Western Wildfire Support Act of 2023

The Western Wildfire Support Act of 2023 establishes new funding mechanisms and programs to enhance wildfire prevention, detection, suppression, and recovery efforts across federal lands in the western United States. The bill creates dedicated firefighting accounts for the Departments of Agriculture and Interior with specific annual funding limits, authorizing $3 billion for ground-based firefighting operations by the Agriculture Department and $1 billion for the Interior Department. It also establishes community planning accounts to support wildfire protection programs, requires strategic fire management planning for federal lands, and creates a Long-Term Burned Area Recovery account with $100 million annual funding for ecosystem rehabilitation. The bill includes provisions for research on drone impacts on firefighting, unmanned aircraft systems for fire applications, and a prize competition to address invasive species after wildfires.