CARES Act Funds for DOI’s Wildland Fire Management Program as of June 19, 2020

On March 27, 2020, the President signed into law the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (CARES Act), which provided the U.S. Department of the Interior (DOI) with $756 million to support the needs of DOI programs, bureaus, Indian Country, and the Insular Areas. As part of the $756 million, the Office of the Secretary received $157.4 million to prevent, prepare for, and respond to the coronavirus across DOI operations, which includes wildland fire management. The DOI approved $11.3 million in funding for the DOI’s Wildland Fire Management (WFM) program through September 30, 2020. The DOI’s WFM program is composed of the four bureaus with wildland fire management responsibilities—the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA), the Bureau of Land Management (BLM), the National Park Service (NPS), and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS)—and the Office of Wildland Fire (OWF), which is responsible for program coordination, accountability, and oversight of the WFM program budget. The OWF coordinated a fire management request for CARES Act funding on behalf of the WFM program. The OWF request provided estimates of items needed upfront, as well as items needed on an ongoing basis through the end of the fiscal year. As of June 19, 2020, the DOI had approved $11.3 million, and the WFM program had obligated $547,596 (or 5 percent) and spent $381,431 (or 3 percent) of those approved funds. The CARES Act requires agencies to obligate all appropriations by September 30, 2021.