On June 12, 2025, the Trump Administration issued Executive Order 14308, titled Empowering Commonsense Wildfire Prevention and Response, with the stated objective of strengthening the nation’s capacity to prevent and respond to wildfires. The order emphasizes coordinating between federal and state agencies, providing support to state and local governments, conducting targeted regulatory reform, and encouraging the integration of innovative wildfire prevention technologies.
The executive order aims to improve the speed, effectiveness, and technological sophistication of wildfire management by reducing regulatory obstacles, empowering local governments, and modernizing outdated management practices. But will it yield meaningful improvements?
Organizational Reform
The order asserts that many past failures were due to program mismanagement and the reliance on outdated systems. A key organizational feature of the order is the consolidation of wildfire programs within the Department of the Interior and the Department of Agriculture. This integration is intended to improve the use of wildfire prevention resources as well as enhance coordination across wildfire-related budgeting, procurement, and research and development activities—an institutional reform that is long overdue.
Mitigation and Prevention Measures
The order also proposes several important wildfire mitigation reforms. It directs federal agencies to enhance local preparedness by strengthening intergovernmental partnerships, encouraging responsible wildfire-aware land management practices, and eliminating regulatory and policy barriers that may impede wildfire prevention and response activities. Specifically, the order also calls for an assessment of federal regulations that may limit effective mitigation practices, such as prescribed burns and the use of certain fire retardants.
Finally, it mandates improvements in power utility safety systems to lower the risk of wildfire ignitions from electrical infrastructure, including enhanced grid resilience and distributed energy solutions.
Satellite Imagery Release
A notable element of the order directs the Department of Defense to declassify and make public historical satellite imagery to support wildfire prevention and response. It is likely that such imagery will be redacted in some areas to alleviate potential national security concerns associated with this mandate, so it is unclear how effective the newly released satellite imagery may be.
Looking Forward
While the effectiveness of these directives remains to be seen, Executive Order 14308 represents a significant step toward a more robust and coordinated national wildfire prevention and response policy.
