The appropriations bill passed by Congress which may soon be signed by the President does not have any earthshaking changes to the wildland fire budgets of the land management agencies in the Department of the Interior (DOI) and the Forest Service. Wildfire Today has the details about the bill which allocates funding for this fiscal year that began October 1, 2020.

There is one interesting section that may affect contracts for firefighting aircraft.

The “explanatory statement” that accompanies the bill  has a surprisingly lengthy section (at the end of this article) that directs the Forest Service and the DOI to submit a report within 90 days that considers awarding 10 year contracts for aircraft available for wildland fire suppression activities.

The Next Generation 3.0 contracts for five large air tankers announced in October are for only one year with the possibility of up to four more years at the discretion of the FS.

The Next Gen 1.0 and Next Gen 2.0 contracts were for five guaranteed years with up to five more at the discretion of the FS. This trend of only issuing one year guaranteed contracts is disturbing. In an interview with Fire Aviation in October, Dan Snyder, Senior Vice-President of Neptune Aviation, was asked about the one-year contracts:

“If that becomes the new USFS contacting model, I believe it will create a barrier to entry for other vendors due to the risks involved,” Mr. Snyder said. “It will also make long-term planning for aircraft acquisition, maintenance, training and hiring of staff, difficult even for the established vendors in aerial firefighting.”

The explanatory statement also addresses aircraft on state or local contracts:

“The Committee is concerned that, in some cases, aerial firefighting companies put forward by states for inclusion in Cooperator Letters, and that are certified by states as meeting the equivalent of either Forest Service or Department of Interior standards, are not receiving timely approval or are receiving conditional approvals that limit states from fully utilizing their resources to fight wildfires. Given the patchwork of state and federal lands and the scale of wildfires, the Committee urges timely and transparent Cooperator Letter decisions to allow states to adequately respond to regional wildfires, including providing feedback to state wildfire agencies with detailed rationale for denials of requests. The Forest Service is directed to brief the Committee within 180 days of enactment of this Act on actions that can be taken to improve this process to include the feasibility of federal carding outside the federal contracting process.”

Our take-

In October I wrote about the need for longer aviation contracts:

“Congress needs to appropriate enough funding to have 40 large air tankers on exclusive use 10-year guaranteed contracts.

“Protecting our citizens and forests from wildfires is more important than sending our soldiers and trillions of dollars to fight wars in places that many people could not find on a map. Suppressing wildfires and managing federal forests to reduce the threat to our citizens is a Homeland Security issue and should be adequately funded. And, firefighters need to be paid a living wage. You can’t fight fires on the cheap.”

Below is the text from the “explanatory statement” regarding length of aviation contracts that accompanies the appropriations bill (HR-7612):

“In past years, the Committee has included direction and resources to assist the Forest Service in modernizing the fleet of aircraft available for wildland fire suppression activities. It is important that the Forest Service and Department of the Interior analyze current contracting capabilities to determine whether changes to existing practices may better support the strategic plan for aerial firefighting assets. Recent initiatives that have been undertaken have increased firefighting effectiveness and/or reduced costs.

“The Committee has become aware that the limitation on the length of federal civilian contracts (no more than five years) may be, as it was with stewardship contracts for forest health restoration, a limitation on both effectiveness and cost efficiency for procuring modern, cost effective aviation assets for fire suppression. The existing aviation fleet is primarily comprised of contractor-owned and operated aircraft, many of which are small businesses. The certainty provided by longer-term contracts of up to ten years has the potential to ensure greater accountability, cost efficiency and a streamlined approach. The U.S. Forest Service Aviation Implementation Strategy (2018-2022) indicates that the size and intensity of wildfires is expected to rise; resulting in continued demand for aerial fighting aircraft. Particularly as COVID-19 causes additional limitations on the ground, a modern and safe air fleet will be an important asset for the upcoming firefighting season.

“Therefore, the Committee directs the Forest Service in partnership with the Department of the Interior, to prepare and submit a report to the Committee within 90 days of enactment of this Act outlining current statutory limitations that prohibit the use of 10-year contracts. Additionally, the report shall include current contract requirements that ensure a modern and safe aviation fleet and how a shift to 10-year contracting could impact those requirements. The report shall state how many aviation contracts the Forest Service and Department of the Interior have issued over the last 10 years, as well as any anticipated changes in either the number of contracts issued, the costs, or the type of contract vehicle used, due to a shift to 10-year contracting.

“Finally, the Forest Service shall provide input on how a potential pilot program for 10-year contracts could be implemented.”