Washington, D.C. \u2013 Today, Oregon\u2019s U.S. Senator Jeff Merkley\u2014the Ranking Member of the Senate Interior-Environment Appropriations Subcommittee\u2014delivered the following remarks as prepared for delivery at the hearing reviewing the President\u2019s Fiscal Year 2026 budget request for the U.S. Forest Service with Chief Tom Schultz:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Senator Merkley\u2019s remarks, as prepared for delivery, are below:<\/u><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThank you, Chief Schultz, for testifying today.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThe Forest Service manages 193 million acres of national forests and grasslands. But your job is so much more important than that.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cYou have a responsibility to work with states and stakeholders to lead the research and develop the tools that improve the health of trees from the backcountry to the urban landscape, to meet the challenges of invasive pests, new disease, the urban heat dome, and wildfire.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cSudden Oak Death, bark beetles, wildfire: They don\u2019t respect jurisdictional lines. These are not local problems, they are national. And we need a national response.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThe Chief of the Forest Service is an appointed position, not a nomination to be confirmed by the Senate. <\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cTypically, this position has been filled by an individual who has served in the Forest Service or by someone who shares the agency\u2019s motto of \u2018Caring for the Land and Serving the People,\u2019 which I believe you do.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cHowever, this administration is making it exceedingly difficult to achieve those worthy goals.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThere are individuals within this administration who want the American people to believe that our public lands are mismanaged to justify selling them off to the highest bidders.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cSo, the administration has submitted a budget that proposes to decimate a dedicated workforce, slash established environmental standards, and protect the profits of oil and gas companies instead of protecting habitats and watersheds.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThis budget says:<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cNo funds to develop techniques to neutralize invasive species that threaten our forest.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cNo funds to help federal officials, states, and private landowners partner together across a patchwork of jurisdictions to improve forest health.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cNo funds for removing decades-old, unused logging roads that harm salmon runs, degrade watersheds, and cause landslides.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cAnd no more funds for supporting collaboration between environmentalists and timber companies to ensure that logging and fuels projects meet all of a community\u2019s needs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThese are just a few of many deep cuts in this budget.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI\u2019m particularly alarmed by the cuts to wildfire programs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThis administration already froze funds with the threat of impoundment for wildfire fuels reduction and community wildfire defense grants.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThis administration terminated probationary employees with red cards or firefighting experience before scrambling to hire them back.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cAnd this administration forced voluntary separation on senior wildland fire staff, only to try to lure them back with financial incentives in time for fire season.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI was briefed by federal, state, and local officials on the upcoming wildfire season in Oregon on May 30.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThey anticipate that this year will be hotter and drier than last year, when a record 1.9 million acres of Oregon burned.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cBut instead of investing more in wildfire prevention and firefighting, this budget slashes investments.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cNo funds for research on climate chaos to understand how to reduce wildfire risk.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cNo funds to help volunteers and rural fire departments with training and equipment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cInstead of slashing these programs, we should be investing in good science, good neighbor cooperation, and good management of our forests and watersheds.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cTo reach these goals, one of the most effective programs we have is the Collaborative Forest Landscape Restoration program.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cIt brings together public officials, environmental advocates, the timber industry, local stakeholders, and others to encourage effective forest management that reduces wildfire threats while delivering saw logs to local mills.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWe have five of these federal collaboratives in Oregon.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI\u2019ve introduced bipartisan legislation with Senators Wyden, Bennet, Crapo, Risch, and Daines to expand and reauthorize this program for another ten years.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cBut this budget eliminates funding for this proven, bipartisan program.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cIn fact, this budget makes me wonder: \u2018What would you and the Forest Service do if it became law?\u2019<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cNo innovative research, no meaningful collaboration with states or stakeholders, no real funding for forest management, no more staff in hundreds or thousands of key roles, and no more local firefighting investments.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cAnd the administration proposes to undermine the Land and Water Conservation Fund, the hallmark promise we have made to future generations to save natural places.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThis budget seems designed to undermine the Forest Service to justify selling off our public lands.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cInstead of selling America\u2019s treasures to the rich and powerful, the American people deserve a Forest Service that \u2018cares for the land and serves the people.\u2019<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI look forward to discussing this budget further with you, Chief Schultz.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n ###<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Washington, D.C. \u2013 Today, Oregon\u2019s U.S. Senator Jeff Merkley\u2014the Ranking Member of the Senate Interior-Environment Appropriations Subcommittee\u2014delivered the following remarks as prepared for delivery at the hearing reviewing the President\u2019s Fiscal Year 2026 budget request for the U.S. Forest Service with Chief Tom Schultz: Senator Merkley\u2019s remarks, as prepared for delivery, are below: \u201cThank you, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":16,"featured_media":18847,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[24],"tags":[42,105,36,45,110],"class_list":["post-22385","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-press-releases","tag-agriculture","tag-appropriations","tag-natural-resources-and-rural-development","tag-tackling-climate-change","tag-wildfire"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n\n