Department of Lands budget hearing highlights proposed transfers to fire fund, TPA pay parity, and staffing requests

The Idaho Department of Lands told the Joint Finance‑Appropriations Committee on Wednesday that wildfire costs, timber programs and long‑running remediation work are driving budget changes and several line items in the FY2026 request.

Key points at a glance - Governor recommended transfers and supplemental funding: the governor’s proposal includes a $40 million transfer from the general fund to the fire suppression deficiency fund and a $60 million supplemental transfer for the current year; the department said those transfers would raise the projected deficiency‑fund balance. - Timber Protective Associations (TPAs): the department requested a targeted compensation and employer‑cost increase for Timber Protective Association employees to create parity with state firefighter CECs; the governor recommended a 5% CEC‑equivalent for TPAs and the TPAs later asked for $250,000 in bonus funding to cover their employees. - Staffing and modernization requests: the department requested several new positions tied to its fire modernization plan, including a fire emergency support program manager, a fire aviation section manager and a statewide forest assessment program manager. The request blends dedicated fund and general fund support and is intended to improve coordination, aviation capability and forest assessment work. - Good Neighbor Authority (GNA) and federal partnerships: Director Dustin Miller said the GNA timber program has generated receipts that now fund the program’s activities; the department reported agreements with six of seven national forests and said the program is largely self‑funded by timber receipts. - Abandoned Mine Lands (AML): the department said AML funding is insufficient for the scope of work to close and secure nearly 9,000 legacy sites; the department said funding has not kept pace with need.

Governor recommendations and the fire suppression fund Janet Jessup, the committee’s budget analyst, described the fire suppression deficiency fund as continuously appropriated and noted legislative practice since 2015 to prefund the account so agencies do not have to seek reimbursement after a catastrophic year. Jessup showed the committee that the governor’s recommendation includes a $40 million FY2026 transfer and a separate $60 million supplemental transfer in FY2025 intended to bolster that fund.

Director Dustin Miller told the committee the department closely monitors daily fire season costs and that timing of federal reimbursements can delay final accounting. Miller said the suppression account balance—roughly $35.8 million on the slides shown to the committee—does not yet reflect invoices or partner cost shares still pending; he said without the governor’s requested additional funds the department projects the suppression account could drop to roughly $13 million in FY2026.

TPAs, CEC and firefighter bonuses Jessup explained the TPAs are quasi‑state entities that receive assessments and other statutory payments; the TPAs asked for CEC parity because TPA employees are not state employees and do not receive the standard state CEC. The governor recommended a CEC‑equivalent for TPAs and also proposed firefighter bonuses for Department of Lands employees totaling $1 million; the TPAs later requested an additional $250,000 to ensure their firefighters would also receive bonuses.

New positions and programmatic requests Miller described the requested positions as part of a fire program modernization effort that aligns with the governor’s wildfire roundtable recommendations. He said the fire emergency support program manager would coordinate state and local resources in large incidents; the aviation manager would strengthen the department’s aviation capabilities; and the statewide forest assessment manager would improve mapping, timberland assessment and assessment collections to capture revenues from previously uncoded private forest lands.

Good Neighbor Authority, federal receipts and county impacts Miller described the GNA as a program created in the 2015 federal farm bill that allows the department to partner with the Forest Service to deliver restoration and timber sales on national forest lands. He said Idaho has agreements with six of seven national forests, has generated roughly $40 million to date through the program and returned about $18 million to cover department costs and general administrative expenses; some receipts support restoration contracts and payments to the Forest Service.

Abandoned Mine Lands Miller told the committee the abandoned mines program faces a large workload—thousands of sites—and limited revenues. He said the abandoned mine fund receives a portion of mine license tax receipts and that funding “has not been keeping up with the amount of work that needs to be done.” The department said it continues to prioritize closures and partners with the Idaho Geological Survey and industry but that additional resources would be required to accelerate closures.

Committee questions and next steps Committee members asked for historical fire‑suppression expenditure data, clarification on timing of reimbursements from federal partners, and details about how GNA revenues are distributed. Jessup and Miller offered to supply additional data to the committee. No formal votes were taken during the presentation; the governor’s recommendations and agency requests will be considered in upcoming budget deliberations.