The Trump administration is pushing for a major overhaul of how the federal government fights wildfires — a move that’s sparking pushback from former officials and fire experts.
Under the plan, wildland firefighting would be pulled from several federal agencies and rolled into a new unit under the Department of the Interior.
That means thousands of Forest Service firefighters would be reassigned — even as fire season is already underway.
Interior Secretary Doug Burgum told Congress the idea is to make operations more efficient and get more personnel to the front lines.
He says the current setup is duplicative and outdated.
But critics argue the proposal could do more harm than good.
Former Forest Service leaders warn that the change would be disruptive and expensive, with little benefit.
They say stripping firefighting from the Forest Service also risks weakening long-term fire prevention efforts — like forest thinning and prescribed burns — which are key to avoiding larger disasters.
One retired wildfire commander said the timing is especially risky, with fires already burning across the country.
So far this year, more than a million acres have gone up in flames.
The Trump administration began reducing the federal fire workforce in its first several weeks, leading to more than 1,600 job losses in the Forest Service and hundreds more at Interior.
Currently, the Forest Service has about 9,400 wildland firefighters on staff, with a goal of adding nearly 2,000 more by mid-summer.
Interior employs about 6,700 across several agencies.
The proposal to centralize firefighting has bipartisan backing in Congress, including from lawmakers in California and Montana.
But critics say a focus on fire suppression over fire prevention could lead to worse outcomes in the long run — and may ultimately put more people and communities at risk.
This story was adapted from an Associated Press article by Matthew Brown.