Well I tried to get a fire chiefs only petition but that failed. I will be posting a new link FOR CHIEFS ONLY.

Title:
Vermont Fire Chiefs Oppose Mandatory Forest Fire Warden Duties Under H.935 (Act 162)

Petition Text:
We, the fire chiefs of Vermont, are speaking plainly: H.935 (Act 162) forces a major new responsibility onto us at the last minute, without consultation, without compensation, and without any realistic transition period.

Under Act 162, every fire chief in Vermont is automatically designated as the Town Forest Fire Warden starting July 1, 2026. We were notified last Thursday. That is not a transition — it is a blindside.

Some Vermont fire chiefs receive a small stipend. Many of us — especially in rural volunteer departments — receive $0.00. We already donate hundreds of hours a year to protect our communities. Now the State has volunteered us for even more work, without asking and without any regard for the realities of Vermont’s fire service.

Act 162 states:

“the chief of the fire department… is designated as the town forest fire warden…”
This is not optional. It is automatic. And it comes with a heavy load of new administrative duties:

Contact the State Wildland Fire Team within one hour for fires on ANR land.
Notify the Department of Forests, Parks and Recreation within 24 hours of any forest fire.
File a full fire report within 48 hours of extinguishment.
Issue written burn permits within 12 hours of granting permission.
Maintain state records and meet state training requirements.
Accept additional liability for administrative deadlines we never agreed to take on.
This is year‑round administrative work, paperwork, meetings, and state compliance — dumped directly onto fire chiefs, many of whom are already unpaid volunteers. And it was dumped on us days before it takes effect.

For decades, towns could appoint someone who actually had the time and interest to handle forest‑fire paperwork and permits. Act 162 removes that choice entirely. It forces chiefs into a statutory role they did not ask for, did not agree to, and in many cases cannot realistically perform.

We, the fire chiefs of Vermont, demand that lawmakers fix this:

Let towns choose their forest fire warden again.
Let fire chiefs opt out.
Stop assigning unpaid administrative labor to volunteer chiefs.
Stop dropping major statutory changes on the fire service with only days’ notice.
Work with the Vermont fire service before making changes that affect our duties.
And to be absolutely clear, here are the three points that summarize how unacceptable this situation is:

This is an unfunded mandate dumped on volunteer chiefs.
We are not free administrative labor for the State.
This rollout was irresponsible and disrespectful to the fire service.
Volunteer fire chiefs already give their time for free. We should not be forced into additional state‑mandated responsibilities without compensation, support, or choice — and certainly not with less than a week’s notice.

We urge the Legislature and the Department of Forests, Parks and Recreation to correct this unfunded mandate and restore a system that respects the realities of Vermont’s fire service.