Lawmakers across the West are nervous about a potentially destructive wildfire season at a time when federal firefighting agencies are strained.
Now U.S. Sen. Ron Wyden, a Democrat from Oregon who has been vocal about the nation’s wildfire preparedness, is raising questions about whether Trump administration policies and budget cuts could spell disaster at a time when Oregon is on track to measure its lowest annual snowpack in modern history.
“This administration’s decision not to recognize the climate crisis as a threat to our communities is having catastrophic consequences for Oregonians,” Wyden wrote Wednesday in a letter to U.S. Forest Service Chief Tom Schultz.
FILE - Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., at news conference at the Capitol, Tuesday, Dec. 2, 2025, in Washington, D.C.
Rod Lamkey / AP
Most western states have been hit with a snow drought this winter, though Oregon appears to be faring worse than others.
Lower snowpack typically correlates with worse fire seasons.
About half of the land in Oregon is managed by the federal government. That means federal firefighting agencies — including the U.S. Forest Service and the Bureau of Land Management — are responsible for preparing for and fighting wildfires on that land.
But wildfires don’t respect jurisdictional boundaries.
If federal land managers fail to prepare for wildfire, they are putting much of Oregon at risk — including privately owned and state-owned property, as well as residential areas on the outskirts of cities and counties.
Wyden requested that Schultz answer a list of questions by March 20.
Among those questions, he asked if Schultz has ramped up firefighting staffing at the Forest Service following President Donald Trump’s mass layoffs, firings and buyouts.
Wyden also said the Forest Service lagged in wildfire preparedness through 2025.
Firefighting agencies typically use the cooler fall and winter months to set fire to underbrush and small trees.
They also selectively log trees in some areas to bring forest density back down to historic levels. Altogether, these “hazardous fuels treatments” can strengthen forests against more devastating wildfires come summer.
But the Forest Service’s wildfire preparedness work appears to have dropped last year. In an analysis of federal data, the firefighter advocacy group Grassroots Wildland Firefighters found the agency treated 38% less land in 2025 compared to any of the previous four years.
Meanwhile, federal firefighting agencies under the Trump administration are contending with a year of staffing shortages and budget cuts. And a six-week government shutdown last fall paused most wildfire preparedness work during a critical time.
Still, Forest Service leaders have said their agency “set new records across wildfire response, forest reforestation, timber production and infrastructure advancements” in 2025.
