US House Dems condemn Forest Service cuts as Republicans cheer agency’s move West

U.S. House Republicans from Western states laid out a figurative welcome mat for the U.S. Forest Service Thursday as its chief pitched plans to whittle down the agency’s budget, move its headquarters to Salt Lake City and rely more heavily on states to manage millions of acres. 

“I think it’s very interesting what you’re proposing to do, and I support it,” said Idaho Republican Rep. Mike Simpson, chair of the House Appropriations Subcommittee on the Interior, Environment, and Related Agencies. 

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Democrats on the budget panel grilled Forest Service Chief Tom Schultz about how billions of dollars in cuts to the agency proposed by President Donald Trump could drive up costs for states and stamp out important research. 

The subcommittee’s ranking Democrat, Rep. Chellie Pingree of Maine, said she’s deeply worried. 

“I guarantee you, my state is not prepared to take over all of the things that the federal government is currently doing. We don’t have those resources,” she told Schultz.   

Schultz said the goal is to cut costs and administrative bloat while localizing the agency’s authority.

“We’re trying to drive decision-making down to the men and the women on the ground that are doing the work that is a big focus of this,” he said. 

Details of the reorganization are still being hammered out, Schultz said. Its existing, centralized model stems from a time when states lacked the funding and forestry expertise they have now, he told the panel.  

“So I would say today, there’s no longer this difference in terms of who has the experience and the knowledge,” he said.

Pingree warned the move from Washington, D.C., to Utah will cost the Forest Service expertise in the form of employees refusing to go West with their employer, compounding the effects of  earlier rounds of buyouts, layoffs and early retirements under the Trump administration. 

But Montana Republican Rep. Ryan Zinke sees benefits for employees who relocate, including a lower cost of living. 

“The opportunity to have a house is better, and you’re closer to where the actual forests are,” Zinke said. 

Schultz estimated 500 employees would need to move to Utah. The broader reorganization is expected to affect 5,000 employees throughout the offices that are set to relocate, Stateline reported. 

“We’re excited to have you in Salt Lake,” said Republican Rep. Celeste Maloy. “Welcome to Utah.”

As the Western U.S. prepares for a busy wildfire season, committee members of both parties wanted details on a planned, single new wildland fire agency under the U.S. Department of the Interior. Simpson, of Idaho, asked for the timeline on an outside review of the merge Trump is proposing for a second year.   

“It’d be kind of stupid to to combine the Forest Services, the wildfire fighting, in our bill without having the study completed. Otherwise, why do the damn study?” Simpson said. 

Schultz said a request for proposals from vendors seeking to conduct the review will go out in early May, and the study will take up to six months to complete.  

California Democrat Rep. Josh Harder pressed Schultz on the closure of dozens of research stations and the future of watershed health under ramped-up timber production. He asked whether officials would halt timber operations if stream monitoring shows degrading water quality. 

“Yes, we would. We always take a look at things,” Schultz responded, calling wildfires a bigger threat to the water supply. 

Of a total 130 sites, he said the Forest Service has identified 57 for closure and will retain 20. Schultz said universities and the private sector will need to fill the research gap. 

He took the opportunity to tell the panel that the agency has hired more than 9,000 firefighters — ahead of its progress this time last year — as it works toward a goal of 11,300. 

“We are going to be prepared for fire season,” Schultz said. 

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