The Trump admin upended how we fight fire. Then came West's worst fire season in years. - The Nevada Independent
The overhaul merges Interior firefighting crews into a new federal service as officials push full suppression during a season with multiple firefighter deaths.
- The Trump administration formed the U.S. Wildland Fire Service by consolidating firefighters from four Interior agencies, with the new service and Forest Service now pursuing "full suppression" of every wildfire to protect communities during a severe Western fire season.
- Critics compare the full suppression strategy to the discredited 1930s-era "10 a.m. rule," which mandated extinguishing new fires by the next morning, arguing the policy ignores ecological benefits of managed fire and smaller blazes.
- Rep. Andrea Salinas warned at a July 22 House Agriculture Committee hearing that removing personnel from land management agencies "fracture the critical communications link between land management and fire management," raising operational concerns.
- Federal officials are investigating the deaths of four firefighters killed battling the Knowles Fire in Colorado in late June, though U.S. Wildland Fire Service Director Brian Fennessy denies any connection to the reorganization.
- The Department of Agriculture's 2027 budget proposes transferring Forest Service resources into the new agency, with a consolidation report due by Feb. 15, 2027, while California officials express concerns over federal staffing cuts and research facility closures.
11 Articles
11 Articles
Helena Independent Record
The Trump administration upended how we fight wildfires. Then came the West’s worst fire season in years.
Four firefighters, two helicopter pilots and a contractor bulldozing a fireline have died in Colorado, Utah and Oregon this year.
The Trump administration upended how the West fights wildfires. California is bracing too
California, which is having an unusually quiet fire summer, has deployed engines and crews to fight fires raging in Colorado and the Pacific Northwest — but even this well-resourced state continues to feel vulnerable.
How the Trump administration changed wildland firefighting
This year's dangerous fire season hit as the Trump administration has reshaped how America fights wildfire — consolidating crews from across Interior Department agencies into a new U.S. Wildland Fire Service. The new agency and the U.S. Forest Service are pursuing “full suppression” of every new blaze. The post The Trump administration upended how we fight wildfires. Then came the West’s worst fire season in years. appeared first on Montana Free…
The Trump admin upended how we fight fire. Then came West's worst fire season in years. - The Nevada Independent
Fast-moving fires have burned millions of acres and destroyed hundreds of homes and buildings in the West, including hundreds of thousands of acres in Nevada. The Indy partnered with five other nonprofit newsrooms in the West to show how on-the-ground changes made by the Trump administration have affected the ability to fight fires amid increasingly destructive conditions.
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