Trump moves to merge wildland firefighting into single force, despite
ex-officials warning of chaos
[June 13, 2025]
By MATTHEW BROWN
BILLINGS, Mont. (AP) — President Donald Trump on Thursday ordered
government officials to consolidate wildland firefighting into a single
program, despite warnings from former federal officials that it could be
costly and increase the risk of catastrophic blazes.
The order aims to centralize firefighting efforts now split among five
agencies and two Cabinet departments. Trump's proposed budget for next
year calls for the creation of a new Federal Wildland Fire Service under
the U.S. Interior Department.
That would mean shifting thousands of personnel from the U.S. Department
of Agriculture's Forest Service — where most federal firefighters now
work — with fire season already underway. The administration has not
disclosed how much the change could cost or save.
Trump in Thursday's order cited the devastating Los Angeles wildfires in
January as highlighting a need for a quicker response to wildfires.
“Wildfires threaten every region, yet many local government entities
continue to disregard commonsense preventive measures," the order said.
The Trump administration in its first months temporarily cut off money
for wildfire prevention work and reduced the ranks of federal government
firefighters through layoffs and retirement.
The order makes no mention of climate change, which Trump has downplayed
even as warming temperatures help stoke bigger and more destructive
wildfires that churn out massive amounts of harmful pollution.
More than 65,000 wildfires across the U.S. burned almost 9 million acres
(3.6 million hectares) last year.
Organizations representing firefighters and former Forest Service
officials say it would be costly to restructure firefighting efforts and
cause major disruptions in the midst of fire season. They also say it
could put more focus on trying to extinguish fires — a futile endeavor
when blazes get too big — instead of preventing them. That could set the
stage for more severe fires as forests get overgrown.
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A group that includes several former Forest Service chiefs said in a
recent letter to lawmakers that consolidation of firefighting work
could “actually increase the likelihood of more large catastrophic
fires, putting more communities, firefighters and resources at
risk.”
Another destructive fire season is expected this year, driven by
above-normal temperatures for most of the country, according to
federal officials.
The left-leaning advocacy group Center for Western Priorities said
Trump's proposal was “madness” given that wildfire season is
underway.
“If President Trump was serious about improving the nation’s
wildland firefighting capabilities, he would stop hollowing out the
agencies tasked with fighting wildfires,” said Aaron Weiss, the
group's deputy director.
A prior proposal to merge the Forest Service and Interior to improve
firefighting was determined to have significant drawbacks by the
Congressional Research Service in a 2008 report.
But the idea more recently got bipartisan support. California
Democratic Sen. Alex Padilla and Montana Republican Sen. Tim Sheehy
are sponsoring legislation similar to Trump's plan. Sheehy, who was
elected last year, founded an aerial firefighting company that
relies heavily on federal contracts.
Trump also on Thursday signed into law another bill from Sheehy that
would reauthorize the sale of U.S. military aircraft and parts for
wildfire work. Sheehy said in a statement that fighting wildfires
"more quickly and aggressively is America First common sense.”
In a separate action aimed at wildfires, the Trump administration
last month rolled back environmental safeguards around future
logging projects on more than half U.S. national forests.
The emergency designation covers 176,000 square miles (455,000
square kilometers) of terrain primarily in the West but also in the
South, around the Great Lakes and in New England.
Most of those forests are considered to have high wildfire risk, and
many are in decline because of insects and disease.
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