Fire officials across Montana are preparing for the 2026 wildfire season while navigating a significant restructuring of the federal agencies they coordinate with — the consolidation of six separate federal offices into a single United States Wildland Fire Service.
A New Federal Structure
The reorganization brings together the Bureau of Indian Affairs, Bureau of Land Management, Fish and Wildlife Service, National Park Service, Office of Aviation Services, and Office of Wildland Fire under one unified agency. The move is intended to streamline command and coordination across federal wildland firefighting operations.
U.S. Forest Service Northern Rockies Deputy Fire Chief Craig Howells described the scope of the consolidation. “Bureau of Indian Affairs, Bureau of Land Management, Fish and Wildlife Service, National Park Service, Office of Aviation Services, Office of Wildland Fire — it’s going to be consolidated under a single cohesive United States Wildland Fire Service,” he said.
Custer Gallatin National Forest Supervisor Matthew Jedra and Public Engagement Staff Officer Emma Spurlock are among the Montana-based federal officials working through the transition as fire season progresses.
State Officials Focused on Speed and Suppression
While the federal reorganization takes shape, Montana’s Department of Natural Resources and Conservation is emphasizing response time as the core of its 2026 strategy. DNRC Fire Communications Specialist Cooper Fisher pointed to last year’s performance as a benchmark the department wants to build on.
“In the past year, in 2025, we were able to keep 94% of wildfires to 10 acres or less — something we’re really proud of,” Fisher said.
That figure reflects a strategy of safe, aggressive initial attack — moving quickly on new ignitions to limit fire spread before conditions can escalate. Officials say the approach is designed to reduce risk to firefighters while improving overall suppression efficiency.
The priority order for protection remains consistent with established wildfire doctrine: firefighter safety first, followed by structures, communities, and natural resources. Forest health over the long term is also a stated goal of the initial-attack approach, with officials arguing that smaller, faster-controlled fires reduce the fuel loads that drive catastrophic burns.
Conditions and Outlook
Montana entered the 2026 fire season after a dry winter, which raised concerns among land managers heading into spring. Some moisture relief arrived in the spring months, offering a modest buffer, but fire season is now underway and conditions remain a concern across much of the state.
Gallatin County Emergency Management and Fire Chief Patrick Lonergan is among the local officials working alongside both state and federal counterparts as the season develops. Coordination between county, state, and federal agencies has taken on added importance this year as the new federal structure works through its early implementation phase.
Custer Gallatin National Forest officials have also stressed the importance of long-term forest health in guiding suppression decisions — a balance between immediate containment goals and the broader objective of reducing conditions that make forests more vulnerable to future fires.
What to Watch
The practical effects of the federal consolidation on ground-level operations in Montana will likely become clearer as the season progresses and interagency responses are tested under real conditions. Fire managers say that regardless of agency structure, the tactical priorities remain the same: contain fires early, protect lives and property, and preserve forest resources where possible.
Montana businesses and property owners affected by disaster-related losses this season may also have financial options available. The Small Business Administration has opened disaster loan applications for businesses in Yellowstone, Big Horn, and Carbon counties in response to recent damage events in the region.
With the 2026 fire season now active and much of the West facing dry conditions, the coming weeks will serve as an early test of how Montana’s fire management community — and the newly reorganized federal apparatus — work together when it matters most.
