The Secretaries of Agriculture and the Interior have signed a joint memo on wildfire preparedness to increase readiness this wildfire season.
This season is expected to be above normal. Secretary Brooke Rollins says that the two departments will provide the resources needed to ensure the Forest Service has the strongest and most prepared firefighting force in the world.
The announcement comes as the Trump administration hopes to merge the government’s wildland fighting efforts into a single agency.
Right now, firefighting efforts are split among five different agencies and two departments. Trump’s plan would combine all of those into a single “Federal Wildland Fire Service,” which would fall under the Interior Department.
The merger would result in the shifting of thousands of personnel from the U.S. Forest Service and to the new agency in the middle of fire season.
Nebraska’s largest wildfire on-record has burned 650,000 acres, with three other major fires also burning across the state, destroying pastureland and threatening cattle.
March 18, 2026 12:53 PM
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Nebraska Farm Bureau President Mark McHargue shares the latest on the wildfires, their impact on agriculture, and the challenges farmers are facing as they navigate both natural disasters and economic uncertainty.
March 17, 2026 11:57 AM
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March 16, 2026 10:58 AM
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Roger McEowen of Washburn University School of Law joined us to discuss key legal and tax issues ranchers should consider as they recover from recent prairie fires across the Southern Plains.
March 03, 2026 01:06 PM
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Colorado Congressman Jeff Hurd joins Champions of Rural America to share insights into the Western Caucus legislative priorities as they champion wildfire prevention and mitigation in the West.
February 27, 2026 02:35 PM
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Britt Hilton with the Oklahoma Farm Bureau joined us to discuss current conditions, producer impacts, and the road to recovery following the Ranger Road Fire.
February 27, 2026 02:18 PM
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