Martha Bellisle

FILE - Students listen to instruction from instructor Ben McLane, right, during a wildland firefighter training, June 9, 2023, in Hazel Green, Ala. Officials from Oregon and Washington state say in a press conference held on May 8, 2025 that funding cuts and staffing losses under the Trump administration have severely hindered wildfire preparedness in the Pacific Northwest.

Wildfire

Pacific Northwest leaders urge action as wildfire season nears without federal support

Martha Bellisle

Trump administration funding cuts and a loss of federal workers who help support wildland firefighting continues to make planning for the upcoming wildfire season a challenge, according to forest and fire officials in Washington state and Oregon.

FILE - A firefighter douses flames in the Falls Fire north of Burns, Oregon in this July 21, 2024 file photo. The fire, along with dozens of others, made Oregon's 2024 wildfire season the state’s most expensive on record. Worried about costs this year, Oregon lawmakers have said finding new revenue sources for combating wildfires is a key issue in this year’s legislative session.

Wildfire

Budget woes and federal uncertainty put PNW states’ wildfire season plans at risk

Martha Bellisle

Budget woes, combined with cuts to the federal wildfire-fighting workforce and President Donald Trump’s tariff and sovereignty threats against Canada, have made it more difficult for state officials to plan for the upcoming wildfire season.

U.S. Forest Service crew members put tree branches into a wood chipper as they prepare the area for a prescribed burn in the Tahoe National Forest, June 6, 2023, near Downieville, Calif.

Wildfire

How Trump's mass layoffs raise the risk of wildfires in the US West, according to fired workers

Martha Bellisle

The termination letters that ended the careers of thousands of U.S. Forest Service employees mean fewer people and less resources will be available to help prevent and fight wildfires, raising the specter of even more destructive blazes across the American West, fired workers and officials said.