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Subcommittee presses Interior and Forest Service on BIA office closures, staffing and tribal consultation
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Summary
Members questioned Department of the Interior and U.S. Forest Service witnesses about proposed BIA office closures, workforce reductions, consultation with tribes, and impacts on wildfire prevention and tribal partnerships; agency witnesses pledged follow‑up and consultations.
Members of the House Natural Resources subcommittee pressed Department of the Interior and U.S. Forest Service witnesses on staffing, proposed Bureau of Indian Affairs office closures, and the need for government‑to‑government consultation before changes that affect tribes.
Ranking Member Ledger Fernandez and other members raised concerns about reported plans to close multiple BIA offices and about workforce actions that they said could disrupt services tribes rely on, including law enforcement, contract administration and wildfire support. "We have not closed any offices," Bureau of Indian Affairs Director Brian Mercier said, adding that the BIA had not been consulted about any closures reported through GSA and that no leases had yet expired for offices reported at risk.
Members also criticized recent workforce reductions and high turnover at agencies. Representative Hoffman and Ranking Member Ledger Fernandez said they had heard of staff reductions and uncertainty affecting wildfire management and tribal partnerships. John Crockett of the U.S. Forest Service said the agency had reinstated certain probationary employees who had been removed and that the Forest Service planned tribal consultations on workforce changes; he said the agency manages about 93 million acres of national forest and grasslands and will coordinate with tribes on transfers where overlap exists.
Members repeatedly sought commitments to meaningful government‑to‑government consultation when decisions could impact staffing, funding, or office access. Mercier said the department supports tribal self‑determination and acknowledged the need to make resources available to assist with land transfers, and Crockett said he could commit to ensuring activities do not diminish tribal sovereignty and that the Forest Service would consult at forest and supervisor levels.
Committee members requested written follow‑up on numbers of staff separations, details of any new BIA internal requirements for fee‑to‑trust processing, and the status of leases reportedly slated for closure. Witnesses agreed to provide written responses under the committee’s post‑hearing process.
