PORTLAND — Oregon's congressional Democrats are raising urgent concerns that federal land management agencies responsible for wildfire prevention and suppression in the Northwest are heading into the 2026 fire season understaffed and underprepared — and that recent agency reorganizations and personnel losses could worsen the problem.
In a formal warning issued May 7, the delegation pointed to a wave of federal employee departures driven largely by the Trump administration's "Department of Government Efficiency" initiative, which encouraged early retirements and voluntary separations across federal agencies in 2025. The Forest Service, Bureau of Land Management, and other agencies responsible for managing tens of millions of acres across Oregon, Washington, and Idaho all saw significant workforce reductions.
Forest Service Research Station Closures
Adding to those concerns, the U.S. Forest Service announced in April that it plans to close or consolidate its network of research stations, including the Pacific Northwest Research Station in Portland — a facility founded in 1925 with 246 employees, most of them scientists studying forest health, fire behavior, and ecosystem resilience.
"I have witnessed just a huge loss of research staff throughout the country through those early retirements," one researcher told OPB after the closure announcement. The Pacific Northwest Research Station has produced foundational fire science used to train firefighters, develop suppression strategies, and understand how smoke travels through communities.
What the Forest Service Says
Forest Service leadership has maintained publicly that firefighting and fire aviation personnel are not being cut. During an agency-wide staff call, officials stated the reorganization would not affect fire and aviation management programs or field-based operational firefighters.
Critics argue, however, that the distinction between frontline fire crews and the broader support ecosystem — fire researchers, fire prevention specialists, prescribed burn planners, and logistics personnel — is meaningful. Hollowing out that support infrastructure, they contend, will degrade readiness over time even if line firefighter numbers hold steady in the near term.
A Stressed System Heading Into a Demanding Season
The Forest Service reorganization is occurring against a backdrop of what is already shaping up to be a demanding fire year. Oregon enters the 2026 season with snowpack at one-third of normal, expanding drought, and forecasts calling for above-normal fire potential across much of the state beginning in June.
Conservation groups have drawn comparisons to the BLM's earlier restructuring, with Josh Hicks of the Wilderness Society warning that agency reorganizations can function as tools to "further dismantle and push agency staff out the door" even when headlines focus on surface-level reassurances.
Oregon fire agencies have state resources staged and ready, with approximately 700 wildland firefighters and 300 fire trucks deployed statewide. But federal lands — managed by the Forest Service and BLM — represent a significant share of Oregon's fire-prone landscape, and any gaps in federal capacity would fall heavily on state and local systems to fill.
The delegation's concerns come as Congress continues to debate federal land management budgets heading into the second half of the fiscal year.