As the West enters what forecasters say could be a severe wildfire season, the Trump administration's proposed federal budget has drawn sharp criticism from fire scientists and university researchers for its plan to eliminate all U.S. Forest Service research and development funding — including programs that produce the real-time smoke maps and fire behavior tools used by firefighters, agencies, and the public.
What the Budget Proposes
President Trump's fiscal year budget for the U.S. Forest Service zeros out the agency's research and development line entirely. The proposal also includes a major reorganization of the USFS that would close 56 of 90 research stations nationwide — including the Pacific Wildland Fire Sciences Lab in Seattle, which operates in partnership with the University of Washington.
The larger reorganization also includes relocating USFS headquarters from Washington D.C. to Utah and consolidating regional offices into individual state facilities — a move the agency says would improve efficiency but that many employees and scientists see as disruptive and counterproductive.
The Seattle Smoke Lab
One of the most high-profile facilities at risk is the USFS Pacific Wildland Fire Sciences Lab at the University of Washington. The lab — a collaboration between USFS researchers and UW's School of Environmental and Forest Sciences — produces real-time wildfire smoke tracking tools used by emergency managers, elite firefighting teams, and commercial weather apps relied on by millions of people.
"We have a wildfire crisis in the West and in the United States," says Ernesto Alvarado, a fire ecologist at UW. Alvarado and Forest Service colleagues built the fire.airnow.gov smoke monitoring platform, which is updated in real time and shows where smoke is forecast to drift and where harmful particulates are concentrated.
"You are integrating the knowledge and science available for decades by one team, in Seattle," Alvarado says of the institutional research that would be lost if the lab closes.
Congressional Resistance
Despite the White House proposal, Congress appears unlikely to pass the zeroed-out research budget. Recent Capitol Hill hearings have shown bipartisan opposition to the president's plan, with lawmakers from both parties expressing concern about gutting scientific capacity during an escalating wildfire crisis.
The House Appropriations Subcommittee has also rejected the administration's proposal to create a new wildfire-focused agency under the Department of Interior — opting instead to continue funding wildfire responsibilities through the existing USFS and DOI structure, according to Taxpayers for Common Sense, which tracks federal wildfire spending.
A New Agency With No Funding
A separate development: a 2026 secretary's order created a new wildland fire agency under the Department of the Interior consolidating the Bureau of Land Management, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, National Park Service, and Bureau of Indian Affairs wildfire functions. However, as of late May 2026, the U.S. Wildland Fire Service (USWFS) had not yet received official funding from Congress, leaving its operational status uncertain heading into peak fire season.
What's at Stake
Critics argue the budget cuts come at the worst possible time. With 2.5 million acres already burned nationally this year — 76% above the 10-year average — the demand for accurate fire science, smoke forecasting, and fuel modeling has never been greater. Many of the tools now considered essential to protecting public health during smoke events were built directly on USFS research funding.