WASHINGTON, D.C.—Today, U.S. Senator Angus King pushed top Biden Administration officials on the need to support America’s wildland firefighters. In a hearing of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee (ENR), King shared the first-person account of a wildland firefighter and the conditions he endures with Meryl Harrell, Deputy Under Secretary of Natural Resources and the Environment at the Department of Agriculture (USDA), and Joan Mooney, Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of Policy, Management and Budget the Department of the Interior (DOI).

The hearing comes as the United States is “…in danger of losing our firefighting force,” according to King. February 2024 saw the highest number of acres burned —more than 1.4 million—of any February in the last 25 years. Wildland firefighters, who spend weeks away from their families and friends, often endure deadly fires with little to no downtime. With the higher prevalence of stronger, and longer-lasting, fires, wildland firefighters’ spirits and determination are being tested like never before. King stressed the importance of supporting firefighters so that no community has to endure the danger of a uncontrollable, unmanaged fire near their home.

Senator King began his testimony by speaking on behalf of a person serving his country as a wildland firefighter.

King began, “I get thousands of communications in my office. I got a letter in the last couple of weeks, and I want to read portions of it because I think it really outlines this problem. This is from a wildland firefighter:”

“I have stood in poor peoples’ backyards with the words ‘we don't have insurance’ of the homeowner ringing in my ears as my crew is in a fistfight with mother nature trying to hold our line. I've worked until every cell in my body screams to quit, my legs feel like jelly, and I get that 1000 mile stare into nothing - and then work another 14 hours; exhaustion does not even describe it. We have, each and every firefighter across the west and in the United States as a whole, quickly accepted two realities. You work this job long enough and one of your friends will die or you will have a close call yourself. Regardless of it all the American federal firefighting force is the most capable, most committed, and toughest in the world. They are ferocious in their commitment, capable in their execution, accepting the possibility of an unspeakably painful death from hazards across the board every time they walk out the door. I know that you know of our pay and benefits issues, but what I'm not sure you know is how many of us are hanging on by the very tips of our fingers. There is great remorse spoken between the firefighters on a hill you've never heard of, eating cold MREs as they bat around the idea of how much more they can take. Some speak quietly to their saw partner about how they're being evicted and don't have anywhere else to go. Others stare off and say this will have to be their last season; a majority curse the politicians in Washington. The latter so much so that in Montana, we were asked to write out a last will and testament. And we all wrote in ‘don't let any politician stand over my casket and preach false hope of change.’ This was written as gallows humor. But it's a joke that's all too true to us. The stakes are that as the experienced firefighters are drummed out, we don't have depth to replace them. I fear that if things don't change, we will deplete one of the nation's great resources. Suddenly there will be an uptick in crew fatalities and in hours whole cities will be turned into a moonscape. Many will ask, bewildered across the nation and in congressional hearings, ‘what happened?’ But we know, and I think you do too.”

Senator King ended the testimony by emphasizing the need to support firefighters so that no American community is left in danger without firefighters to protect it.

“That's what we're talking about here. This isn't a typical [request for a raise]. This is about maintaining one of the great assets, as he says, that this country has. And we're in danger of losing that asset. So, we've got to understand what these folks are up against. Most of us, when we sign up to do our jobs, we're just going to do the job. These people, when they put their name on the line, are literally putting their lives on the line for the rest of the country. So, Miss Harrell and Ms. Mooney, we've got to we've got to address this. And we've got to address it in a thoughtful way. I know we've got budget difficulties, but the alternative of what we're putting these people through, and what we're subjecting the public to if there's nobody there to answer the call, is unthinkable. So, I hope that you'll work with us, the administration will work with us, to really find a satisfactory solution that amply rewards these people in proportion to the benefit that they're bestowing upon the country,” King concluded.

As a member of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, Senator King has been a national leader in efforts to support forest policy that addresses climate change effectively, supports the health of ecosystems, and bolsters sustainable wood production. Last year, he worked to include $600 million to raise federal wildland firefighter salaries in the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, and successfully pushed the administration to implement the pay increases ahead of this year’s fire season. He also recently introduced a bipartisan bill to establish a “Future of Forests” panel that would convene a federal advisory panel tasked with making recommendations to secure the health of America’s forests.

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