Wyden warns Trump’s Forest Service layoffs, budget cuts, low hazardous fuels treatment could create catastrophic fire conditions for Oregon and the West
Washington, D.C. – U.S. Senator Ron Wyden, D-Ore., today called on the Trump administration to provide a detailed plan for how it plans to help communities in Oregon and the West prepare for what has the potential to be a catastrophic fire season amid record-low snowpack and worsening drought conditions.
Most regions of Oregon have just one-third of their average annual snowpack. In his letter, Wyden highlighted that Donald Trump’s staffing and budget cuts in 2025 led directly to a reduction in wildland firefighting personnel, and fewer acres of hazardous fuels treatment during cooler, wetter months. Wyden warned this lack of preparedness coupled with ongoing drought conditions could have catastrophic consequences for Oregon communities this fire season.
“Donald Trump’s budget and staffing cuts led to a reduction in wildland firefighters, and directly resulted in fewer acres being treated for hazardous fuels.” Wyden wrote in his letter to U.S. Forest Service Chief Tom Schultz. “If not replaced, this lost capacity will result in insufficient capacity to fill much-needed resource orders during the heart of fire season. Furthermore, your agency delayed hazardous fuels treatments during the nearly two-month government shutdown, which coincided with the colder, wetter months of October and November, during which these treatments would traditionally take place.”
Last year, in response to an inquiry made by Wyden, the Trump administration confirmed the U.S. Forest Service was lagging behind hazardous fuels treatment levels relative to previous years. The Forest Service also confirmed the budget and staffing cuts made by DOGE in the first half of 2025 resulted in a loss of 1400 qualified wildland firefighting personnel.
Specifically, Wyden requested answers to the following questions no later than March 20, 2026:
- The drastic decline last year in acres treated for hazardous fuels by the Forest Service as compared to 2024, especially in Oregon, is deeply concerning. Will you commit to identifying the failures that led to this outcome, how you plan to prevent a recurrence this year, and commit to returning to or exceeding 2024 treatment acres in Oregon?
- Last year, you confirmed in response to my inquiry that the U.S. Forest Service lost wildland firefighting personnel as a result of Donald Trump and DOGE’s budget and staffing cuts. Have you fully restored capacity to pre-Trump administration levels, including available Forest Service personnel with Incident Qualification Cards in response to my prior requests? If not, will you commit to doing so immediately?
- Limitations and delays on grant funding and partnership agreements significantly limited prevention work in Oregon in 2025. Will you commit to ensure such delays do not occur in 2026?
- Will you commit to providing Congress with a budget request that will allow the Forest Service to rapidly increase the pace and scale of prevention work in order to avoid more frequent deadly and costly wildfire disasters?
The full letter to Chief Schultz is here:
A web version of this release is here.
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