Trump's Funding Freeze Halts Wildfire Prevention Efforts

February 16, 2025 | 02:43 pm

TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - The Trump administration has cut funding for federal programs to reduce wildfire risk in western U.S. states. Trump’s order also freezes the hiring of seasonal firefighters as part of a broad government spending cut, according to organizations affected by the move, Reuters reported.

The reduction in resources for wildfire prevention comes a month after the Los Angeles fires are expected to be the costliest in U.S. history, with some estimates putting the cost at $35 billion.

The Oregon-based Lomakatsi Restoration Project said its contracts with federal agencies, including the U.S. Forest Service and the Bureau of Land Management, to reduce hazardous fuels in Oregon, California and Idaho, have been frozen.

“The funding freeze has impacted more than 30 separate grants and agreements that Lomakatsi has with federal agencies, including pending awards as well as active agreements that have already been initiated,” Executive Director Marko Bey said in a letter to U.S. Sen. Jeff Merkley, an Oregon Democrat.

In an interview, Bey said his organization has been forced to lay off 15 people and issue stop-work orders on many active projects, impacting other work in the region. About 65 percent of the organization’s budget comes from funds allocated under the Reduction in Inflation Act, the Bipartisan Infrastructure Act and the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act — legislation enacted under former President Joe Biden.

“No matter what your political perspective, we all agree that we have to reduce the danger of fire,” Bey said. “But right now, with the funding freeze, we can’t do our programs because we’re not sure when we’re going to get paid.”

The American Loggers Council, a logging industry group, said the funding freeze has also halted work under the $20 million Hazardous Fuels Transportation Assistance program, which pays for the removal of dead wood from forests.

"In this recent period of catastrophic wildfire impacts, it has become increasingly clear that hazardous fuel landscape management and forest management are urgently needed," Scott Dane, executive director of the American Loggers Council, said in a letter.

He called on the administration to exempt forest management programs from the broad federal funding suspension.

A spokesman for the Department of Agriculture, which oversees the Forest Service, said all of its programs and personnel are under review.

"The Department of Agriculture will be happy to provide a response to interested parties once Secretary Brooke Rollins has had an opportunity to review this review," the spokesman said.

The agency also said it is working with the U.S. Office of Personnel Management on wildland firefighter positions, which it said are public safety jobs.

A spokesman for the Department of the Interior, parent agency to the BLM and the National Parks Service, said it is reviewing funding decisions.

"The Department of the Interior continues to review funding decisions to ensure they are consistent with the president's executive order," the spokesman said. “The Department’s ongoing funding review is in accordance with all applicable laws, rules, regulations and orders.”

Senate Democrats have called on the administration to unlock wildfire mitigation funding, and have separately asked the Interior Department and the U.S. Department of Agriculture to exempt seasonal firefighters from a broad federal hiring freeze.

U.S. agencies employ about 15,000 seasonal firefighters each year, according to the office of Sen. Alex Padilla, a California Democrat.

Grassroots Wildland Firefighters, an advocacy group for federal firefighters, said its members have been unable to hire the hundreds of firefighters they typically need this time of year to prepare for the summer fire season.

“Agencies already have recruitment and retention issues,” Riva Duncan, vice president of Grassroots Wildland Firefighters, said in an interview. “This just exacerbates those issues.”

Dry conditions and a buildup of fuels on lands across the West have fueled more frequent and intense fires in recent years.

U.S. President Donald Trump has repeatedly blamed poor forest management for devastating wildfires, including during a recent visit to the Los Angeles fire area.

Editor’s Choice: Los Angeles Wildfires Completely Extinguished After 3 Weeks

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