A significant shift in federal wildfire policy is unfolding as fire season accelerates, with the Trump administration pushing toward a "full suppression strategy for every fire" while cutting Forest Service staff and limiting prescribed burning — moves that Oregon and Washington lawmakers say could worsen long-term fire risk and hamper the region's ability to respond.
Full Suppression Policy
Forest Service Chief Schulz publicly called for "a full suppression strategy for every fire" at an April 16 budget hearing, and a subsequent internal Forest Service memo outlined that prescribed fires would be prohibited past a certain date in the fire season, with any burns already underway extinguished.
According to NPR analysis, the Forest Service burned only about half of the acreage under prescribed fire in 2025 compared to both 2024 and 2023. The 2026 policy signals that figure will remain low or drop further. Fire management experts warn that suppressing all fires — including low-intensity prescribed burns that historically reduced fuel loads — accelerates the accumulation of fuels that lead to more catastrophic wildfires in the future.
Staffing and Budget Cuts
President Trump's proposed budget for fiscal year 2027 includes $0 for forest and rangeland research at the Forest Service and calls for a roughly 20% reduction in Forest Service staffing — approximately 7,000 employees — during 2026. Oregon's congressional Democrats expressed alarm over these figures following a briefing with Northwest Interagency Coordination Center officials in Portland.
U.S. Senators Jeff Merkley and Ron Wyden, along with Representatives Suzanne Bonamici and Andrea Salinas, met with reporters on May 6 after the NWCC briefing to raise public concerns. The delegation cited fears that gutting forest management research and firefighting capacity while entering an above-normal fire season is a dangerous combination.
Congress and the Wildland Fire Service
On the funding side, Congress included $2.65 billion for Interior-Environment wildfire suppression in the FY2026 enacted budget. However, the House Appropriations Subcommittee rejected the administration's proposed reorganization that would have consolidated wildfire operations under a new United States Wildland Fire Service (USWFS). Congress continued to fund wildfire operations under both the U.S. Forest Service and Department of Interior for the current fiscal year.
The Hotshot Wakeup, a wildland fire industry newsletter, reported this week that the appropriations proposal under consideration for FY2027 would fully fund the proposed USWFS at $1.16 billion while also including improved employee housing, expanded hazard pay, multi-year aviation contracts, and post-fire recovery resources — though the proposal's fate in Congress remains uncertain.
The Stakes for the Northwest
Fire managers in Oregon, Washington, and Idaho are entering the most dangerous season in recent memory with reduced federal staffing, curtailed prescribed fire programs, and forests carrying heavy fuel loads after years of fire suppression. State forestry agencies and tribal governments have warned that they will be stretched thin if multiple large fires ignite simultaneously — a scenario forecasters say is increasingly likely given current conditions.