Wildfire Research Coordination Act of 2026

Key Points

• This bill requires the Department of Defense to work more closely with the Forest Service and the Department of the Interior on wildfire research. They would sign a formal agreement to share information and set common goals for studying how fires start and spread.
• The goal is to make sure different government agencies are not repeating the same work. By coordinating, they can better use military technology and environmental science to predict smoke patterns and improve how firefighters respond to active blazes.
• If passed, the agencies would have six months to identify their shared priorities. These priorities include making forests more resilient to fire, improving smoke modeling, and finding better ways to help land heal after a fire is put out.
• The Secretary of Defense would have to report back to Congress within one year to show how these agencies are working together. This ensures that the military environmental research programs are aligned with the nation broader wildfire strategy.

Impact Analysis

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