'That Is Factually Inaccurate': Ron Wyden Slams Forest Service Chief Over Firefighting Staffing Cuts

Forbes Breaking News

During a Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee hearing on Thursday, Sen. Ron Wyden (D-OR) asked Forest Service Chief Tom Schultz about staffing levels.

Transcript

00:00Thank you so much, Senator Barrasso. Senator Wyden.

00:04Thank you very much, Mr. Chairman. Mr. Schultz,

00:08the lack of emergency preparedness, whether

00:12it's in Texas Hill Country or public lands in Oregon,

00:16can cost lives. Just recently, fire

00:20officials in Southern Oregon told me they were coming up dangerously

00:24short in emergency preparedness.

00:28Specifically, I was told in Southern Oregon, one meteorologist

00:32is trying to provide early warning systems

00:36and doing the work for four people.

00:40Now, what this, of course, is all about is getting

00:44key, timely information out to communities

00:48so they can battle these infernos. We've talked in the past

00:52about these infernos are not your grandfather's fires. They're bigger

00:56and they're hotter. And we need

00:58to address this critical

01:00preparedness gap.

01:02Now, instead of moving

01:04quickly, you all have

01:06trotted out yet

01:08another new

01:10and described as improved

01:12reorganization

01:14in the middle of a very

01:16dangerous fire season.

01:18Now, nobody in my

01:20home state, and I was chair of this

01:22committee and worked closely with the

01:24agency, has

01:26in effect said, Ron,

01:28we've got to have the forest service less

01:30involved in fighting fires.

01:32But that is the net effect

01:34of your organizational

01:36plan. So here's my

01:38question.

01:40What is this new plan

01:42going to accomplish

01:44for preparedness

01:46in my home state

01:48this fire season?

01:50That's what I was asked about.

01:52What can be done this fire season?

01:54And how is this new

01:56organizational plan

01:58going to get real help

02:00to people quickly?

02:02Senator Wyden, thank you

02:04for the question. So this fire season

02:06we do not intend to implement any changes

02:08in the structure of the fire program.

02:10Nothing is going to take place this fire season.

02:12So why aren't we using

02:14the resources that seem

02:16to be going to this new plan

02:18to get help to the people who are telling

02:20me they're coming up short?

02:22Why wouldn't we get that help out

02:24to them quickly?

02:25So just in terms of resources this year,

02:27here's where we're at today.

02:28So our max staffing that we typically

02:30hire for firefighters,

02:32GS9 and below, is 11,300 firefighters.

02:34Today we're at 11,250

02:36roughly firefighters.

02:38So we are at about 99%

02:40of our hiring resources.

02:41So in terms of firefighting capacity,

02:43we're there.

02:44So we've not made any changes

02:45to our resource availability

02:47this year, whether it's aviation resources

02:49or...

02:50Why don't you get me in writing

02:52something that backs up your argument

02:56that there's been no reduction

02:58in resources, because that's not

03:00what I was just told in Southern Oregon

03:02where they're worried about getting

03:04urgently needed information.

03:06Now along these lines,

03:08we've been told that the agency,

03:11and we're most of the way through

03:13the fiscal year,

03:14hasn't even treated half as many acres

03:17to reduce wildfire risk as were treated

03:19in the last year of the Biden administration.

03:21Why is that?

03:22So, sir, we actually have treated similar acres

03:28that we've done in previous years.

03:30And so this administration came in in February.

03:33So in terms of basically treating acres,

03:37there's not been a major reduction in acres

03:39treated for the last year, for this year.

03:41So...

03:42We will get to you those numbers,

03:45because that is factually inaccurate.

03:47Okay.

03:48And let me tell you what concerns me

03:51about this net effect, because I've described

03:54to you the problems that we're seeing

03:56on the ground in Southern Oregon

03:58where we're not getting the help

04:00in terms of stepping up to deal with emergencies.

04:04I mentioned the data that shows we're not doing

04:07as much timber production in line

04:09with natural resources laws

04:12as in the Biden administration.

04:13And it seems to me what you all are doing

04:15is making a case that somehow this mismanagement

04:20is a case for selling off our public lands.

04:23And I want you to know that I am going

04:25to fight that argument every step of the way,

04:27because we heard loud and clear

04:29that when the administration advanced

04:31their arguments just recently,

04:33for selling off public lands,

04:35the American people said,

04:37no way.

04:38Not a close call.

04:39No way.

04:40And I'm not going to allow the mismanagement

04:43and the lack of really using resources

04:46effectively, as I've just described in my state,

04:49become an argument that somehow this mismanagement

04:52is a case for selling off our public lands.

04:54Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

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