Oregon’s Sen. Ron Wyden, a Democrat, has introduced a bill that would make it easier for a variety of groups to gain access to federal lands.

It would streamline the permitting process for recreation guides. It would encourage U.S. military branches to inform their members about outdoor recreation opportunities and make it easier for service members to use federal recreation lands. It would require federal land agencies to make recreation a priority and encourage the use of volunteers on a variety of public land maintenance projects.

That’s all well and good. In Central Oregon, it can feel a bit ironic coming as it does at the same time the Forest Service considers limits on access to local wilderness areas.

But the bigger priority for Congress on public lands than Wyden’s recreation bill should be wildfire disaster funding.

The Wildfire Disaster Funding Act, introduced in June by Rep. Mike Simpson, R-Idaho, would make a long overdue change in the way the U.S. Forest Service pays for fighting wildfires. It would allow disaster funds to be tapped to pay for wildfires. Among the measure’s 62 co-sponsors are four of Oregon’s five members of the House, with only Rep. Earl Blumenauer, D-Portland, failing to do so.

There is also the Resilient Federal Forests Act, reintroduced this year by Rep. Bruce Westerman, R-Ark. Rep. Greg Walden, R-Hood River, is a co-sponsor of the measure.

With wildfires burning in most Western states, the Forest Service and Bureau of Land Management are faced with the unresolved problem of how to pay for fighting them.

The Forest Service uses up its money budgeted for fire, then does what’s called fire-borrowing when that runs out. It’s a system of robbing Peter (long-term forest health projects) to pay Paul to fight fires burning today. The Resilient Federal Forests Act would cut that burden by allowing the agencies to use Federal Emergency Management Agency funds on some fires.

The Wildfire Disaster Funding Act takes a different approach, allowing the land agencies to adjust the way they budget for fires, giving the Forest Service authorization to tap disaster funds for blazes.

Congress has struggled with wildfire funding for years, and fires have become more common and more destructive. Addressing that problem should take priority.