As the Pacific Northwest braces for what fire experts are calling a potentially epic wildfire season, a growing chorus of scientists and former federal officials is sounding the alarm about severe cuts to the agencies responsible for fighting and preventing wildfires. The combination of record fire danger and diminished workforce has fire managers across Idaho, Oregon, and Washington deeply concerned.

More Than 26,000 Positions Lost

Andrea Delgado, founder of Hawk Eye Strategies LLC and a former U.S. Forest Service official, presented alarming workforce data at a recent Center for Western Priorities webinar on wildfire preparedness. Her analysis found that more than 26,000 staff positions have been lost across federal agencies managing public lands — with approximately 35% of those cuts falling in Western states. The lost positions include scientists, engineers, and critically, fire dispatchers.

"The question is whether the agencies and bureaus responsible for risk mitigation and wildfire response have the workforce in place to be doing the work," Delgado said.

Fuel Reduction Work Down 35%

The consequences for on-the-ground fire prevention work are already visible. Thinning, prescribed burning, and other wildfire mitigation in national grasslands fell by 35% in 2025 compared to 2024. Delgado said that translates to 1.4 million fewer acres treated compared to 4.1 million acres in 2024 — a dramatic reduction in the buffer between communities and catastrophic fire.

"That translates to 1.4 million fewer acres treated compared to 4.1 million acres in 2024," Delgado said, warning that these reductions leave firefighters without the treated land they need to safely anchor suppression lines.

Forest Service Research Lab in Seattle Faces Closure

Beyond the firefighting workforce, the Trump administration's proposed Forest Service reorganization has placed 56 of 90 research stations on a list for potential closure — including the Pacific Wildland Fire Sciences Lab in Seattle. That lab, run jointly with University of Washington fire ecologists, provides real-time smoke and fire tracking tools used by governments, elite incident management teams, and popular commercial apps.

"We have a wildfire crisis in the West," said Ernesto Alvarado, a fire ecologist and associate professor at UW's School of Environmental and Forest Sciences. The work produced at the Seattle lab, he noted, reflects "decades by one team" of institutional knowledge that cannot be quickly rebuilt once lost.

Hugh Safford, a former USFS researcher now at UC-Davis, was sharper in his critique: "I think the major problem in fire management is the sudden and what I think is shocking disavowal of everything we've learned over the last 60 years."

Incident Management Teams Stretched

Grassroots Wildland Firefighters Vice President Bobbie Scopa raised concerns about support staff at fire caches and at the incident management team level. Large fires typically require 50 to 70 management staff — and those positions are disproportionately filled by workers affected by the agency cuts.

"There might be pressure to take actions that look like they're more aggressive, but they don't make sense and they're not safe," Scopa warned, noting that less-experienced personnel may make decisions that put both responders and communities at greater risk.

Washington State Also Cutting Fire Prevention

The funding pressure extends to the state level. Washington's Department of Fish and Wildlife saw its forest health budget cut by 80% by the state legislature in 2025 — from $3 million per year to just $600,000 — and that funding was not restored in the 2026 session. Experts say the cuts will slow prescribed burns and forest thinning work that reduces the intensity of future wildfires.