CUTS TO FOREST SERVICE ENDANGER MILLIONS

On 2025-04-08, Representative Dave Min (D-CA-47) delivered a floor speech titled "CUTS TO FOREST SERVICE ENDANGER MILLIONS" in the House.

CUTS TO FOREST SERVICE ENDANGER MILLIONS

Congressional Record, Volume 171 Issue 63 (Tuesday, April 8, 2025) [Congressional Record Volume 171, Number 63 (Tuesday, April 8, 2025)] [House] [Pages H1502-H1504] From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [ www.gpo.gov ] CUTS TO FOREST SERVICE ENDANGER MILLIONS (Under the Speaker's announced policy of January 3, 2025, Ms. Schrier of Washington was recognized for 30 minutes.) General Leave Ms. SCHRIER. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks and include extraneous material. The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the gentlewoman from Washington? There was no objection. Ms. SCHRIER. Mr. Speaker, I rise to express my frustration and outrage with the Trump administration's reckless cuts to our Forest Service. The workforce that takes care of our forests, harvests timber, and makes them resilient to wildfires is treasured in my State of Washington and, I would say, in the entire Western United States. Cuts to this workforce endanger my constituents, endanger millions of Americans, and put our forests at high risk of catastrophic wildfires. Mr. Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from California (Mr. Whitesides). Mr. WHITESIDES. Mr. Speaker, my name is George Whitesides, and I represent California's 27th Congressional District. Just 3 days after I was sworn in to Congress to serve my first term this year, wildfires broke out across southern California, forcing 200,000 people to evacuate, burning over 57,000 acres of land, damaging or destroying 18,000 homes, and taking the lives of 30 individuals. Two weeks later, the Hughes fire erupted in my own district near Castaic, right near where this picture behind me was taken. It forced over 30,000 people to evacuate. Compared to most, we were relatively lucky. Given wind conditions and the brave work of our firefighters, many of whom were employed by the U.S. Forest Service, the fire was quickly contained. As southern California began to emerge from the devastation and focus on rebuilding, firefighters and other fire service workers with the U.S. Forest Service were abruptly terminated by the Trump administration. Days or weeks after saving our lives, they were left out to dry with no explanation. One of these employees in my own district was Jasmin Dominguez, a GIS technician, who literally mapped out the fires as they spread. I brought Jasmin as my guest to the State of the Union where we talked about how difficult it would be for local fire chiefs to control the fires without the maps that she provided. Now, we are preparing to go into another bad fire season. People are scared. If you look at the conditions on the ground in the American West, they are very concerning. Fire scientists are concerned. Firefighters are concerned. Between the January fires and the extreme dryness that we have experienced this winter, we are poised to experience earlier and more intense wildfires than before. The worst thing that we could do for our communities that have already suffered so much is to reduce our capacity to fight and contain these fires when, not if, they occur. The unconscionable and, frankly, offensive decision to terminate our Forest Service workers will make us less safe and more vulnerable to the natural disasters that we are guaranteed to experience. The administration may claim that firefighters were exempt from their cuts, but we know this is not true. I am in constant communication with Federal wildfire community members, and here is what they tell me. Their grants have been frozen; existing agreements with the Federal Government, frozen; purchasing cards that they use to buy lifesaving equipment, frozen. Hiring for fire season is often cyclical, meaning the Trump administration's earlier decision to freeze Federal hiring left even our local fire stations understaffed and unprepared for the fire season that has already started. For the safety of the families and the individuals across all of our districts, and for the brave work that so many of these Forest Service employees do every day, we must speak out against these unfair terminations. To every Forest Service worker who is laid off and for everyone preparing to undergo even more of these so-called reductions in workforce, know that we hear you, are with you, and are fighting for you. Ms. SCHRIER. Mr. Speaker, I would like to echo some of those comments because I am also in the West, in Washington State, and we are seeing the risk of catastrophic wildfires increasing every year. Because all of this is being done under the guise of DOGE, the Department of Government Efficiency, let me be clear that we all want our tax dollars to be spent wisely. Let me also be clear that the people in the Eighth District of Washington State think it is a super wise investment to invest in our Forest Service that will thin the forest, prevent catastrophic wildfires, and then fight catastrophic wildfires when they occur. I would say, and my constituents would also say because we all choke on smoke every summer, that this is not a time to cut the Forest Service. In fact, it is a time to hire up at the Forest Service because we need them more than ever right now. We need them for fighting fires as I discussed, for maintaining our forests, but also for supporting recreation, maintaining roads and trails, and producing timber that we all need for affordable housing, and for water restoration, watershed restoration, and more. We have heard from the administration that firefighters were exempt from the cuts, but here is the thing: About 75 percent of the people who were cut had firefighting training. In fact, they may have had different titles, but they had something called red cards, which meant they were ready, firefighting trained, and they leapt into action whenever wildland firefighters needed their help to work side by side with them. They are really indispensable employees. I also want to say that the people who we are losing, many of them have had years of experience. They choose to work for the Forest Service, for the Federal Government, because of their passion for taking care of our public lands. They are talented. They are critical. They are experienced. They [[Page H1503]] choose to do this, frankly, for lower salaries simply because they want to serve. These are civil servants. We are losing these really talented and critical staff through layoffs. Now, with the uncertainty, we are seeing early retirements. Frankly, given the disrespect and uncertainty, and now the impossible workload, can you imagine taking on all of the workload of your colleagues? Why would they stay? This is a very tough time to work for the Federal Government, especially in these dangerous jobs. I am so fortunate to represent Washington's Eighth Congressional District. We have some of the most stunning nature in the country. In fact, we have the North Cascades National Park, Mount Rainier National Park, and two national forests stretching over 2 million acres. That is a fifth of the national forest, approximately 10 million acres in Washington State. The U.S. Forest Service manages these public lands. We also have agreements and rely on relationships between Federal, State, and Tribal organizations and governments to manage our public land. When you cut Federal staffing, it really has ripple effects and leaves State, Tribal, and local governments lacking. I want to express gratitude to U.S. Forest Service staff because they are also keeping our cherished public lands accessible for outdoor recreation. Mr. Speaker, I don't know if you have ever been to Washington State. If you have, you will know that outdoor recreation is our pride and joy and is what sustains us. Those beautiful springs and summers, that is what sustains us when we have the rainy fall and winter. We have already seen some of these outdoor trail accesses closed. In fact, there is one called the Denny Creek Trailhead that has experienced closures due to these staffing shortages, and that is only going to be worse as we head into outdoor recreation season. Again, I have mentioned already the role that the Forest Service plays in wildfire mitigation; that is, thinning the forest, doing prescribed burns, doing the work that will prevent catastrophic wildfires. In my district, Fire Chief David Walker says the Forest Service is the primary firefighting force for something called the Lake Wenatchee area. It is a favorite vacation spot for Washington families. When you gut the Forest Service's fire response operation, that means you are taking away public safety. You are taking away safety from the people who are camping in the Lake Wenatchee area. Mitigating risk in our forest has become ever more important with the increasing intensity of wildfires and the longer and longer wildfire season throughout the West. In our State, we used to see wildfires mostly in the dry part of the State, east of the Cascade Mountains. Now, we see it in the entire State. We have seen devastating fires in recent years. In fact, six of the highest risk fire sheds in the entire country are in my district. Now is the time to strengthen our wildfire mitigation efforts, not kneecap the agency that is responsible for maintaining forest health. Firing support staff involved in wildfire response or mitigation does just as much harm as firing those that we think of as being on the front lines. They work together. I also want to mention, imagine if you were a firefighter depending on that support staff to tell you when the weather conditions change, when the winds are shifting, because that matters for your own survival as you are fighting these fires. The support staff is every bit as important. We are anticipating there to be further staffing cuts right before wildfire season kicks into gear, and these reduction-in-force plans are being made with little forethought and no agenc