National forests and wildfire will return to the congressional agenda this week with a pair of House subcommittee hearings on Forest Service programs.
The Trump administration’s challenges in managing the 193-million-acre forest system with a sharply reduced workforce — and a big agency reorganization still to come — are likely topics for both the Agriculture and Natural Resources subcommittees.
In the Natural Resources hearing, the Subcommittee on Federal Lands will take testimony on the state of national forests, picking up on a hearing that was initially scheduled for July 9.
In the Agriculture hearing, the Subcommittee on Forestry and Horticulture will focus on improved active forest management, such as increased thinning of national forests to reduce potential wildfire fuel.
