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Committee hears DNRC-backed bill to make wildfire preparedness funding permanent
Summary
Sponsors and DNRC officials urged the committee to pass HB 127 to keep the fast-attack wildfire preparedness program created by HB 883 in place, citing 2024 operational successes and a new reporting requirement. Proponents stressed aggressive initial attack and continued mitigation funding.
Representative Lou Jones introduced House Bill 127 to maintain a program created in last year’s session (House Bill 883) that funds contracted aviation, crews and other rapid-response resources for wildfire initial attack.
The sponsor said the program, funded at roughly 0.5 percent of a referenced revenue stream (about $15 million in the prior year), paid for assets that “put on 1,300,000 gallons of water” during the 2024 season and helped protect private property. He asked the committee to make the program ongoing and add a reporting requirement to ensure transparency.
Wyatt Frampton, deputy division administrator for the Department of Natural Resources and Conservation (DNRC), testified in support. Frampton said DNRC used the funds to secure exclusive-use contracts for a Type 1 helicopter, a large air tanker shared with neighboring states, a night-capable intelligence aircraft with high-resolution thermal imagery, 20-person hand crews on exclusive use and additional engines. He said those resources were especially valuable during an unprecedented preparedness level 5 period in 2024 and that the state-controlled assets allowed the DNRC to prioritize local needs when national resources were unavailable. "These resources are not just important. They are critical to enabling the DNRC to continue to be successful at protecting the lives and property and natural resources of Montana," Frampton said.
Local leaders and firefighting groups — including Patrick Lonergan, president of the Montana County Fire Wardens Association; Rich Cowger of the Montana Fire Alliance; the Montana State Fire Chiefs Association; and the Montana Stockgrowers Association — supported the bill. They described operational examples where DNRC-exclusive assets filled gaps when national assets were unavailable and improved mapping and intelligence for initial attack and mop-up operations.
Frampton and proponents said the program also enables collaboration with federal partners and neighboring states, and noted a 13-year federal funding horizon for some related resources. Multiple speakers emphasized that aggressive initial attack reduces overall suppression costs and exposure hours for firefighters.
The committee did not take a vote on HB 127 during the hearing. Sponsors and agency witnesses said the bill adds an explicit reporting mechanism and removes the temporary restriction created when the program was approved as a pilot last year.
