Wildland Firefighter Paycheck Protection Act Boosts Pay, Adds Leave

The Wildland Firefighter Paycheck Protection Act of 2025 is rolling out some significant changes to how federal wildland firefighters are paid and compensated for their demanding work. This bill directly addresses long-standing concerns about pay and work-life balance in this critical field.

Pay Raises on the Horizon

The core of the bill is a substantial pay increase for wildland firefighters. Instead of the standard General Schedule (GS) pay scale, firefighters from GS-1 to GS-15 will get a "special base rate." This means their base pay will be bumped up by a percentage that varies depending on their grade. For example, a GS-3 firefighter will see a 36% increase in their base pay, while a GS-10 will get a 15% raise (SEC. 2). This higher base pay also factors into locality pay adjustments, meaning even bigger paychecks in areas with higher costs of living. For example, a firefighter currently making $40,000 a year could see their base pay go up to $54,400 (GS-3, 36% increase), and that's before locality adjustments.

Beyond the Base: Premium Pay and R&R

Beyond base pay, the bill introduces "incident response premium pay." Think of this as hazard pay for particularly tough assignments. When firefighters are deployed to qualifying incidents (wildfires, prescribed burns, etc.) that last longer than 36 hours, they'll get a daily premium of 450% of their hourly basic pay, up to a maximum of $9,000 per year (SEC. 3). To put that into perspective, if a firefighter's hourly rate is $25, their premium pay for each day on a qualifying incident would be $112.50. There's a built-in check, though: The Secretaries of Agriculture and Interior have to compare compensation before and after this bill and can adjust the premium pay if needed to keep it in line with 2023 levels.

Recognizing the intense nature of wildland firefighting, the bill mandates rest and recuperation (R&R) leave (SEC. 4). After a deployment to a qualifying incident, firefighters will get mandatory time off, paid at their regular rate. The specifics, like maximum deployment lengths and minimum rest periods, will be ironed out in joint policies from the Departments of Agriculture and Interior. The goal here is to prevent burnout and ensure firefighters are getting adequate rest. For example, a policy might dictate that after a 21-day deployment, a firefighter gets a mandatory 7 days of R&R leave.

Funding and Fine Print

To make sure the Department of the Interior has enough money to cover these pay increases, the bill allows up to $5,000,000 to be transferred from the Forest Service's Wildland Fire Management funds (SEC. 5). One potential issue to watch out for is how "qualifying incidents" are defined, as this could impact how often premium pay kicks in. Also, while the R&R leave is a positive step, the effectiveness will depend on the specific policies developed by the agencies. The bill also explicitly states that the special base rates will go into effect after the temporary salary increases from the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act expire, ensuring no pay cuts in the transition. Overall, the bill aims to create a more stable and sustainable compensation structure for these essential workers, which could significantly impact recruitment and retention, reducing constant staffing shortages. The bill's focus on both pay and rest recognizes the realities of modern wildland firefighting, where seasons are longer and more intense.