Permanent Pay Raise Enacted for Federal Wildland Firefighters
After fighting for years to make their pay raise permanent, federal wildland firefighters can claim victory in their quest for permanent higher pay.
The government funding bill recently signed into law by President Trump includes a permanent raise for wildland firefighters, as part of the 2025 Department of the Interior, Environment, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act.
The legislation ensures that there will be no paycliff for wildland firefighters, who had been receiving temporary raises since 2021 in the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act.
The new legislation updates the pay scale for all levels including temporary and seasonal employees. Hourly increases range from 42 percent for a General Schedule (GS)-1 employee and 39 percent for a GS-2 employee, down to 3 percent for a GS-14 employee and 1.5 percent for a GS-15 employee.
It also makes permanent Bureau of Indian Affairs funding for Tribal Nations to offer pay supplements to tribal wildland firefighters.
Incident Response Pay
Federal firefighters will also receive premium pay when they are deployed to fight wildfires. The daily pay is equal to 450 percent of one hour’s wages when responding to an incident outside of official duties or assigned to a separate fire camp. That pay is capped at $9,000 per year.
“Federal wildland firefighters can now breathe a sigh of relief, knowing their pay will not be drastically cut. This victory shows the power of collective action and union advocacy,” said National Federation of Federal Employees (NFFE) National President Randi Erwin. “With the pay cliff resolved, we must now focus on recruitment and retention, housing, rest and recuperation, mental health resources, and ensuring competitive wages for the incredible work our nation’s wildland firefighters perform.”
And the Trump Administration appears to be on the same page, saying that the pay raise will help boost recruitment and retention.
“Continued investment in the wildland fire workforce is essential to protecting the public and reducing the risk of future catastrophic wildfires. The pay raises announced today will help the Interior Department recruit and retain the top talent needed to achieve these goals,” said a department statement.