Direct Hire To Fight Fires

This legislation establishes a direct hire authority for the Secretaries of Agriculture and the Interior, enabling them to appoint qualified individuals to federal wildland firefighting and support positions within the Forest Service and Department of the Interior. This authority bypasses certain competitive hiring procedures, allowing for quicker recruitment into critical roles such as Forestry Technicians, Aircraft Operations, and various support functions eligible for firefighter retirement coverage. Furthermore, the bill mandates the implementation of policies within one year to streamline the hiring process for these positions. These policies are designed to reduce recruitment time, eliminate redundancies in federal hiring, simplify re-hiring for former employees, and ease transfers between agencies. To ensure accountability and continuous improvement, the Secretaries must also submit annual reports to Congress, detailing hiring needs, current employment, vacancies, barriers, and the effectiveness of the new hiring authorities and policies, with these reports also being made publicly available.