BOISE, ID – “It’s unfortunate that we are looking at these further reductions to the fire program when the fire threat and fire severity in the state is only getting worse,” Idaho Department of Lands Director Dustin Miller said in an interview after legislators rejected the funding Wednesday.

Last month, the Idaho Legislature’s Joint Finance-Appropriations Committee, or JFAC, approved additional budget cuts for most state agencies and departments in the current fiscal year 2026 and next year’s fiscal year 2027.

Officials with Gov. Brad Little’s office and the Idaho Division of Financial Management warned legislators that the cuts went too deep, and cuts to the department’s budget would  hurt the state’s ability to respond to wildfires on state land and to hire seasonal firefighters.

State funding would have supported fire protection programs

On Feb. 10, Idaho Division of Financial Management Administrator Lori Wolff wrote to JFAC co-chairs and legislative leaders asking them to restore some of the additional budget cuts, Wolff specifically asked legislators to restore funding cuts for the Idaho Department of Lands, writing that the cuts would mean fewer seasonal firefighters, increase the risk of uncontrolled fires and cut back on fire prevention work across the state.

• The first proposal would have restored $125,000 in funding for fire protection programs in the current fiscal year 2026.
• The second proposal would have restored $140,500 for fire protection programs in fiscal year 2027.

Both funding restoration proposals were rejected.

The first proposal to restore fiscal year 2026 cuts failed on a 7-12 vote.

Rep. James Petzke, R-Meridian, then removed the restoration of the $140,500 for wildfires in fiscal year 2027 after saying he was concerned with the way the Idaho Department of Lands awarded $1 million in bonuses JFAC approved for Idaho Department of Lands firefighters last year. 

In an interview Wednesday, Petzke said his impression was that the department wanted the money to award bonuses to help with recruiting and retaining firefighters. Petzke said temporary firefighters received about $230,000 in bonuses, but $565,000 in bonuses went to full-time staff, including office staff such as attorneys, communications managers, financial technicians, GIS analysts and land managers.

“There are just all kinds of other positions in there that, to me, don’t seem like they’re in the spirit of what we gave them this money for,” Petzke said. “And so for them to then come in this year again and say, ‘Hey, we need more money for fire in the current fiscal year, in fiscal year 2026,’ when we gave them $1 million for fire and they used it on other staff, and now they’re saying they don’t have any money for fire, that’s a disconnect for me, right?”

In response, Miller told Petzke and the Idaho Capital Sun that his department awarded fire bonuses to all employees who are involved with fire response and operations – not just firefighters – including many full-time office staff members.

Office and administrative staff help oversee and plan the business and logistics sides of planning fire operations, Miller said. Communications staff help coordinate efforts with the public. Other employees help supply fire caches and make sure firefighters have the tools, food and equipment they need to do the work.

Miller said many full-time office staff also have fire qualifications and help respond to fires with so-called militia fire crews that are rounded up to assist the professional firefighters.

“Without our militia firefighters and our militia crew and everybody involved in fire, we would not have the program that we have today,” Miller said. “… the majority of the funds went to our primary fire staff, the larger portions especially (went to) our engine captains. But we did want to make sure that those that are fireline (qualified) and those that have other qualifications that participate in fire are incentivized to keep participating in fires, so we believe those bonuses were applied appropriately.”

Petzke told the Idaho Capital Sun that he doesn’t think rejecting the funding to restore budget cuts for the Idaho Department of Lands will affect the state’s ability to fight wildfires this year.

Petzke said the department  has the ability to use the deficiency warrant process to pay bills that come up, and the department is also seeking an increase in dedicated funding for wildfires through House Bill 511, which allows the state to increase structure protection surcharges on private forest land parcels.

Idaho Department of Lands director worries cuts will hurt fire preparedness, lead to increased costs

Miller told the Sun wildfires will still be fought aggressively in Idaho this year, but he worries the cuts will mean the state won’t be able to stand up a new fire protection district for eastern Idaho or respond to as many fires.

Miller also worried the state won’t be able to do as much fire preparation work to reduce wildfire risk.

“We’ll have to turn over the rocks to figure out how we’re going to fund that (eastern Idaho) district this fire season,” Miller said Wednesday. “But the ironic thing is that we will be spending more money paying the federal government to fight those fires than if we were to take those fires. And so that’s the concern: that I don’t think this was a cost saving benefit at all.”

Overall, Miller has several concerns heading into the 2026 wildfire season.

The budget cuts discussed Wednesday affect wildfire preparation efforts and hiring seasonal firefighters before the fire season.

Once wildfire fire season begins, a separate fund – the state’s wildfire suppression fund – pays the bills for actually fighting active wildfires. That fund is nearly empty. On Feb. 12, Miller told the Sun the wildfire suppression fund had a balance of about $1.2 million, which is not enough to pay the wildfire bills for a year. A significant wildfire season could cost $70 million. That means that Idaho will use a “credit card” approach to paying wildfire bills this year and still have to bring the actual wildfire bills back to the Idaho Legislature to pay for in a future legislative session.

On top of those budgetary concerns, Miller is also worried about low snowpack levels across the state.

“The precipitation picture is pretty bleak,” Miller said. “So if we don’t have a cool, wet spring, then we could be in for a long, busy fire season.”

Although JFAC members rejected proposals to restore funding for wildfire protections on Wednesday, committee members could still reconsider proposals to restore budget cuts before the 2026 legislative session adjourns for the year.

JFAC is scheduled to reconvene at 8 a.m. Thursday at the State Capitol to continue working on the state budget.

This story first appeared on Idaho Capital Sun.