{"id":22393,"date":"2025-06-11T16:20:41","date_gmt":"2025-06-11T20:20:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.merkley.senate.gov\/?p=22393"},"modified":"2025-06-11T16:20:42","modified_gmt":"2025-06-11T20:20:42","slug":"merkley-forest-service-dangerously-unprepared-for-wildfire-season","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.merkley.senate.gov\/es\/merkley-forest-service-dangerously-unprepared-for-wildfire-season\/","title":{"rendered":"Merkley: El Servicio Forestal est\u00e1 peligrosamente desprevenido para la temporada de incendios forestales"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Washington, D.C. \u2013 Senate Interior-Environment Appropriations Subcommittee Ranking Member Jeff Merkley (D-OR) issued the following statement after <a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=qcTSwliH8dU\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">a hearing<\/a> with U.S. Forest Service Chief Tom Schultz on the President\u2019s Fiscal Year 2026 budget request for the agency:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\">\n<p>\u201cForest Service Chief Schultz\u2019s testimony only underscored the immense, serious challenges facing communities across Oregon and the nation ahead of another deadly fire season. The Trump Administration\u2019s funding freezes and mass firings of key Forest Service employees plunged the agency into chaos, leaving us dangerously underprepared. The Chief admitted that 1,400 fire-certified employees have left the agency and that they are now asking those people to return after realizing the mistake. As one Oregonian who fought last year\u2019s wildfires said, &#8216;you can\u2019t get ready after the fire starts,\u2019 and fire season has already begun.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\">\n<p>\u201cI have been sounding the alarm about the need to seize every moment to prepare&nbsp;for&nbsp;and mitigate wildfires, from reducing&nbsp;hazardous fuels to hiring enough wildland firefighters and support staff to tackle blazes on the frontlines. But instead of ramping up these efforts when we had the chance, the Trump Administration coerced essential personnel to take buyout offers, has not delivered funding provided by Congress for state, rural and volunteer fire departments nine months into the fiscal year, and is proposing to eliminate all federal support to states and private landowners for wildfire preparedness and forest management in next year\u2019s budget that is vital for Oregon, Washington, and other Western states. The administration is literally playing&nbsp;with&nbsp;fire, and it\u2019s our homes, businesses, and public lands that will all get burned.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\">\n<p>\u201cChief Schultz\u2019s inconsistent answers about ensuring our states and communities could access essential federal funds that Congress has already provided for forest management and firefighting mean we are less prepared this year than we were this time last year. I urge him to immediately implement the funding passed by Congress. If he\u2019s unwilling or unable to do so, then that raises serious concerns about his ability to keep our communities safe during wildfire season and America\u2019s forests healthy.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n<p>You can also read Merkley\u2019s remarks, as prepared for delivery, at the opening of the hearing by clicking <a href=\"https:\/\/www.merkley.senate.gov\/es\/merkley-remarks-at-forest-service-budget-hearing-with-chief-schultz\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">aqu\u00ed<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-center\">###<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Washington, D.C. \u2013 Senate Interior-Environment Appropriations Subcommittee Ranking Member Jeff Merkley (D-OR) issued the following statement after a hearing with U.S. Forest Service Chief Tom Schultz on the President\u2019s Fiscal Year 2026 budget request for the agency: \u201cForest Service Chief Schultz\u2019s testimony only underscored the immense, serious challenges facing communities across Oregon and the nation [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":16,"featured_media":18848,"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-22393","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":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.2 - 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