The Forest Service doesn’t know how much, if any, financial assistance it can provide to communities to defend against wildfire for the remainder of the year, agency Chief Tom Schultz told lawmakers Thursday.
At a Senate Energy and Natural Resources hearing, Schultz defended the Trump administration’s reductions — both current and proposed — in programs that assist local fire departments, many of which consist of volunteer firefighters in cash-strapped localities.
“We’re not telling them they’re not going to get it,” Schultz said of the funding still due communities this fiscal year through the programs in the agency’s state and private forestry mission area. “We’re saying we’re still in discussions on that.”
Schultz’s testimony came in response to questions from Democratic lawmakers, primarily Sens. Alex Padilla of California and Martin Heinrich of New Mexico, who spotlighted the administration’s efforts to shift wildfire preparation to states and localities as wildfire season builds.
