A group of mostly Western U.S. Senators is demanding answers on why the U.S. Forest Service has fallen behind on efforts to reduce hazardous wildfire fuels.
The 12 senators – all Democrats – are from Nevada, Colorado, New Mexico and other wildfire-impacted states. They’re concerned about agency staffing and “a significant decline in planned wildfire prevention work in high-risk, fire-prone areas,” according to a letter they wrote this week to Forest Service Chief Tom Schultz.
“The steep decline in hazardous fuels reduction efforts on Forest Service lands poses a serious risk to public safety, public health, and the economy,” they wrote. “It is imperative that the Forest Service works closely with Congress to address shortfalls in wildfire mitigation and ensure staffing and budgetary resources are sufficient to fulfill the agency’s mission.”
They also asked Schultz 11 questions, including, “What evidence do you have (and can you provide) that your staffing levels are sufficient given the current wildfire risk environment?”
The letter comes on the heels of an analysis by the advocacy group Grassroots Wildland Firefighters, which found a nearly 40% drop in fuel reduction projects compared to several previous years.
“We're really glad it's generated a response from legislators to hold the agency accountable and ask the tough questions and hopefully get some answers,” Grassroots Vice President Riva Duncan said.
In response to a request for comment, the Forest Service pushed back on the concerns raised by Grassroots and the Democratic legislators.
“Too often the public discussion narrows to a single number – some years, it’s acres treated,” the agency said in an email. “Other years, it’s acres burned. But one metric alone doesn’t tell the story of what it takes to protect communities or rebuild healthier, more resilient forests. The truth is that this year was one of the most successful wildfire years in recent history.”
Acres burned this season were well below the 10-year average, which the agency said meant “communities stayed safe, firefighters stayed ahead, and years of proactive forest maintenance projects paid off.” The email also cited record-setting acres of post-fire restoration, including “over 285,000 acres of reforestation and more than 150,000 acres of timber stand improvements across the National Forest System.”
In response to the data cited by the senators, the Forest Service said that “the deadline for reporting accomplishments in [Fiscal Year 2025] was postponed due to the government shutdown,” and that the numbers referenced in the letter “are inaccurate and not final.”
Federal agencies have struggled for years to address the scale of fuel mitigation work many experts say is necessary. Reducing fuel loads in forests using prescribed fire, mechanical thinning and other practices is an effective way to lower wildfire intensity and destructiveness. Duncan, with Grassroots Wildland Firefighters, said that the mass layoffs early in the Trump administration only made a bad situation worse.
“We've been kicking the can down the road for decades now,” Duncan said. “And so any step back just continues to deepen the problem that we're already in.”
This story was produced by the Mountain West News Bureau, a collaboration between Boise State Public Radio, Wyoming Public Media, Nevada Public Radio, KUNR in Nevada, KUNC in Northern Colorado, KANW in New Mexico, Colorado Public Radio and KJZZ in Arizona as well as NPR, with support from affiliate newsrooms across the region. Funding for the Mountain West News Bureau is provided in part by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting and Eric and Wendy Schmidt.
