Forest Official Claims 5,000 Layoffs Won't Hamper Firefighting Efforts During Summer, Yet Federal Firefighters Voice Disagreement
US Forest Service Faces Challenges Ahead of Fire Season
The US Forest Service (USFS) is gearing up for the upcoming fire season, but concerns about staffing and readiness persist. According to various sources, the agency has been affected by significant staff reductions, leading to increased workloads and shortages in various locations.
USFS Chief Tom Schultz has acknowledged the issue, stating that efforts are being made to bring employees back and shift others to critical positions to ensure readiness for the fire season. However, some firefighters have expressed doubts about the agency's readiness, including Steve Guitierrez, a long-time federal firefighter, and Bobbie Scopa, a former USFS operations section chief.
The USFS has shed approximately 4,800 employees due to an extended paid leave program and early retirements. To address this shortage, the agency has asked 1,400 employees who left through the deferred resignation program to volunteer to return for the current fire season. Between 600 and 700 employees have been reassigned laterally to serve in critical areas.
However, concerns have been raised about the readiness of USFS for the fire season. Scopa and Guitierrez have both expressed concerns about the agency's ability to handle an increase in fires later this summer, given the reduced staff numbers. They also highlighted the importance of support personnel, noting that many have left the agency in large numbers. Fire personnel cannot carry out their duties if there is insufficient staff to process pay or ensure contracts are in place, Scopa stated.
Newer hires who were originally fired in their probationary periods opted not to return when a court ordered the Agriculture Department to rehire them. Additionally, there are concerns that new layers of review by USDA and the Department of Government Efficiency have led to contract renewals taking as long as six weeks, compared to minutes previously.
USFS currently has 11,000 firefighters, slightly fewer than the 11,900 employed during the previous fire season. Despite reported vacancies, USFS claims to have reached 99% of its firefighting hiring goal with nearly 11,300 wildland firefighters. The agency also has 37 incident management teams for large-scale fires, fewer than the 42 teams it had in 2024.
Scopa's organization, Grassroots Wildland Firefighters, advocates for her former colleagues. Guitierrez represents his colleagues through the National Federation of Federal Employees. Both have voiced their concerns about the readiness of USFS for the fire season, with Schultz telling the Senate Appropriations Committee that the agency is ready, but some firefighters have expressed doubts about this readiness.
The USFS has taken steps to address the personnel shortage for wildfire fighting, such as rehiring staff as part of an effort to maintain firefighting capacity, requesting all red-carded employees including IT and HR personnel to be available for fire assignments, and incentivizing employees to stay through various means, excluding firefighters. However, the challenges remain, and the upcoming fire season promises to be a test for the USFS.
