The Forest Service is falling short on reducing wildfire risks, despite the Trump administration’s pledge to clear more overgrowth from national forests.
As of mid-September — about two weeks before the end of fiscal 2025 — the agency had treated about 2.2 million acres through thinning, prescribed fire and related actions for the year, Forest Service Chief Tom Schultz said in a letter to Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.).
That’s well behind the more than 4 million acres treated in the last year of the Biden administration, according to Wyden’s office, and the agency also is trailing the 10-year averages for such work.
Schultz cited “operational challenges” and ongoing wildfires for hampering prescribed fire, in particular. He also noted that the Forest Service’s assistance on wildfires in Canada in spring and early summer had taken resources away from efforts in the U.S.
