As the Pacific Northwest braces for what forecasters describe as a potentially epic wildfire season, the Trump administration's proposed cuts to U.S. Forest Service research funding and a sweeping agency reorganization are drawing sharp criticism from scientists, university researchers, and fire management professionals who rely on federally funded tools and institutional knowledge to protect communities.
Smoke Lab Among Facilities Targeted for Closure
At the University of Washington's School of Environmental and Forest Sciences in Seattle, the Pacific Wildland Fire Sciences Lab — home to real-time wildfire smoke forecasting tools used by governments, elite firefighting teams, and popular commercial apps — is among 56 of 90 Forest Service research stations identified for closure as part of the agency's reorganization plan.
"We have a wildfire crisis in the West and in the United States," said Ernesto Alvarado, a fire ecologist and associate professor at UW who co-developed the widely used smoke mapping tool with Forest Service colleagues. The tool, updated in real time with help from graduate students and IT staff, shows where smoke is located, where it is forecast to drift, and the harmful particulates present.
"We need to bring new technology fast," Alvarado said. "You are integrating the knowledge and the science available for decades by one team, in Seattle."
Decades of Institutional Knowledge at Risk
Former Forest Service fire behavior scientist Morgan Varner, who worked at the Seattle lab until 2019, warned that the disruption could be severe. Unlike a university that might receive a multi-year research grant, the Forest Service lab's work spans decades, building on institutional knowledge that cannot easily be replicated or transferred.
"There's a haphazard to it that I think is troubling from a scientist standpoint," Varner said. He doubts most staff will be willing to relocate as part of the reorganization, which includes moving Forest Service headquarters from Washington D.C. to Utah and consolidating regional offices into individual state facilities. The Seattle lab was deliberately placed there to leverage the city's international airport and proximity to the University of Washington's research programs.
Forest Service Chief Defends Reorganization
U.S. Forest Service Chief Tom Schultz has pushed back against characterizations of the reorganization as destructive, noting that versions of the consolidation plan had been considered by previous administrations dating back to 2006. "We aren't closing research," Schultz said in an interview. "Research is important."
The reorganization also coincides with broader federal funding cuts that have already cancelled or suspended roughly a quarter of National Science Foundation and National Institutes of Health funding — moves that have put Pacific Northwest research universities, including UW, in an increasingly precarious financial position.
Stakes Are High as Fire Season Opens
The timing of the cuts has raised alarms among the scientific community. Tools developed at the Seattle smoke lab are embedded in airnow.gov fire and smoke maps that millions of Americans rely on to make health decisions during smoky events. The maps inform evacuation decisions, air quality advisories, and public health recommendations.
With Oregon having declared a wildfire emergency on June 16, Washington already battling a wind-driven fire in Spokane Valley, and forecasters warning of above-normal fire potential across the Pacific Northwest through summer, many scientists and fire managers say this is precisely the wrong moment to be reducing the country's wildfire research infrastructure.