SANTA FE, New Mexico — Interior Secretary Doug Burgum faced skepticism from a Western governor Monday over the Trump administration’s plans to overhaul firefighting on federal lands.
New Mexico Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham, a Democrat, warned that centralizing firefighting response at the Interior Department could create the same bureaucratic tangle that Burgum has pledged to solve with the new agency.
“I’m a little concerned about this all-or-nothing design,” Grisham told Burgum during a panel at the Western Governors’ Association meeting here Monday.
Burgum and Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins have proposed the launch of a new central agency for wildlife firefighting across public lands, an idea included in President Donald Trump’s proposed budget for fiscal 2026. The consolidation would bring firefighting coordination and leadership from the Forest Service, where it is currently located, to Interior.
