The Trump administration’s cuts to the Forest Service have left the agency far behind in reducing wildfire risks on national forests, a wildland firefighter organization said.
So far this calendar year, the service is about 38 percent behind its recent pace for forest-thinning, prescribed fire and other work to remove potential wildfire fuel, according to Grassroots Wildland Firefighters (GWF), an advocacy group.
The group mainly blamed the slowdown on cuts to personnel and programs through Elon Musk’s so-called Department of Government Efficiency, which targeted grants and other spending across federal agencies.
“Funding cuts have already led to a steep dropoff in forest mitigation projects across the West,” said Bobbie Scopa, the organization’s executive secretary and a retired firefighter, in a news release. “Without the prescribed burns, fuel break and fireline construction, and brush clearing that firefighters rely on, wildfires will be harder to contain, and our firefighters and communities will be at greater risk.”
