Department of Lands outlines wildfire funding, Good Neighbor Authority progress and requests for new fire positions

The Joint Finance‑Appropriations Committee heard detailed testimony on the Idaho Department of Lands’ FY2026 base budget and line‑item requests, with major focus on wildfire funding, staffing for fire program modernization, the Timber Protective Associations and the Good Neighbor Authority.

Janet Jessup of the Legislative Services Office opened the Department of Lands presentation and described the department’s multiple programs and dedicated funds. Jessup told the committee that the Department of Lands Fund is a large, multi‑source fund (listed in the fiscal source book) and that the department’s fire suppression deficiency warrant fund is continuously appropriated—allowing the agency to spend without a traditional legislative appropriation when warranted. She noted the legislature has increasingly prefunded that account since 2015.

Dustin Miller, director of the Department of Lands, told the committee the department’s firefighting responsibilities have grown in complexity as the state’s “fire season is getting more expensive” and seasons last longer. Miller said the department manages partnerships with federal agencies and local organizations and that reimbursement timing from federal partners can lag. He told the panel that,…