NEWS
Heinrich, Klobuchar ask Interior Secretary to stop consolidating federal firefighting forces
Interior Department has begun merging its firefighting operations
Published
New Mexico’s senators want Interior Secretary Doug Burgum to halt the creation of a unified federal wildfire agency because they’re concerned the Interior Department hasn’t done enough analysis or planning.
“We are concerned that the DOI is advancing a rapid and consequential restructuring of wildfire management without adequate analysis, transparency, or planning to prevent disruption during what is expected to be a significant fire season or to safeguard long-term wildfire preparedness,” a group of 11 Democratic lawmakers wrote in a letter led by Sens. Martin Heinrich of New Mexico, Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota and Jeff Merkley of Oregon and Reps. Jared Huffman of California and Chellie Pingree of Maine. Sen. Ben Ray Luján, D-N.M., signed onto the letter.
No wildfire operations are being disrupted, firefighters remain in place and incident command structures are unchanged, according to Interior spokesperson Elizabeth Peace.
"Modernizing leadership in Washington does not pause fire response in the field," Peace said in a statement.
Last year, President Donald Trump ordered federal firefighting forces under the Interior and Agriculture departments to combine via executive order. Interior has begun combining its firefighting forces, but no timeline has been announced for merging the U.S. Forest Service firefighting operations, which fall under the Agriculture Department.
In January, Burgum signed an order to unify Interior Department wildland fire operations and officially establish the U.S. Wildland Fire Service. Interior has around 4,000 permanent wildland fire professionals who work under different bureaus, including the Bureau of Indian Affairs, Bureau of Land Management, the National Park Service and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. Interior firefighters are approximately 30% of the federal wildland firefighting workforce.
“This historic effort will modernize wildland fire management to support the long-term resilience of America’s public lands, while enhancing national security and economic competitiveness,” the order said.
The transition is supposed to streamline the chain of command and simplify budget structures, the order says.
Congress didn’t allocate any funding for the new joint firefighting agency and required a feasibility study on the plan to merge U.S. Forest Service firefighting forces with Interior fire operations.
“We want to be clear: the appropriations act does not authorize the transfer of U.S. Forest Service firefighting functions to the Department of the Interior. Any such transfer would require explicit congressional authorization and approval, regardless of the study’s findings,” the letter says.
Interior has always agreed to work with Congress on consolidation efforts, Peace said.
Lawmakers also asked for detailed information on the positions and functions that would be consolidated, whether existing employees would remain at their current duty stations long-term, how branding for the new firefighting agency will be funded, whether land management agencies will continue to be in charge of fuel management and vegetation treatment decisions.
Cathy Cook covers the federal government for the Albuquerque Journal. Reach her via email at ccook@abqjournal.com
