Outdoor Recreational Outfitting and Guiding Act

House Bill

H.R. 3499

119th Congress

Outdoor Recreational Outfitting and Guiding Act

In Committee

Introduced:Jun 4, 2025

Primary Sponsor

Burgess Owens

Representative

Republican

UT-4

Cosponsors

3

Quick Stats

Policy Area

Government Operations and Politics

Summary

This bill would make it easier for the U.S. Forest Service and Department of the Interior to hire and retain wildland firefighters. It would allow them to directly hire firefighters without going through the typical government hiring process, and require them to implement policies to recruit and retain these critical workers.

Latest Action

Reported (Amended) by the Committee on Natural Resources. H. Rept. 118-714, Part I.

SponsorBurgess Owens (R-UT)

Introduced6/4/2025

StatusReferred to the House Committee on Education and Workforce.

ChamberHouse

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Vote Prediction

Outdoor Recreational Outfitting and Guiding Act

This bill would make it easier for the U.S. Forest Service and Department of the Interior to hire and retain wildland firefighters. It would allow them to directly hire firefighters without going through the typical government hiring process, and require them

Community Breakdown

Pass

0%

Fail

0%

0 predictions

This bill would make it easier for the U.S. Forest Service and Department of the Interior to hire and retain wildland firefighters. It would allow them to directly hire firefighters without going through the typical government hiring process, and require them to implement policies to recruit and retain these critical workers.

Bill Number: 3499
Sponsor: Burgess Owens (R-UT)
Introduced: 6/4/2025
Status: Referred to the House Committee on Education and Workforce.
Policy Area: Government Operations and Politics

Data from Congress.gov

AI-generated summary

Fact Sheet

Title: Outdoor Recreational Outfitting and Guiding Act
Bill Number: 3499
Sponsor: Burgess Owens (R-UT)
Status: Referred to the House Committee on Education and Workforce.
Introduced: 6/4/2025
Summary: This bill would make it easier for the U.S. Forest Service and Department of the Interior to hire and retain wildland firefighters. It would allow them to directly hire firefighters without going through the typical government hiring process, and require them to implement policies to recruit and ret

Data from Congress.gov

AI Summary

Plain-English explanation of this bill

This bill would make it easier for the U.S. Forest Service and Department of the Interior to hire and retain wildland firefighters. It would allow them to directly hire firefighters without going through the typical government hiring process, and require them to implement policies to recruit and retain these critical workers.

Last updated: 12/30/2025

Official Summary

Congressional Research Service summary

Direct Hire To Fight FiresThis bill provides permanent direct-hire authority to the Department of Agriculture (USDA) and the Department of the Interior to fill wildland firefighter and firefighting support positions in the Forest Service and Interior agencies.The bill also requires USDA and Interior to implement policies to recruit and retain wildland firefighters and related personnel, such as by streamlining the hiring process and reducing barriers for firefighters transferring between agencies.Further, the bill requires USDA and Interior to annually report related data to Congress, including the number of firefighters needed for the coming year, the number of firefighting vacancies in each state, and existing barriers to filling such vacancies. The report must also be made available on a public website.

Key Points

Main provisions of the bill

Provides permanent direct-hire authority to the Forest Service and Interior agencies to fill wildland firefighter and support positions
Requires the agencies to implement policies to recruit and retain wildland firefighters, such as streamlining hiring and reducing barriers for firefighters transferring between agencies
Requires annual reporting to Congress on the number of firefighters needed, vacancies, and barriers to filling them

How This Impacts Americans

Potential effects on citizens and communities

If passed, this bill would help the government agencies responsible for fighting wildfires to more easily hire and retain the personnel they need. This could improve wildfire response and management, which would benefit communities at risk of these disasters. Wildland firefighters and their families would also be positively impacted by policies to support recruiting and retention in these critical roles.

Policy Areas

Primary Policy Area

Government Operations and Politics

Related Subjects

Congressional oversight

Department of Agriculture

Department of the Interior

Employee hiring

Federal officials

Fires

First responders and emergency personnel

Forests, forestry, trees

Government employee pay, benefits, personnel management

Government information and archives

Scope & Jurisdiction

Jurisdiction Level

federal

Congressional Session

119th Congress

Citation Reference

3499, 119th Congress (2025). "Outdoor Recreational Outfitting and Guiding Act". Source: Voter's Right Platform. https://votersright.org/bills/118-hr-3499

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