Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Forest Service Workforce topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Witnesses warn recent firings and hiring freezes could undermine wildfire mitigation work
Summary
Multiple witnesses and senators said recent Forest Service personnel cuts, hiring freezes and deferred resignations are reducing capacity to complete planned fuel-reduction and timber projects, imperiling on-the-ground mitigation this summer.
Several witnesses told the Senate committee the Forest Service’s recent personnel actions — including probationary firings and a hiring freeze — have removed staff who hold firefighting qualifications and do many essential field tasks.
Frank Bim of the National Association of Forest Service Retirees said roughly 3,400 probationary employees were dismissed and that “more than 75 percent of those dismissed employees had wildland fire qualifications.” He described the impact on field capacity and morale: “These indiscriminate reductions . . . are hollowing out the agency and jeopardizing the future of America's forests.”
Jonathan Haug, a Gunnison County commissioner who represents a county in which roughly 80% of land is federally managed, told senators the county lacks critical seasonal and full‑time staff. “In Gunnison County alone, between probationary firings and the hiring freeze for both open positions and seasonal employees, the fire service alone is short more than 50 employees that are critical to carrying out the most basic of operations,” Haug said, listing duties such as marking timber sales, clearing trails and issuing grazing permits.
Frank Bim and Haug warned that the staffing shortfall affects both prevention and suppression capacity: many of the dismissed employees hold ‘red card’ qualifications used for on-the-ground firefighting and prescribed burns. Bim told the committee that collateral-duty firefighters and forestry technicians who do critical prescribed-fire and fuels work were among those removed.
Senators pressed witnesses on near-term impacts. Ranking Member Michael Bennett noted a court ruling temporarily delaying some firings for 45 days, but witnesses said the uncertainty has already slowed projects and damaged morale. Several speakers urged Congress and agency leadership to restore staffing and pause reductions so already approved fuels projects can proceed.
The committee record remained open for additional materials; witnesses asked Congressional leaders to prioritize restoring and funding the Forest Service workforce so the statutory changes proposed in HR 471 can be implemented if enacted.
