{"id":11503,"date":"2026-04-24T21:55:33","date_gmt":"2026-04-24T21:55:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wildgreenquest.com\/?p=11503"},"modified":"2026-04-24T21:55:33","modified_gmt":"2026-04-24T21:55:33","slug":"secretary-burgum-admits-fault-in-dragon-bravo-fire","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wildgreenquest.com\/?p=11503","title":{"rendered":"Secretary Burgum Admits Fault in Dragon Bravo Fire"},"content":{"rendered":"


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Published April 24, 2026 03:16PM<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

One of the most destructive wildfires in National Park Service (NPS) history, the Dragon Bravo Fire tore through the Grand Canyon in 2025, scorching nearly 150,000 acres. Federal officials now say the response from government agencies\u00a0was inadequate\u2014and that much of the devastation may have been preventable.<\/p>\n

During a Senate hearing<\/a> on April 22, 2026, Secretary of the Interior Doug Burgum spoke to his agency\u2019s plans for wildfire management strategies. When asked about coordination between state and federal agencies by Nebraska Sen. Deb Fischer, he recalled the Grand Canyon\u2019s catastrophic fire.<\/p>\n

\u201cLast year at Dragon Bravo, where we ended up losing the North Rim Lodge in the Grand Canyon National Park \u2026 in retrospect, an approach of suppression versus containment might have saved hundreds of millions of dollars of historic properties,\u201d Burgum responded.<\/p>\n

In an email to Outside<\/em>, the Department of the Interior declined to comment on Burgum\u2019s testimony, writing that the agency had \u201cnothing further to add in addition to the Secretary\u2019s remarks.\u201d<\/p>\n

Riva Duncan, president of Grassroots Wildland Firefighters<\/a>, a nonprofit that advocates for wildland firefighters, worked for the U.S. Forest Service for 32 years. She told Outside<\/em> that she feels Burgum is unfairly shifting blame onto firefighters.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think it was lousy\u00a0of Burgum to say the Park Service mismanaged that fire, because basically, he threw the firefighters under the bus. And I think that\u2019s really an awful thing for a leader to do,\u201d Duncan said.<\/p>\n

The Dragon Bravo fire tore through the North Rim of the Grand Canyon last summer, burning down the historic Grand Canyon Lodge, visitor center, and 114 buildings. An NPS report<\/a> found that the fire affected 73 miles of trails, prompting closures and uncertainty ahead of the 2026 season.<\/p>\n

Smoke from nearby wildfires settles into the Grand Canyon on July 15, 2025<\/span> (Photo: Scott Ols)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cThe Government Really Dropped the Ball\u201d<\/h2>\n

Adding fuel to the fire, the area around the Dragon Bravo blaze had not burned for decades, Duncan said, and the canyon\u2019s steep terrain made it initially unsafe to put firefighters on the ground. She added that the government didn\u2019t clearly communicate to the public what was happening, either.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe government really dropped the ball and tried to walk some things back, and I don\u2019t think that showed integrity or was honest with the public,\u201d Duncan said. \u201cWe\u2019ve got firefighters and fire managers on the ground doing the absolute best they can with what they have. But wildfires are still a natural process. Weather changes and forecasts get missed, and things don\u2019t always turn out as expected. Everybody who does this job loves the land.\u201d<\/p>\n

An investigation<\/a> published by the media outlet Arizona Republic in August 2025 alleged that Grand Canyon National Park officials didn\u2019t follow their own wildfire management plan in the days leading up to the fire. According to the report, park\u00a0officials told the public that the fire was under control and that the NPS was employing a suppression strategy\u2014even though the blaze was rapidly growing. On social media, however, federal agencies stated they were letting the fire burn natural fuel, the report claims.<\/p>\n

Outside<\/em> also contacted the NPS, but did not receive a response in time for publication.<\/p>\n

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A roadside sign warns of the hazards motorists may face as they approach the burn zone of the Dragon Bravo fire<\/span> (Photo: Getty Images)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The Future of the Forest Service<\/h2>\n

In his testimony, Burgum said the Dragon Bravo Fire illustrates why the Interior Department\u2019s fire management strategies need to evolve. They cover roughly 500 million acres managed by the National Park Service, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, and the Bureau of Land Management.<\/p>\n

He also promoted the newly established Wildland Fire Service\u2014a controversial restructuring of the Department of the Interior\u2019s wildland fire programs\u2014and argued that wildfires should now be fully suppressed. Critics warn this approach could backfire, leading to hotter, larger fires, since some landscapes depend on natural burning to maintain healthy ecosystems.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s going to be a year of suppression, meaning that when a fire begins, we\u2019ll put it out,\u201d Burgum said. \u201cSometimes we\u2019ve had land managers that feel like they\u2019ve been underfunded in terms of fuel load management, and so they\u2019ll let a fire burn, you know, in a national park or in a wildlife refuge. They\u2019ll let it burn, thinking like, \u2018Oh, I can manage some of my fuel load.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

Duncan called Burgum\u2019s position is a \u201cnaive\u201d approach.<\/p>\n

\u201cTo that suppression mindset, where that\u2019s our only focus, and that\u2019s the only way forward, is really, really, really naive, and it\u2019s just gonna kick the can down the road,\u201d Duncan said. \u201cWe\u2019re going to keep getting ourselves into more and more trouble, especially as we move deeper into the climate crisis.\u201d<\/p>\n

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A satellite view taken July 15, 2025, shows thick smoke plumes above the Grand Canyon as the Dragon Bravo Fire burned across the North Rim<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

What Does This Mean For the Upcoming Wildfire Season?<\/h2>\n

Now retired, Bill Kaage<\/a> spent decades with the NPS and U.S. Forest Service, mainly in wildland fire, and also worked for the National Park Service. In a phone interview with Outside<\/em>, he said that state governments often respond to wildfires with full suppression efforts on private property and in towns. Once resources are deemed safe, officials will usually then respond to wilderness areas.<\/p>\n

\u201cStates try to limit the damage right from the get-go. Federal agencies, generally speaking, fight fires on wild lands and protect federal lands out in the backcountry. In these cases, it doesn\u2019t always make sense to go full expression right from the get-go,\u201d Kaage told Outside<\/em>.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Grand Canyon has an extensive history\u2014decades\u2014of fire response where they manage for ecological benefit. They have that big ditch in the middle of the canyon itself that helps them separate the south side of the park from the north side,\u201d Kaage said. \u201cObviously, climate change, things are different now than they were 20 years ago.\u201d<\/p>\n

In a year already challenged by low snowpack and a gutted federal workforce, Duncan told Outside<\/em> that she is trying to stay optimistic, despite multiple reasons to worry about fire danger.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe administration is gutting the workforce of these land management agencies, and a lot of us are worried about that as we move through the rest of this administration,\u201d Duncan said.<\/p>\n

Duncan stressed that officials and the general public shouldn\u2019t view all wildland fires as bad. \u201cWe just can\u2019t,\u201d she said. \u201cWe have to learn to live with fire, and we have to learn to use fire to our benefit. And I think we can do both.\u201d<\/p>\n