COLLEGE STATION, Texas (KRHD) — During the 89th Texas Legislative Session, state leaders set aside roughly $630 million in new funding for the Texas A&M Forest Service over the next two fiscal years. That money is in addition to current base funding.
Texas A&M Forest Service provides statewide assistance to make sure forests and related natural resources are sustained, by supporting the state’s incident response capability, protecting against wildfire, and responding to hazard incidents.
The Forest Service provided a breakdown of how the additional money will be spent:
- $257,000,000 – Wildfire suppression aircraft
- $192,291,000 + $44,000,000 – Volunteer fire department grants
- $124,754,143 – Wildfire and natural disaster expenses (2023-2025)
- $2,056,918 – New vehicles
- $2,044,444 – Volunteer fire department insurance increases
- $2,004,148 – Group insurance
- $4,000,000 – Burn manager self-insurance pool
- $500,000 – Wildland firefighting equipment database
Bills related to the Texas A&M Forest Service this legislative sessions included:
- SB 34 (Sept 1, 2025)
Funding for certain volunteer fire departments, to the preparation for and the prevention, management, and potential effects of wildfires, and to emergency communications in this state. - SB 767 (Sept 1, 2025)
Creating a database of firefighting equipment in the state available for use in responding to wildfires. - SB 868 (Sept 1, 2025)
Allocation of money appropriated to the Rural Volunteer Fire Department Assistance Program.
