Since Congress still has not dealt with their self-imposed “fiscal cliff” or budget sequestration required by the Budget Control Act of 2011, severe budget cuts could affect the federal land management agencies and their wildland firefighters after March 1. That is the latest deadline after Congress has consistently kicked the can further down the road rather than actually doing their jobs and passing a federal budget.

An all-employees letter from Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack today warned that the agency could be forced to lay off, or furlough, some employees if the self-imposed crisis is not averted. Here is an excerpt:

…As a result, we are closely examining contracts, grants, and other forms of expenditures across the Department to determine where we can reduce costs. In many cases, this could mean making cuts to vital programs or curtailing spending on contracts. We will also take steps, wherever possible, to cut operational or administrative costs in areas such as travel, training, facilities, and supplies.

We may also have to consider placing employees on temporary furlough, or taking other personnel actions, should sequestration occur. With respect to furloughs, should we have to pursue this unfortunate course of action, let me assure you that all affected employees will be provided at least 30 days’ notice prior to executing a furlough.

If the Budget Control Act of 2011 or “fiscal cliff” is allowed to go into effect on March 1, 2013 the federal wildland fire programs will be cut by $218 million.

In addition, the FLAME wildfire suppression reserve fund will be cut by 8.2 percent, meaning it would not be funded at the 10-year average, greatly increasing the risk of funding shortfalls, as occurred in fiscal year 2012 which ended September 30. Such a shortfall would impact more than just the fire programs. With no carryover funds and a cut in the FLAME reserve fund, the wildland fire agencies in the Departments of Interior and Agriculture would need to take funds from other accounts to make up the firefighting shortfall.

Under the Budget Control Act, the sequestration would result in a 9.4 percent reduction in non-exempt defense discretionary funding and an 8.2 percent reduction in non-exempt nondefense discretionary funding. The sequestration would also impose cuts of 2.0 percent to Medicare, 7.6 percent to other non-exempt nondefense mandatory programs, and 10.0 percent to non-exempt defense mandatory programs.

Most of the federal wildland fire appropriations will be subject to an 8.2 percent reduction since they are considered “discretionary”.

A report, prepared by the Office of Management and Budget (OMB), revealed the following cuts to wildland fire budgets that could go into effect; the numbers do not include the FLAME fire suppression accounts:

• U.S. Forest Service Wildland Fire Management: $172 million
• Department of Interior Wildland Fire Management: $46 million