Ranking Members Huffman, Heinrich, Klobuchar, Merkley, Pingree, and Colleagues Call on Secretary Burgum to Halt Creation of Unified Wildfire Agency, Citing Dramatic Cuts at the[...]

Ranking Members Huffman, Heinrich, Klobuchar, Merkley, Pingree, and Colleagues Call on Secretary Burgum to Halt Creation of Unified Wildfire Agency, Citing Dramatic Cuts at the Interior and Concerns with Fire Mismanagement

WASHINGTON - U.S. House of Representatives Natural Resources Committee Ranking Member Jared Huffman (D-Calif.) and U.S. Senators Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.), Ranking Member of the U.S. Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.), Ranking Member of the U.S. Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry, Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.), Ranking Member of the U.S. Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Interior, Environment, and Related Agencies, and U.S. House of Representatives Chellie Pingree (D-Maine), Ranking Member of U.S. House of Representatives Appropriations Subcommittee on Interior, Environment, and Related Agencies, led their colleagues in sending a letter calling on U.S. Department of the Interior (DOI) Secretary Doug Burgum to halt efforts to create the Department's new U.S. Wildland Fire Service (USWFS), citing potential life-or-death consequences that could come as a result of decoupling wildfire management from land management agencies, and emphasizing a number of concerns related to recent reductions in staffing, combined with improperly severing wildfire management from land stewardship.

The Trump administration has restructured firefighting efforts in the DOI without transparency and the necessary congressional approval and funds to create the new program.

"We are concerned that the DOI is advancing a rapid and consequential restructuring of wildfire management without adequate analysis, transparency, or planning to prevent disruption during what is expected to be a significant fire season or to safeguard long-term wildfire preparedness," the lawmakers began.

The lawmakers continued, "While consolidation could be an effective strategy to improve efficiency and coordination, the administration's approach risks diverting critical resources and funding away from land management agencies without any public plan to replace those capabilities. Equally troubling, the Department has not provided Congress with any information detailing how decoupling wildfire management from land management agencies is expected to improve the health of public lands, enhance communication and coordination, or better protect lives and private property from catastrophic wildfire."

"The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) relies on an integrated workforce of land managers, scientists, fuels specialists, and field staff to plan and implement vegetation management, hazardous fuels reduction, grazing programs, habitat conservation, and post-fire recovery," the lawmakers underscored. "Further reductions in staffing, combined with improperly severing wildfire management from land stewardship, will undermine the agency's capacity to manage landscapes proactively.

The lawmakers concluded by urging the DOI to halt the creation of the USWFS and demanding answers to the lawmakers' questions.

Alongside Ranking Members Huffman, Heinrich, Klobuchar, Merkley, and Pingree, the letter was signed by U.S. Senators Catherine Cortez Masto (D-Nev.), Michael Bennet (D-Colo.), Ben Ray Luján (D-N.M.), Jacky Rosen (D-Nev.), and Mark Kelly (D- Ariz.), and U.S. Representative Maxine Dexter (D-Ore.).

Read the full letter here and below.

Dear Secretary Burgum:

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