U.S. Forest Service cuts raise concerns on protecting public lands and fighting wildfires

[0:00] Sweeping changes are coming for the agency that manages roughly a third of America's public land, [0:06] the U.S. Forest Service. The agency announced a dramatic overhaul of cuts, closures, [0:11] and consolidation. That's on top of the Trump administration's latest budget request, [0:16] which seeks to slash billions of dollars. As William Brangham reports, [0:19] the administration calls these common-sense moves, but some worry it could undermine the [0:24] agency's mission. We have to manage within our budgets. We can't hire staff and have staff [0:30] in excess of the money we have. On Capitol Hill, U.S. Forest Service Chief Tom Schultz made the case [0:36] for the sweeping reorganization of his 121-year-old agency. So what we're trying to do is push [0:42] decision-making down to the ground so the men and women on the ground give them more responsibility [0:47] and authority to make decisions and to remove some of middle management and to move people more [0:52] resources to the forest. The Forest Service manages grazing, logging, mining, and firefighting [0:59] on 200 million acres of U.S. land, as well as thousands of trails and forests that millions [1:06] of Americans visit every year. Its science facilities also run the largest forest research project in the [1:13] country. The new plan calls for shuttering three-quarters of those facilities, moving the entire agency's [1:20] headquarters from Washington, D.C. to Salt Lake City, and closing every regional office in the country. [1:26] It's a radical departure that will impact thousands of jobs, but an essential one, [1:33] according to Associate Chief Chris French. He's the number two in the service. [1:38] We have to make choices. The challenge is, and the right way to do this, [1:43] is to make those choices where you're putting people first. [1:46] French says the agency is now over-budget and understaffed where it matters most. [1:52] This is a continuous thing that I hear from our employees. [1:55] They don't have enough people on the ground to do their work, and they think we're top-heavy. [1:59] But critics argue this restructuring is really more a dismantling. [2:04] Give me some reasons that you would trust an organization or an administration that treats [2:10] their employees like this. [2:11] Mike Dombach served as Forest Service chief under Bill Clinton. He says the agency could use some reforms, [2:18] but says it's hard to ignore a bigger picture, which is that these changes are coming from an [2:24] administration hostile to both federal workers and scientific research, and that wants to slash [2:31] the service's budget by billions of dollars. [2:33] It's this entire context that we're in that I think creates an environment that is not [2:39] is very chaotic. And then you put a reorganization on top of this sort of chaotic [2:45] environment. It makes me wonder, what is the real endgame? What is the administration's long-term goal? [2:53] The Forest Service says only about 500 employees will be forced to relocate. [2:58] But the union representing those people says the number of impacted jobs could be much higher, around 6,500. [3:06] During the first Trump administration, when the Bureau of Land Management's headquarters [3:10] were going to be moved from D.C. to Colorado, almost 90 percent of staff quit rather than move. [3:17] That relocation was later canceled. [3:19] Steve Gutierrez, a former wildland firefighter who now works for the union representing Forest Service employees, [3:27] says he expects a similar dynamic here. [3:29] Not everybody can go and pick up their entire lives. They can't move their kids from schools, [3:37] sell their homes, get their spouses to go and move to other places. So, if you can't relocate, [3:45] what other options do you have? You're going to have to resign. And this is going to leave a lot of holes [3:49] in the in the Forest Service system. [3:52] What's more, according to the new plan, at least 57 of the agency's 77 research stations will be closed [4:00] across 31 states, potentially disrupting everything from decades-long wildlife monitoring [4:06] to studying how climate change is impacting the nation's forests. [4:11] Former Chief Dombach says, in a warming world, this is not the time to step back from research. [4:16] And what we understand about fire behavior and fire risk is front and center. To even start to lose [4:24] ground on what we're learning on that would be a significant immediate loss. I mean, this is long-term [4:30] stuff. This is stuff that relates to quality of life for not only this generation, but other generation [4:36] and needs that we have just for basic sustenance of humans. [4:40] JEFFREY BROWN , Deputy Chief French argues, they are trying to preserve that research [4:45] by balancing the agency's shrinking budget. But he acknowledged the president's 2027 [4:51] budget request proposes eliminating research and development funding entirely. [4:56] gomery F. English don't support a relative, they're it's not anything, they're increasing, [4:56] right? If Congress decides not to fund any one portion of the things we're asked to do [5:01] in our mission, I have no choice but to follow that direction in the budgets. [5:06] Some with deep history at the agency, like retired 31-year veteran Sharon Friedman, [5:12] who now runs a Web site that covers the Forest Service, think now is a good time for change. [5:17] SHARON FREEDMAN, The Forest Service is kind of seizing the opportunity of this crisis [5:22] to actually make some changes that have been talked about for a long time. [5:25] WILLIAM BRANGHAM, She says fears that any administration [5:28] can gut the agency completely are overblown. [5:31] SHARON FREEDMAN, The idea that they're getting rid of the Forest Service, [5:35] you know, the president proposes and Congress disposes. The president's budget has tried to [5:42] get rid of state and private and research last time, and Congress said, no way. [5:47] So I just don't think that's a reasonable fear to have. [5:51] WILLIAM BRANGHAM, The Forest Service, The Forest Service, [5:53] Critics also worry that the reorganization will impair the Forest Service's firefighting capacity, [5:59] right as the country starts what could be a very challenging fire season. [6:04] Over 60 percent of the mainland U.S. is in drought, and it's especially hot and dry in the West. [6:10] SHARON FREEDMAN, Chief Schultz, Chief Schultz, and to his credit, I say, [6:13] says that we're totally prepared. I would say they're as prepared as they can be, [6:18] given the context of the situation. They're working with a lot of uncertainty and lower morale, [6:24] and that's not the way you go into an intense fire situation. [6:28] JIM TRZKOWSKI, Chief Schultz Secretary of State, I think how we're going to be measured at the end [6:30] of the day on this is the way that we do this in a way that ensures working and thinking of our [6:35] employees first, that we're ensuring that the outcomes of this are actually beneficial to the [6:40] American people that depend on our work, and at the end of the day, [6:45] puts forward a better footprint for conservation of our national forest across the country. [6:48] WILLIAM BRANGHAM, The first major change, relocating the Forest Service's headquarters [6:53] is expected to begin later this year. For the PBS NewsHour, I'm William Brangham.