wildland Fire Management (WFM) program, including federal and state firefighters; employee and personnel costs for the first 8 hours incurred when responding to emergencies declared by FEMA; travel and training; and all other firefighter and support staff (e.g. communications staff, WFM leadership) salary and personnel costs.

Additional Program Notes & TCS Insights

In FY2021 the USFS created a new budget line item for salaries and expenses across all Forest Service programs – costs that had previously been incorporated into each program’s budget line-item. This re-structuring makes it difficult to compare program spending before and after FY2021.

Appropriations

Regular Supplemental IIJA IRA
FY2015
FY2016
FY2017
FY2018
FY2019
FY2020
FY2021 764,241,000
FY2022 822,106,000 480,000,000
FY2023 913,956,000
FY2024 1,109,654,000
FY2025 1,223,111,000
FY2026 1,223,111,000

Last Updated: March 20, 2026

Received Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA) Funding: Yes – Existing

Received Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) Funding: No

Appropriations Notes

Supplemental appropriations through the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA) are available for wildland firefighter salaries and expenses.