JFAC Restores Wildfire Preparedness Funding After Reversing Earlier Cuts

After rejecting the request just days earlier, Idaho's Joint Finance-Appropriations Committee voted Monday to restore most of the wildfire preparedness funding it had cut from the Idaho Department of Lands' Forest and Range Fire Protection Program, approving $124,900 for the current fiscal year in a 14-4 vote.

The restoration covers most of the $131,800 JFAC had previously stripped from IDL through additional 1% cuts to the agency, cuts that were themselves layered on top of a 3% state budget reduction Gov. Brad Little had approved earlier. JFAC added those further reductions on Feb. 6 and Feb. 13 to make room for tax cuts and avoid a projected state budget shortfall.

The path to Monday's vote was not straightforward. JFAC first voted down proposals to restore both the fiscal year 2026 and fiscal year 2027 wildfire funding on March 4. The fiscal year 2026 restoration cleared without much friction Monday, but the fiscal year 2027 request, which sought to restore $140,400 of a $318,300 reduction to the program, hit a procedural wall. Though 13 of 18 committee members voted in favor, the motion initially failed because it did not secure approval from a majority of House members on the committee. Rep. Chris Bruce, R-Kuna, subsequently pushed to reconsider the budget, and the fiscal year 2027 restoration, totaling approximately $140,300, was approved according to multiple accounts.

IDL Director Dustin Miller had warned legislators ahead of the votes that without restored funding, the state could hire fewer seasonal firefighters, scale back wildfire prevention work, and jeopardize the startup of a new fire protection district in eastern Idaho. After the March 4 defeat, Miller said wildfires would still be fought aggressively in Idaho, but the state might have to lean more heavily on federal partners, an arrangement he said could increase costs over time.

Rep. James Petzke, R-Meridian, pushed back against the restoration, pointing to the prior fiscal year when IDL ended up reverting some Forest and Range Fire Protection Program funds because they went unspent by season's end. Petzke argued IDL could draw instead from a forest protection fund and a wildland equipment replacement fund. Miller countered that using those sources for fire prevention purposes "would not be an appropriate use of this funding."

The combined restoration across both fiscal years totals roughly $265,200, split between the $124,900 approved for fiscal year 2026 and approximately $140,300 for fiscal year 2027. Those funds are intended to support seasonal firefighter hiring ahead of this summer's fire season, establish the new eastern Idaho district, and fund prevention activities.

The approved restorations are not yet final. Both the fiscal year 2026 and fiscal year 2027 budget amendments must still pass the full Idaho House of Representatives and Idaho Senate before taking effect. Several outlets' headlines also noted that JFAC moved to restrict future firefighter bonuses as part of Monday's action, though the specific terms of that change were not detailed in available reporting.