CHEYENNE, Wyo. — According to expert testimony, Wyoming’s firefighter population is in critical decline, with special fire districts struggling to recruit and retain personnel.
The first day of the Legislature’s two-day Joint Appropriations Committee meeting in Gillette was devoted to wildfire funding, following a historic wildfire season in 2024.
According to Sublette County Fire Warden Shad Cooper, who also serves as president of the Wyoming Fire Advisory Board, nearly 90% of Wyoming’s 3,600 firefighters volunteer. However, there has been a “significant reduction” in volunteer firefighters in the Equality State.
“The reduction scares me…” Cooper said, “It should scare everyone in Wyoming.” “If that reduction continues on the current downward trend, we’re not gonna be able to fight these fires.”
With fewer firefighters available to put out large wildfires, the state will be more vulnerable, he said. And the personnel shortage isn’t limited to Wyoming; it’s happening across the country.
“Wyoming’s recruitment and retention challenges exactly match the national statistics,” Cooper informed the audience.
Volunteer firefighters in Wyoming are also growing older. Cooper said that many volunteer firefighters in his department are in their 50s or 60s, with some in their 70s.
“Not only is there a reduction in the total number of volunteers, but the age of those volunteers is increasing, and (they’re) not being replaced,” said Cooper.
The state is also struggling to find inmates for its “smoke buster” crews. The smoke busters program is a collaboration between the state Forestry Division and the Department of Corrections.
These crews are made up of pre-release, minimum-security inmates from the Wyoming Honour Conservation Camp in Newcastle who help with forestry management and fire suppression.
Before 2017, there were three crews of 20 inmates each. Since 2020, there has only been one crew, which now has slightly more than 20 members. According to State Forester Kelly Norris, many of these inmates are being released on probation, so they are not staying in the system for long.
“It’s not just Wyoming. “This is a national issue,” Norris explained. “The (inmate) population isn’t what it used to be.”
Employees in the state Forestry Division are also experiencing burnout as they are pushed to take on additional responsibilities due to vacant positions, according to Norris. In fiscal year 2025, which began on July 1, 2024, the department billed $337,000 in overtime pay to approximately 35 employees.
“This is not sustainable, and it is a major red flag for our staff when it comes to their safety, their home-work-life balance,” Norris told reporters. “Real burnout (is) happening.”
Cost of 2024 wildfires
Local governments bear the full cost of the first 24 hours of firefighting. “Because fire costs are reimbursed, that can be a burden if there are multiple concurrent fires that are ongoing,” Norris told reporters.
In 2024, local jurisdictions successfully contained 98% of the state’s more than 2,000 wildfires. According to Norris, over 850,000 acres were burned in a historic wildfire season, ranking Wyoming fifth among states with the most acres burned in 2024.
In 2024, there were 25 fires that qualified for Emergency Fire Suppression Account (ESFA) funds, but one of those requests was later withdrawn. When local governments’ efforts to suppress wildfires exceed their capacity, the ESFA provides financial assistance. Counties pay an annual assessment fee to the ESFA.
This account reimburses counties for qualifying fires. However, there is currently concern about whether counties will be reimbursed for their costs or become “stuck with the bill,” Norris said.
Depending on ESFA’s financial status, reimbursements to counties may be delayed until the end of the calendar year.
According to a memo provided by the Wyoming State Forestry Division, the suppression costs for the 24 ESFA fires totalled $103.3 million.
As of April 30, the ESFA had a current cash balance of $52.5 million for the fiscal year 2025, but this does not include the $42 million in pending reimbursements from the calendar year 2024, according to a Legislative Service Office memo.
The Pew Charitable Trusts reports that wildfires in the country are becoming “more catastrophic” and costly.
According to spokesperson Ronojoy Sen, the Pew Charitable Trusts is a nonpartisan, nonprofit organisation that focusses on research and public policy. He informed lawmakers that the rising costs of natural disasters, such as wildfires, pose “an emerging risk to state budgets.”
“Natural disasters are becoming more frequent, more severe and more expensive,” Sen pointed out. “Existing state budget practices are not keeping pace.”
Wildfire funding and recent action
Wildfire funding is divided into three areas: prevention (or mitigation), suppression (firefighting efforts), and recovery. Local fire districts are responsible for putting out wildfires “99% of the time,” according to Cooper.
The Wyoming State Forestry Division works with the federal government and other state governments to recruit resources, particularly aviation, when a county requires additional assistance.
“We’re in the background trying to get that local district what they need at that time,” Norris told the crowd.
Gov. Mark Gordon has made wildfire funding a top priority, highlighting the need to replenish the state’s Emergency Fire Suppression Account after it was depleted last year.
He proposed that $130 million be set aside to combat future natural disasters and begin the restoration process on damaged lands. Although lawmakers failed to pass a supplemental budget this year, Senate File 152 provided funding for wildfire recovery efforts.
During the 2024 budget session, the Legislature allocated $176.9 million for the 2025-26 biennium “to suppress and recover from wildfires through direct appropriations, authorised borrowing authority, and access to special contingency funds,” according to the Legislative Service Office.
However, the entire amount is not just available for wildfires. For example, contingency funds totalling $23.3 million could be used for other emergencies.
In addition to additional funding allocations, Senate Bill 152 established new borrowing authority for wildfire funding. The bill allows the governor to borrow up to $30 million from the Legislative Stabilisation Reserve Account (LSRA), the state’s primary savings account, to fight wildfires if the ESFA and other reserve accounts are depleted.
Legislators also replenished the ESFA with $20 million via SF 152 and appropriated $2.75 million to the Office of State Lands and Investments for one full-time and four part-time positions for contract and direct fire response.
SF 152 appropriated approximately $49.4 million to the Wyoming Wildlife and Natural Resource Trust Income Account for the purposes of restoring vegetation, preventing invasive vegetation, and restoring habitats destroyed by wildfires on state and private land.
Proposed remedies
Cooper proposed a module program in which four teams of ten hired seasonal wildland firefighters would be stationed in four regions across the state. Each team would have a full-time supervisor and a module leader. The entire program would be overseen by a full-time assistant fire manager.
Most local fire departments can handle a fire within 24 to 72 hours of the initial attack. However, volunteers are released after that time frame, leaving a “critical gap” in personnel coverage if the fire persists. These module teams could take over fire suppression efforts after the first 24 to 72 hours, Cooper said, reducing the county’s reliance on out-of-state resources.
“The intent … is that we can use these resources to keep the cost as small as possible, keep these fires as small as possible, and lose fewer fires,” Cooper told the media.
Rep. Marilyn Connolly, R-Buffalo, who is not a current JAC member, testified in full support of Cooper’s module proposal.
“Having worked on fires and been a part of the fire service for almost 20 years, when I saw this, I was like, ‘This is (nothing) short of brilliant,'” Connolly said, adding that she believed it could save the state and local fire departments a lot of money.
Experts and legislators also discussed the possibility of the state covering employee retirement and health insurance contributions for volunteer firefighters, establishing a separate $10 million account dedicated to fire mitigation efforts, and capping the ESFA at $60 million to prevent it from becoming overdrawn, as it did during the 2024 wildfire season.
Appropriators took no action during Monday’s meeting, as directed by the co-chairmen, who suggested that the committee study potential remedies further at its next meeting in August.
