Interior moves nearly 4,000 firefighters from agencies to new fire service

By Heather Richards | 03/19/2026 01:18 PM EDT

The reorganization is part of an effort by the Trump administration to unify fire response on federal lands, but critics question if it will harm overall land management.

This photograph taken on July 25, 2022, shows embers falling from trees of a forest destroyed by the Oak Fire near Mariposa, California, burning west of Yosemite National Park where the Washburn Fire has threatened the giant sequoia trees of the Mariposa Grove. Firefighters were battling California's largest wildfire of the summer on July 25, 2022, a blaze near famed Yosemite National Park that has forced thousands of people to evacuate, officials said, as the Oak Fire in Mariposa County has engulfed 16,791 acres (6.795 hectares) and is 10 percent contained, Cal Fire, the state fire department, said. (Photo by DAVID MCNEW / AFP) (Photo by DAVID MCNEW/AFP via Getty Images)

Embers fall on July 25, 2022, from trees of a forest destroyed by the Oak Fire near Mariposa, California, burning west of Yosemite National Park where the Washburn Fire has threatened the giant sequoia trees of the Mariposa Grove. David McNew/AFP via Getty Images

The Interior Department has shifted thousands of federal firefighters from national parks and other land agencies into its newly created U.S. Wildland Fire Service, marking a major consolidation of fire response on public lands.

Roughly 3,900 firefighters began the transition last month, according to Grant Beebe, former assistant director for fire and aviation at the Bureau of Land Management, who spoke during a Feb. 2 town hall with Interior firefighters. A transcript of the call was obtained by POLITICO’s E&E News.

“For those in the fire organizations, about 3,900 of us, we’ll be moving to the new organization over the weekend,” Beebe said, describing the shift as a period of uncertainty.

“We’re all in the same spot, trying to get through this as best we can,” Beebe said.

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