Wyoming forester proposes expanding suppression account and four regional firefighting modules

Wyoming State Forester Kelly Norris told the Joint Appropriations Committee that she is recommending a change to the Emergency Fire Suppression Account (EFSA) so the account can pay suppression costs for “all state administered lands.” She said the edit would “help prompt and clean up and really marry up what the state forester now has an authority and and then to marry up that EFSA account.”

Norris described a practical problem the change is meant to fix: some state lands other than trust lands (for example state park or Game and Fish holdings) do not clearly fit the EFSA definition now, creating operational confusion when fires occur on those properties. She said the change is proposed to align the statute with recent changes to the state forester’s duties enacted last year.

Campbell County Fire Warden JR Fox and Sublette County Fire Warden Shad Cooper presented a Wyoming Fire Service recommendation to create four regional “modules” of seasonal firefighters to improve post‑initial‑attack capacity statewide. Their plan calls for each region to have a module composed of ten seasonal wildland firefighters supervised by a crew supervisor and a module leader, supported by regional leadership — a model intended to be flexible so crews can be combined or split depending on incident needs.

Fox said the modules would fill the gap that opens after volunteer and local initial attack forces are reassigned or must return to regular duties; the modules, he said, would allow the state to maintain a sustained presence on larger incidents without immediately ordering out‑of‑state resources. Chief Cooper said the modular approach allows the state to “use the right resource at the right time, the right place in the state.”

Committee members asked for cost estimates and operational detail. The committee directed staff to produce budget scenarios showing the cost of the proposed positions (full‑time supervisors and seasonal hires), and to model several EFSA fund scenarios, including a suggested floor and cap. Norris and chiefs asked that any new pay scales be competitive with federal rates to reduce staff turnover.

Public and elected officials who spoke during the hearing emphasized local cost exposure and the economic strain on counties that repeatedly spend on multiple smaller fires. Johnson County Commissioner Bill Novotny told the committee his county spent millions to respond to last year’s large fire and recommended a separate mitigation funding stream.

The committee did not vote on statutory language; members asked staff to prepare fiscal analyses, and said they will review proposed statute changes and cost scenarios at the next meeting. The forester also said she will bring suggested statutory language to the Board of Land Commissioners for review before legislation is drafted.

Ending: Committee leaders asked staff to return with cost estimates for the proposed staffing model and EFSA scenarios and to include inflation and multi‑year averages in the analysis. Further meetings will include the Department of Corrections for consideration of inmate crew logistics and the Wyoming Wildlife and Natural Resource Trust for mitigation funding coordination.