As admin claws at national forests, what will become of the Forest Service?

Our national forests protect clean air and water, sustain wildlife and preserve our freedom to explore. It’s now been well over a year since the new administration swept into Washington DC, dead set on handing our shared public lands over to corporations and billionaires—meaning they won’t be stewarded for generations to come. In that time, they’ve racked up a stunning damage toll.

While the ongoing effort to repeal protections for 45 million acres of “roadless” forests has captured public attention, it is far from the only threat facing our national forests. In fact, in addition to dismantling important land conservation policies, the administration has been slowly working to dismantle the U.S. Forest Service (USFS) itself.

Nestled within the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), the USFS is primarily tasked with stewarding the National Forest System, which consists of 154 national forests and 20 national grasslands across the 50 states, Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands. All told the system holds 193 million acres of public lands, including some popular and beloved recreation areas.

Effectively managing all this land—and fighting wildfires—requires an army of dedicated foresters, firefighters, rangers, law enforcement officers, engineers, scientists and biologists. Just before President Trump and his administration assumed office, the agency was already stretched thin with a total of just 35,550 employees and a limited budget.

Within mere weeks of the inauguration, the administration took an initial shot at weakening the agency with the sudden termination of more than 3,000 staff. It was immediately followed by an organized campaign of harassment and intimidation designed to pressure staff into resignation. By January 2026, the agency had shrunk 16% with a total loss of 5,860 staff—including “red card” staff who are authorized to assist in wildfire efforts. As a result, about 25% of the agency’s non-fire staff left.

To make matters worse, the White House has twice now attempted to drastically cut the agency’s budget. In 2025, the proposed Fiscal Year 2026 budget included a staggering 65% budget cut for the USFS that was mostly rejected by Congress. This year, the President’s proposed Fiscal Year 2027 budget once again included a heinous cut of 75%—including the complete elimination of the U.S. Forest Service’s research program. Senator Martin Heinrich (NM) went so far as to call the proposal “a roadmap to dismantle the Forest Service.”

These attacks are having very real and grave impacts on our national forests. Last year, an analysis by Grassroots Wildland Firefighters found that staff shortages and budget cuts had led to a 38% drop in hazardous fuel reduction work—which helps stop wildfires from raging out of control. Similarly, an internal agency document obtained by The Washington Post found that visitor trails in national forests are being abandoned and rapidly deteriorating due to staff losses. Some districts have even lost 100% of their trail maintenance staff.

At the end of March, Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins added fuel to the fire by announcing that the Forest Service will be reorganized and its headquarters will be moved from D.C. to Utah.

During the first Trump administration, the Department of the Interior similarly attempted to move the Bureau of Land Management’s (BLM) headquarters from D.C. to Colorado. It was a terrible misstep that caused 87% of staff to leave in a massive “brain drain” of expertise and institutional knowledge; the agency never recovered.

Unfortunately, the Forest Service seems to be heading down a similar path. In a recent hearing, Senator Heinrich questioned Secretary Rollins about the plans for this reorganization—specifically highlighting the disastrous BLM move as a cautionary tale. Concerningly, Secretary Rollins was largely unable to answer Senator Heinrich’s questions, repeatedly responding that she would “look into it.”

Separately, the administration has been working on moving wildfire fighting efforts out of the Forest Service entirely. If this happens, thousands more additional Forest Service staff will be transferred out of the agency. In January, the Department of the Interior announced plans to establish a new agency, the U.S. Wildland Fire Service. These consolidated fire operations will focus solely on fire suppression: an outdated approach that ignores the critical role that natural fires play ecologically and ultimately leads to overgrowth that fuels more mega-fires in the long run.  

The move will divorce fire management from ongoing stewardship efforts on public lands that helps reduce long-term risk. For example, the move makes it unclear how the Forest Service will continue to reduce “fuel load” in overgrown forests—a critical maintenance task that helps stop fires from raging out of control and keeps communities safe.

As the nation heads into what’s expected to be a devastating wildfire season, the firefighting system’s current disarray—and cuts to wildfire fighting capacity—could leave communities helpless.

It’s hard to predict what will come next, but there is cause for hope. Amid all this chaos, a growing number of people—including elected officials—have come together to push back on the dismantling of the Forest Service. Since last year, thousands of have turned out to protest the treatment of public land workers and dismantling of these agencies. And right now, thousands more are showing up at community-organized townhalls to protest the repeal of the roadless rule. Meanwhile, members of Congress across the political spectrum have drawn attention to the dismantling of the Forest Service, and retired Forest Service staffers have done the same in a letter to Chief Schultz.

In the coming months, we’ll be calling on supporters to take part in critical actions to help protect our national forests for future generations. Because decision-making windows may be brief, we’ll need people ready to speak out and act quickly when those moments arrive. Get started today by sending a message to Congress—and when you do, you’ll be added to our email list for future updates and action opportunities.