Federal Wildfire Strategy Fails to Confront Climate Crisis, Leaving Western Homes Vulnerable

Wildfires are tearing through the American West, leaving devastation in their wake. Over 820,000 acres have burned in 2025, with projections warning of up to 9 million acres lost by December. Families in California watch their neighborhoods disappear, while Colorado’s rural towns brace for the next blaze. The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s recent memo, signed by Secretaries Rollins and Burgum, pledges a unified federal effort to fight fires. But unity alone won’t stop the flames when the conditions fueling them worsen every year.

Climate change has rewritten the rules of wildfire seasons. NASA research confirms that hotter summers and drier nights have doubled fire-weather risk in the West over the past two decades. Yet, some push for quick fixes like aggressive logging, overlooking the deeper crisis. I’ve seen communities rebuild after fires, and I’m convinced we need a vision that invests in prevention and resilience, not just firefighting heroics. Why wait for the next disaster when we can act now?

The USDA’s promise of a ‘highly coordinated’ firefighting force offers hope but falls short of what’s needed. Coordination can’t prevent the next Los Angeles wildfire or shield Boulder County, where the Marshall Fire caused unprecedented losses. Policies that empower local communities, fund proactive defenses, and confront climate change directly are the answer. We deserve a strategy that prevents fires, not one that only reacts to them.

This moment feels urgent because it is. Every acre burned is a reminder of what’s at stake—homes, ecosystems, and lives. The question isn’t whether we can fight fires better; it’s whether we’re willing to rethink how we protect our future.

Local communities are proving that prevention works. Oregon’s $25 million investment in 50 community wildfire protection plans has created defensible spaces around 2,500 homes, trained firefighters, and launched chipping programs. Firewise USA now supports over 2,200 communities nationwide, where residents clear flammable vegetation and upgrade homes to resist flames. These efforts have saved countless structures in Colorado and New Mexico, showing what’s possible when people act together.

In Ashland, Oregon, a cost-share program funded controlled burns and thinning around 1,100 homes, protecting them during a recent wildfire. Durango, Colorado, saw every structure survive a 2018 blaze thanks to neighborhood mitigation. These successes highlight the power of community-led strategies backed by public funding. Why isn’t this approach the national standard?

The USDA’s memo nods to state and local partnerships but lacks a clear plan to scale these proven models. Instead of focusing on suppression, federal dollars should flow to grants for home hardening, risk assessments, and community training. Resilience isn’t a vague promise; it’s a practical solution that saves lives when given the chance to succeed.

Wildfires are inseparable from the climate crisis. The West’s fire season has grown by nearly three months since the 1950s, fueled by rising temperatures and relentless droughts. NOAA reports show billion-dollar disasters now hit every 18 days, a sharp rise from every 82 days in the 1980s. Denying this trend is like ignoring a storm on the horizon—it’s coming, and it’s fierce.

Some advocate for logging and thinning as the sole solution, arguing that overstocked forests are the problem. While fuel loads play a role, hotter, drier conditions—worsened by climate change—turn small fires into catastrophic ones. The Fix Our Forests Act, backed by House Democrats, offers a smarter approach, streamlining forest health projects while centering tribal and community voices. It prioritizes ecology and safety over profit-driven tree removal.

The USDA’s focus on readiness sidesteps the urgent need for climate action. Investments in clean energy, reforestation, and emissions reduction could slow the warming that drives these fires. A strategy that ignores the root cause is incomplete. Why fight the same battles when we can reduce the conditions that spark them?

The federal government can shape a safer future but must act decisively. The USDA’s memo and the $1.6 billion for the Department of the Interior’s fire programs are positive steps, yet they lean heavily on suppression over prevention. Democratic-led efforts like the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law funded defensible-space grants and firefighter hiring—programs now at risk. Reviving these initiatives would protect vulnerable communities and support our firefighters’ sacrifices.

Fragmentation across agencies like FEMA and USDA continues to slow disaster response, as federal reviews confirm. Elevating FEMA to a cabinet-level agency, as the Brookings Institution suggests, could streamline funding and planning, delivering resources to communities before fires ignite. We need leadership that anticipates crises, not one that scrambles to respond.

This is a pivotal moment. Community resilience, climate action, and equitable funding are essential to confront the wildfire crisis. As flames threaten our homes and forests, we can’t rely on outdated tactics. Let’s choose a future where prevention and preparation define our response, ensuring safety for generations to come.