{"id":22970,"date":"2025-09-03T21:29:00","date_gmt":"2025-09-04T01:29:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.merkley.senate.gov\/?p=22970"},"modified":"2025-09-04T09:32:27","modified_gmt":"2025-09-04T13:32:27","slug":"dexter-leads-oregon-lawmakers-in-standing-up-for-wildfire-response-and-research","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.merkley.senate.gov\/es\/dexter-leads-oregon-lawmakers-in-standing-up-for-wildfire-response-and-research\/","title":{"rendered":"Dexter Leads Oregon Lawmakers in Standing Up for Wildfire Response and Research"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"has-text-align-center\"><em>Oregon lawmakers warn USDA plan would weaken wildfire response, disrupt critical research, and jeopardize 246 local jobs.<\/em>&nbsp;&nbsp;<strong><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>WASHINGTON DC<\/strong>\u202f\u2014 Congresswoman Maxine Dexter (OR-03) today led a letter with Senators Ron Wyden and Jeff Merkley, and Representatives Suzanne Bonamici (OR-01), Val Hoyle (OR-04), Andrea Salinas (OR-06) and Janelle Bynum (OR-05) that raises the alarm over the U.S. Department of Agriculture\u2019s (USDA) plan to close&nbsp;the U.S. Forest Service\u2019s Region 6 headquarters in Portland and Pacific Northwest Research Station in Corvallis.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In a letter to USDA Secretary Brooke Rollins, the Oregon Democratic delegation warned the closures would gut wildfire response capacity, cripple long-term scientific research, and abandon 246 expert staff\u2014all while the Pacific Northwest faces record staffing shortages and escalating fire seasons.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\">\n<p>\u201cForests cover over half of Oregon. Over 15.6 million acres are managed by the Forest Service. Forests remain Oregon\u2019s most abundant natural resource and support over 62,300 forest sector jobs with higher-than-average wages,\u201d&nbsp;<strong>escribieron los legisladores.<\/strong>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\">\n<p>\u201cThe proposed closure of the Region 6 office comes at a time when the Forest Service is already facing severe staffing shortages, with the Pacific Northwest well into fire season\u2026This shortage of personnel means that critical wildfire response efforts are increasingly strained. The proposed reorganization, including the closure of regional offices, will likely exacerbate this situation, reducing the Forest Service&#8217;s ability to manage wildfires effectively and coordinate resources across the region.\u201d&nbsp;<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n<p>To underscore the urgency, the Oregon delegation posed\u202feight specific questions\u202fdemanding clarity on how USDA will protect Oregon\u2019s forests, workers, and communities:&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ol class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>How will the Department ensure meaningful and accessible engagement with stakeholders, tribes, and local governments in Oregon following these closures?<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>How does the Department plan to address the growing wildfire management challenges in the Pacific Northwest, especially given the current staffing shortages?<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>How will the Department ensure continuity of long-term research projects specific to the ecosystems of the Pacific Northwest, including the experimental forests?\u00a0<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>What is the plan to maintain existing research partnerships with Oregon\u2019s academic institutions?\u00a0<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>What are the Department\u2019s plans for the approximately 246 full-time employees currently stationed at the Pacific Northwest Research Station in Portland?\u00a0<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>How do the consolidated regional and state offices bring employees closer to the customer and community that they serve, particularly when there are specific geographic specialties among staf<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>What analysis was done to identify the new hubs?\u00a0<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>What is the Department\u2019s timeline for implementing this reorganization?\u00a0<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The full text of the delegation\u2019s letter to Secretary Rollins is available\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/dexter.house.gov\/sites\/evo-subsites\/dexter.house.gov\/files\/evo-media-document\/or-delegation-region-6-forest-service-office-closure-letter-3.pdf\" 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>Oregon lawmakers warn USDA plan would weaken wildfire response, disrupt critical research, and jeopardize 246 local jobs.&nbsp;&nbsp; WASHINGTON, D.C.\u202f\u2014 Congresswoman Maxine Dexter (OR-03) today led a letter with Senators Ron Wyden and Jeff Merkley, and Representatives Suzanne Bonamici (OR-01), Val Hoyle (OR-04), Andrea Salinas (OR-06) and Janelle Bynum (OR-05) that raises the alarm over the [&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":[42,118,44,36,110],"class_list":["post-22970","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-press-releases","tag-agriculture","tag-delivering-for-oregon","tag-jobs-and-the-economy","tag-natural-resources-and-rural-development","tag-wildfire"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.2 - 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