Senate committee presses Forest Service over staffing cuts, fuel-program transfer to Interior

Senator Heinrich pressed the Forest Service chief about agency staffing and funding decisions that he said risk slowing hazardous fuels treatment and leaving states without critical support.

"Chief, you've talked recently about how your budget is constrained because you need to pay out accrued vacation time for the 5,000 forest service employees who opted into the deferred resignation program," Senator Heinrich said, asking which programs would be affected by that payout.

The chief replied, "So, Senator Heinrich, we're using primarily IRA and IIJ funds to pay those out. Those are the funds that are being used for that." When Heinrich asked whether that had affected the decision to zero out State Fire Assistance and Volunteer Fire Assistance funding, the chief said those particular funds "were not used directly" and that the agency was still discussing the matter with states.

Heinrich said states "need that funding" and warned that failing to provide it would be "abdicating our federal responsibility," noting some states lack agencies to replace that capacity amid other budget pressures. The chief said state foresters' concerns "have been reflected" and that the agency is in close communication with them.

On hazardous fuels reduction, Heinrich said the Forest Service had predicted about 4,000,000 acres would be treated in FY25 and asked for the current progress. After the chief said he did not have the number at hand, Heinrich said his estimate was "about 1,700,000 acres," which he characterized as "not even 50% of the way" to the FY25 goal.

Heinrich said the loss of 5,000 employees "is a recipe for more trees burned and fewer trees cut" and pressed for clarity about how the agency would meet fuels objectives.

The chief responded that under the budget blueprint the fuels program would be transferred to the Department of the Interior and that the agency intends to "work with Department of Interior to accomplish those objectives on Forest Service ground." He confirmed that approximately "$170,000,000" for that program would transfer to Interior and said the "large bulk of that would transfer with that program."

Asked when a detailed blueprint of the new firefighting approach would be available, the chief said an executive order requested a plan within 90 days and that internal discussions with Interior have begun. Senator Heinrich said he and other committee members want to see the plan before making budgetary decisions, arguing that lives and livelihoods depend on getting the approach right.

Next steps: the Forest Service committed to produce a plan under the executive order timeline and to continue communications with state foresters; the agency also said it would provide the exact hazardous fuels acreage figure to the senator after the hearing.