Trump moves to merge wildland firefighting into single force, despite ex-officials warning of chaos
BILLINGS, Mont. — 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.
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 .
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
The Onion
32 minutes ago
- The Onion
Trump's Military Parade By The Numbers
Saturday, June 14 marks the 250th anniversary of the founding of the U.S. Army, which will be celebrated with a festival and military parade in Washington, D.C. The Onion examines the facts and figures behind the event. Repurposed Mastercard Pride floats Likelihood tanks cave in city street and plunge into center of Earth Military stars being awarded to Kid Rock Attendees who just remembered parades are kind of boring to watch Tanks it takes to spell out HAPPY BIRTHDAY ARMY AND, COINCIDENTALLY, DONALD TRUMP 250 Years Of PTSD Fireworks Show Number Of JD Vances invited Sentencing range for protesting the parade peacefully The smile on that sweet president's face
Washington Post
33 minutes ago
- Washington Post
Suing Trump is key issue in Va.'s Democratic attorney general primary
President Donald Trump's massive cuts to the federal workforce have become the backdrop to the Democratic primary for attorney general in Virginia, with both candidates in the race criticizing Attorney General Jason S. Miyares (R) for not challenging the administration's moves in a state that hosts much of the federal government's infrastructure and nearly 200,000 of its employees.
Yahoo
33 minutes ago
- Yahoo
‘No Kings Day' Exposed: Activist Powerhouses Mobilize Across America
Left-wing agitators have been planning events scheduled for this weekend to promote hate against President Donald Trump with 'No Kings Day,' following violent anti-ICE riots across America. The 'No Kings Day' mobilizations are set for June 14 across the country, as The Dallas Express previously reported. Several of these events are occurring across the Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex and are organized by powerful national groups. The group 50501 is a leading force behind these mobilizations – the latest in a series against Trump, with 'Hands Off' and 'May Day' events earlier this year. As The Dallas Express reported, 50501 previously organized demonstrations across the DFW area. Other groups like Indivisible – an influential left-wing network – are also organizing the demonstrations. Indivisible is known for working with groups like the Democratic Socialists of America, whose 'paramilitary wing' is Antifa. According to The Federalist, Indivisible boosted previous protests like 'Hands Off' with things like 'infrastructure to get the campaign off the ground.' A spokesman for 'No Kings Day' told The Dallas Express that 50501 started anti-Trump events earlier this year, and other groups like Indivisible joined. Last month, Indivisible announced that it and other left-wing groups are helping organize the upcoming events. The 'No Kings' spokesman said he could not limit the 'goal to a singular purpose' because the demonstrations are coming from 'different local organizations in each city.' He said national groups like Indivisible, the American Federation of Teachers, SEIU, and other unions are planning the mobilizations. 'No Kings Day' partners also include the ACLU, Bernie Sanders and his group Our Revolution, Move On of the Tesla Takedown demonstrations, and the anti-Trump protest group Families Over Billionaires – which is supported by a billionaire-funded dark money network. 'People are tired of not feeling like they're being heard in Washington D.C., people are tired of feeling like Congress has abdicated its responsibility to be a check and a balance on the executive branch,' the 'No Kings' spokesman said. The upcoming events fall in the wake of violent anti-ICE riots in Los Angeles and Dallas, as The Dallas Express reported. Gov. Greg Abbott deployed the National Guard across Texas this week to keep order. The Dallas Express asked if organizers expect the 'No Kings' events to 'merge with anti-ICE actors,' and the spokesman said he could not speak to it from a 'global perspective.' 'These are grassroots organizations that people want to amplify their voices by partnering up with other organizations,' the spokesman said. 'I don't think anybody's going to say, 'Don't do that.'' The 'No Kings' spokesman said organizers are working with police and training 'marshals' to keep the mobilizations peaceful. He blamed the violence on 'one-sided escalation.' 'I think at their very nature, they're nonviolent, they're peaceful. But then when you do things like calling the National Guard, it amplifies tensions,' he said. The riots in Los Angeles featured burning vehicles, a siege against the ICE building, and attacks against state and federal police, as The Dallas Express previously reported. The Dallas Express asked the spokesman's thoughts on the riots in Los Angeles 'before the National Guard was there,' where rioters started 'throwing rocks at immigration agents and surrounding the federal building.' 'It's very strange to portray single actors throwing rocks as an entire movement if you're not doing the same thing for masked ICE agents kidnapping people in schools, in hospitals, on the streets,' the spokesman replied. The FBI is currently investigating those with 'monetary connections responsible for the riots,' as The Dallas Express previously reported. Tech tycoon Neville Singham – a Marxist sympathizer who moved to Shanghai – uses 'a global web of nonprofits and shell entities' to push Chinese Communist Party propaganda worldwide. Singham supports the Party for Socialism and Liberation, a communist group that helped organize the Los Angeles riots with a 'history of anti-Israel activism,' as The Dallas Express also reported. The group CHIRLA – Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights of Los Angeles – helped organize inflammatory rallies in the city, The Dallas Express reported at the time. Singham's wife, Jodie Evans, is the founder of the left-wing activist group Code Pink, which published an anti-ICE toolkit to resist immigration enforcement. The group advocates for Chinese interests, claiming, 'China is not our enemy.' The anti-Trump 'No Kings Day' events are set to take place in Dallas and Fort Worth, as well as the suburbs Arlington, Burleson, Denton, Euless, Flower Mound, Frisco, McKinney, and Sanger. Fort Worth Mayor Mattie Parker previously told The Dallas Express she has 'full faith' in police to keep Saturday's demonstrations under control. Both the Fort Worth Police Department and the Dallas Police Department are monitoring the events. The Dallas Express reached out to Indivisible and 50501 but did not hear back in time for publication.
