Direct Hire To Fight Fires

Direct Hire To Fight Fires This bill provides permanent direct-hire authority to the Department of Agriculture (USDA) and the Department of the Interior to fill wildland firefighter and firefighting support positions in the Forest Service and Interior agencies. The bill also requires USDA and Interior to implement policies to recruit and retain wildland firefighters and related personnel, such as by streamlining the hiring process and reducing barriers for firefighters transferring between agencies. Further, the bill requires USDA and Interior to annually report related data to Congress, including the number of firefighters needed for the coming year, the number of firefighting vacancies in each state, and existing barriers to filling such vacancies. The report must also be made available on a public website.

Source: Congressional Research Service (CRS).