H.R. 178 — To require the Secretary of Agriculture to carry out activities to suppress wildfires, and for other purposes.

This section directs the Secretary of Agriculture, acting through the Forest Service chief, with respect to covered National Forest System lands, to (1) use all available resources to extinguish detected wildfires within 24 hours and immediately suppress any prescribed fire exceeding prescription; (2) not inhibit suppression efforts by authorized state or local firefighting agencies; (3) use fire as a resource management tool only for prescribed fires complying with applicable law and regulations; (4) initiate backfires or burnouts only by order of the responsible incident commander or to protect firefighter health and safety; and (5) use all available resources to control any such backfire or burnout until extinguished. Covered National Forest System lands include any such lands located in areas rated D2 (severe), D3 (extreme), or D4 (exceptional) drought intensity by the U.S. Drought Monitor; declared at national wildland fire preparedness level 5 by the National Interagency Fire Center; or identified by the Forest Service as in the top 10 percent of firesheds for wildfire exposure (per the agency's most recent models).