Regional Leadership in Wildland Fire Research Act of 2025
This bill provides for the establishment of at least seven regional wildland fire research centers to improve the understanding of wildland fire through coordinated research and development.
Specifically, the Department of Commerce, in coordination with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and the Forest Service, must establish regional centers at institutions of higher education and land-grant colleges and universities in seven specified regions. Institutions must be selected to host regional centers through a competitive process. Among other priorities, regional centers must develop technologies and tools to understand, monitor, and predict wildland fire, test and operate models to support land management decision-making, and improve the understanding of post-fire risks (e.g., flash flooding). Regional centers must coordinate their research with one another and with other wildland fire research entities, and must make their work and data fully and openly available.
The bill also establishes a national coordination board to develop technological research priorities and science, data management, and sharing protocols in cooperation with each regional center. The national board must coordinate the activities of regional centers and other research institutions to avoid unnecessary duplication.
Further, the bill establishes an advisory board at each regional center to advise on research goals and activities, assist with dissemination of research outputs, and ensure coordination of research between regional centers and federal and state land management agencies in the relevant region.
Finally, the bill sets forth certain reporting requirements with respect to the regional centers’ progress.