WASHINGTON, D.C. — U.S. Senator Angus King (I-Maine), a member of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, is continuing his urgent calls for America’s wildland firefighters to receive the hazard pay that they were allocated by Congress in last year’s Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act that he negotiated. King and a group of his Senate colleagues are calling on the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) to swiftly implement the pay raises, stressing how important they are for firefighter retention and successfully managing stopping the fires raging in America’s West. Earlier this month, King pressed Forest Service Chief Randy Moore on the pay, saying that the delay was “unfair to [firefighters] and unfair to the people who are victims to these fires.”

“We write to urge you to swiftly implement the requirement for federal agencies to create a distinct ‘wildland firefighter’ occupational series and to expedite the delivery of the $600 million in supplemental pay for wildland firefighters as provided in the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA),” said Senator King and his colleagues. “The implementation of these provisions will increase federal wildland firefighter recruitment and retention and improve their morale.”

“In testimony before the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee on June 9th, Forest Service Chief Randy Moore committed to providing higher pay for wildland firefighters by the end of June. We urge you to work with those agencies to meet that timeline,” the Senators conclude. “We appreciate your attention to these issues as the West enters another potentially catastrophic fire season, and look forward to working together to support our nation’s wildland firefighters.”

Senator King was joined on the letter by Senators Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.), Alex Padilla (D-Calif.), Catherine Cortez-Masto (D-Nev.), Jacky Rosen (D-Nev.) and Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.).

King has been a fierce advocate for America’s wildland firefighters. He worked to include $600 million to raise federal wildland firefighter salaries in the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, and earlier this month pushed Forest Service Chief Randy Moore on the administrations delays in implementing the pay increases ahead of this year’s fire season.

Full text of the letter can be read here and below.

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Dear Director Ahuja,

We write to urge you to swiftly implement the requirement for federal agencies to create a distinct “wildland firefighter” occupational series and to expedite the delivery of the $600 million in supplemental pay for wildland firefighters as provided in the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA). The implementation of these provisions will increase federal wildland firefighter recruitment and retention and improve their morale.

As you know, your office set a target date of May 2022 for releasing the new occupational series guidelines, consistent with the 180-day timeline established in the IIJA. Now that the 2022 fire season has begun in earnest, with nearly 2 million acres burned nationwide, the implementation of the new occupational series is necessary and urgent. Any further delay will only further burden our land management agencies, which are faced with chronic staffing shortages.

The IIJA also included $600 million to raise federal wildland firefighter salaries by up to $20,000 per year and to convert 1,000 seasonal firefighter positions to permanent. We understand that the Forest Service and Department of the Interior have provided their pay supplement proposal to OPM. In testimony before the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee on June 9th, Forest Service Chief Randy Moore committed to providing higher pay for wildland firefighters by the end of June. We urge you to work with those agencies to meet that timeline.

We appreciate your attention to these issues as the West enters another potentially catastrophic fire season, and look forward to working together to support our nation’s wildland firefighters.