As the United States heads into what could be one of its most active wildfire seasons in years, critics and former fire officials are raising alarms about ongoing reorganization efforts within the U.S. Forest Service that they say could impair the agency’s ability to respond effectively to large fire events.

The Restructuring

The U.S. Forest Service has been undergoing significant internal restructuring, including workforce reductions and reorganization of fire and aviation management functions. Critics warn that the changes are taking place at exactly the wrong moment — as early fire activity across the country already exceeds 10-year averages and the Pacific Northwest faces what forecasters describe as a potentially extreme season.

Former fire personnel and advocacy groups have expressed concern that experienced firefighters and support staff who were cut or reassigned may not be replaced quickly enough to meet peak-season demands, particularly if the 2026 season sees the widespread simultaneous fires that some years produce.

The Staffing Equation

Riva Duncan, president of Grassroots Wildland Firefighters and a retired USFS employee, has been outspoken about workforce concerns. She noted that hotshot crews, engine crews, and overhead personnel often work year-round across multiple regions — and that cuts to pay, benefits, or career pathways make it harder to retain experienced firefighters.

“There’s no rest for hot shots and fire personnel across the country,” Duncan said. “They continue to work year-round with fewer resources and poor pay.”

Congress enacted the Tim Hart Wildland Firefighter Classification Act in 2022, which created a new federal pay classification for wildland firefighters that was intended to address chronic pay disparities. But advocates say implementation has been inconsistent and that further budget pressure could undermine recent gains.

Agency Response

USFS leadership has pushed back on characterizations that firefighting capacity is being degraded. Deputy Chief Sarah Fisher said the agency is prepared despite the challenges. “All of our predictive models point to a challenging summer,” Fisher said. “But we have an incredible workforce and an interagency system built to adapt and meet challenges head-on.”

USFS Chief Tom Schultz similarly argued during recent congressional testimony that firefighting operations specifically are not being impacted by the restructuring, even as he acknowledged that some grant programs to states and local entities face delays.

Interagency Coordination

One of the federal wildfire management system’s core strengths is its ability to mobilize resources nationally. When a large fire exhausts local and regional resources, the National Interagency Coordination Center (NICC) in Boise can draw crews, aircraft, and equipment from across the country. That system — which operates regardless of individual agency reorganizations — remains intact.

However, critics note that the system works best when it has a large pool of trained personnel to draw from. Reducing the overall workforce or slowing hiring pipelines, they argue, inevitably constrains what the NICC can mobilize when multiple regions are simultaneously in need.

The Broader Picture

The debate over USFS capacity is playing out against a backdrop of rising fire costs. Suppression spending has consumed an increasingly large share of the Forest Service budget over the past two decades, crowding out investments in forest health, fuels treatment, and the proactive management that could reduce fire intensity in the first place. Whether the current reorganization improves or worsens that dynamic remains to be seen — and may become clear in the months ahead.