Budd Introduces National Prescribed Fire Act of 2025

This week, US Sen. Ted Budd, R-NC, introduced a bipartisan bill, the National Prescribed Fire Act of 2025, along with Sen. Roy Wyden, D-OR, and US Reps. Kim Schrier, D-WA, and David Valado, R-CA. 

The National Prescribed Fire Act of 2025 aims to reduce the risk of catastrophic wildfires by investing in hazardous fuels management. The legislation would accelerate and expand the use of prescribed burns during cooler, wetter months. It also seeks to develop a technically skilled prescribed fire workforce, introduce advanced tools for improved smoke management, and streamline permitting for winter burns—ultimately helping to prevent destructive fires and heavy smoke during the summer.

The legislation also includes a clause that increases the percentage of federal land on which prescribed burns occur each year. 

“Beginning with the first fiscal year that begins after the date of enactment of this Act, and for each of the nine fiscal years thereafter, the Secretaries shall conduct prescribed fires on Federal land such that the total acreage of Federal land on which prescribed fires are conducted is 10 percent greater than the total acreage of all Federal land on which prescribed fires were conducted during the preceding fiscal year,” reads the bill. 

A piece of legislation like this one could prove crucial to North Carolina, the nation’s number one state at risk of wildfires.

“Following the devastation caused by Hurricane Helene, thousands of acres of North Carolina forest were left destroyed,” said Budd in a press release. “Now, these downed trees and piles of leaves represent a serious wildfire risk. By enabling the Forest Service to better conduct controlled burns of unchecked vegetation and scattered debris, we can protect our forests from catastrophic wildfires that may occur in the hottest months of the year. I am proud to join my colleague, Sen. Wyden, in introducing this common-sense, proactive approach to preventing disastrous wildfires.”

Prescribed burns have proven to be one of the most effective forms of wildfire management, and North Carolina is one of 11 southern states with a burn manager certification program. According to Margaret Young from the fiscal research division of the North Carolina General Assembly, the NC Forest Service receives $1 million in recurring funds from the state budget appropriated by the NCGA to fund the Prescribed Burn Cost Share Program. The program supports private forest owners in paying for prescribed burns as a form of forestry management. During FY24, 170 burns occurred on more than 8,000 acres; 77% were on 100 acres or less. Cost share reimbursement to landowners totaled $190,419.

This bill follows the devastation caused not only by Hurricane Helene but also by the wildfires that ravaged North Carolina earlier this year. 

Hurricane Helene left behind a staggering 822,000 acres of downed timber and debris across North Carolina. As this material continues to dry, it significantly increases the threat of wildfires. 

“Helene put a tremendous load of fuel on the ground; trees and limbs are lying there,” Steve Troxler, North Carolina Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services (NCDA&CS) commissioner, told lawmakers earlier this year. “It’s not going to go away; in fact, as it dries more and more and more, the fire danger is going to get worse, and it’s not going to go away in one year. It’ll probably take at least three years for a lot of this material to rot out to the point that it’s not a tremendous fire lake.”

The North Carolina Forest Service reports that, to date, 4,193 wildfires have scorched more than 26,000 acres, putting the state on track to surpass the 2024 totals of 4,588 fires and just over 15,000 acres burned. These numbers should not be shocking, as the NC Forest Service reported earlier this year that North Carolina was at a high risk for wildfires due to drought, especially in the Piedmont, Sandhills, and Coastal Plains regions. 

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