A New Wildfire Year: What Was And What Will Be.

Congratulations, you’ve made it to 2025. But how did we get here?

Well, 61,685 fires burned 8,851,142 acres in 2024. A little more than average for the total number of fires and nearly 2M more acres than the 10-year average. The Smokehouse Creek Fire in Texas, The Park Fire in California, and Oregon were the large culprits who added a chunk of acres to that above-average total.

2024 saw the cutting of non-Fire seasonal employees in the Forest Service. This went across the board: trail crews, park employees, and wildfire researchers. The Missoula Fire Lab will see at least 20 seasonal employees not return, and their funding for research will also be cut. That’s out of no more than 80 employees, a 25% reduction. I was informed that out of 15 projects funded last year, only three will receive funding to continue.

And then there was the issue of wildfire pay—a saga that dragged from January to December like some cruel, bureaucratic Groundhog Day. Promises were made, deadlines slipped, and ultimately, little changed. It’s a new year now, but the question remains: What, if anything, will be different this time around?