Wildland firefighter advocates are celebrating the permanent pay raises included in a larger funding bill passed by Congress late last week.
For several years, federal wildland firefighters have regularly and anxiously watched Congress to see if legislators would pass permanent raises 鈥� or simply extend temporary raises again. But with the passage and signing of a continuing resolution last week, the Groundhog Day-like situation came to an end.
And the raises will be substantial: as large as 42% jumps in base pay for those lowest on the federal pay scale, along with up to $9,000 annually in incident response pay.
鈥淭his is huge,鈥� said Riva Duncan, a retired Forest Service firefighter and vice president of Grassroots Wildland Firefighters, which has fought for the raises and other reforms for years.
The Government Accountability Office has low pay as a key factor in the federal fire service鈥檚 recruitment and retention problems.
鈥淲e're really hoping that this helps significantly,鈥� Duncan said.
But she鈥檚 also worried about the implications of the mass firings of federal workers, including many at public lands agencies that play key roles supporting wildfire response. Temporary reinstatements have been ordered, but Politico has that thousands more layoffs are likely at the Forest Service alone.
鈥淚f we can't support our firefighters, then is that going to affect retention in a negative way more than the pay increase affects it in a positive way?鈥� Duncan asked. 鈥淭hat is unknown right now, but I don't see how it couldn't.鈥�
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