Nevada foresters seek $6M state match as billing backlog and statutory limits complicate wildfire work

At a joint hearing of the Assembly Committee on Ways and Means and the Senate Committee on Finance’s Subcommittee on Public Safety, Natural Resources and Transportation, Division of Forestry leaders requested $6 million in state funding to leverage federal shared-stewardship investments and described ongoing challenges with invoicing, staffing and statutory authority for program fees and employee housing.

The request is part of a broader push to accelerate large-scale fuels treatments across priority landscapes. “We treated 75,000 acres last year,” Casey Casey, state forester and fire warden, told the subcommittee, adding the division and partners have completed nearly 954 treatments across 13 landscapes covering roughly 370,000 acres over the multi‑year shared‑stewardship effort.

Why it matters: Committee members pressed the division on two linked problems that limit its ability to use program revenue and pay wildfire response bills on time. First, state law and administrative rules do not currently allow the division to retain and carry forward certain permit and rental fees without a change in statute or a budget‑implementation vehicle. Second, the division has a large outstanding inventory of invoices for fire responses and limited authority and cash to pay them promptly; that can slow reimbursement from federal partners and strain the agency’s operating account.

Shared stewardship, federal matches and state request

Casey told lawmakers that shared stewardship — a partnership across state, federal and local agencies and other stakeholders — has been a focus because larger landscape treatments are required to reduce insect, disease and wildfire impacts. She said the program’s five‑year plans identify roughly $65 million of work needed in seven priority landscapes, and the state has brought in “about $117,000,000 in federal investments in those 7 landscapes.”

On potential new federal support, Casey said the U.S. Forest Service recently notified the division of a pending award of $24 million to support private‑land work adjacent to federal lands on the Sierra Front and in Elko. “We did receive it 2 years later... in the form it’s $24,000,000 for private lands adjacent to the federal lands in the priority landscapes of the Sierra Front and Elko,” Casey said; she added the division had not yet received the formal letter at the time of the hearing.

Casey asked the subcommittee to approve $6 million in one‑shot state funding to match and leverage federal dollars and to support partner agencies, saying the request is “on behalf of all of the state. It’s not just a fund for the Division of Forestry.”

Permit fees and fee retention

The division told lawmakers it is seeking statutory authority to retain certain permitting fees established by NAC 527, which staff now collect but — because of statutory constraints — may have to revert to the general fund unless the Legislature allows the agency to carry the funds forward. Casey said the workload for permitting threatened and endangered plant species has grown with increasing development and recreational pressures, particularly in Clark County and Washoe County, and the division recently added a dedicated biologist to manage the work.

When asked whether there is a bill draft request (BDR) in for carrying forward those fees, Casey said, “No, there is not a BDR in currently. And we will be putting one in.” She also said staff have consulted the Legislative Counsel Bureau and the Governor’s Finance Office on the issue.

Employee housing and proposed rental authority

The division described a small inventory of state‑owned employee housing used mainly to recruit and retain seasonal firefighters in rural locations. Casey said these properties are livable but in various states of disrepair and the division is seeking statutory authority to charge a nominal rent and retain the revenue for maintenance. When asked whether statute mandates residency in state housing, Casey said, “None of our employees are required to live in housing.” She further explained that some housing originally came with acquired properties and has functioned as a recruiting tool for low‑paid seasonal staff.

Casey told lawmakers the division plans a BDR to clarify authority to collect and retain rent; until the Legislature acts, any rent collected would revert to the general fund at fiscal year end per current rules.

Fire suppression billing backlog and audit implementation

Division staff detailed the billing and cash‑flow situation that led to an audit and the multi‑year effort to address it. Casey reported the division has invoiced $27,898,373.32 to partners identified during the audit and has been reimbursed “just shy of a million dollars to date.” She said the division still has “a little over $26,000,000 in bills” outstanding and owes about $18.5 million back to the general fund and to prior general‑fund advances.

Casey explained constraints on paying bills: the division’s authority to pay past invoices is limited and cash fluctuates with new fire activity. “I have about 4,400,000.0 in authority in current fire years, but I read to you $26,000,000 in bills. So I’m never really caught up because I don’t have the cash or authority in the account to pay my bills timely,” Casey said.

Lawmakers asked when the division expects to finish invoicing older years. Casey said the new automated fire‑billing system has allowed the division to push out invoices quickly and that staff aimed to have the older outstanding invoices submitted by the end of the fiscal year, but cautioned that adjudication and follow‑up questions from federal partners can lengthen the process.

Audit recommendations and accounting structure

Casey said the division accepted all 13 Legislative Counsel Bureau audit recommendations and has implemented most policies and procedures updates. “There were 13 recommendations. We accepted all of them. All of them have been partially implemented as of today and some are complete,” she said, estimating that about 70% of recommendations are fully implemented; the remaining work centers on whether to split in‑state and out‑of‑state fire activity into separate budget accounts, a change the division says complicates cash management.

On that point Casey said the division can clearly delineate in‑state and out‑of‑state activity in the fire‑billing software, but state accounting (CoreNevada) changes are required for that split and Controller/finance staff have limited bandwidth. She told the subcommittee, “If we separate (in‑state and out‑of‑state) into two budget accounts... it will make it a little harder for us. But we can clearly delineate it.”

Conservation camps and workforce shifts

The division also described continuing reclassifications and operational changes to its conservation camps and fire‑and‑fuels crews after the loss of inmate crews following AB 236. The agency now operates several full 20‑person crews and smaller 10‑person squads and is reclassifying supervisory roles to meet national qualifications (for example, converting crew supervisors to captain positions to attain Type 2 initial attack qualifications). Casey said the division is seeking additional forester and historic‑preservation specialist positions to meet permitting and planning needs for fuels projects.

What the subcommittee directed or recommended

Lawmakers requested the division work with the Governor’s Finance Office and Legislative Counsel Bureau to pursue statutory changes or a budget‑implementation bill to allow retention of fees and rental revenue where needed, and to develop a budget methodology or reporting approach to address the audit findings before final budget closing. Fiscal staff from the Legislature advised that, if the subcommittee recommends statutory changes tied to the budget, a budget‑implementation bill could be introduced by the money committees.

Ending

Committee members praised the Division of Forestry’s work on shared stewardship and its progress on billing and audit recommendations while urging quicker statutory and budgetary fixes to stabilize cash and authority for fire response and long‑term fuels work.