Government spending on wildfire suppression rises with climate change

Photo Credit

USDA Forest Service, Jeffrey Prestemon

Only burned forest remains after the 2020 Cameron Peak Wildfire in the Front Range of Colorado.

The federal government spends billions of dollars annually responding to wildfires. As the climate changes, projections indicate wildfire risk will continue to increase on federal lands managed by the USDA and DOI.

A team of SRS scientists assessed how federal wildfire suppression spending could change through the rest of the 21st century. The study projected that inflation-adjusted median suppression spending by the Forest Service would rise 42% to $3.9 billion by 2050 and 81% to $4.9 billion by 2100.

The analysis, requested by the White House Office of Management and Budget (OMB), included collaborators from SRS, Rocky Mountain Research Station, and the University of Georgia. OMB needed this information to develop the President’s Budget Request to Congress for Fiscal Year 2025. The analysis was published by OMB as a White Paper and as part of its Analytical Perspectives chapter of the Budget Request. Decision makers can use the study results to inform budget and climate change planning.