Rep. Teresa Leger Fernández Criticizes Forest Service Budget Cuts and Staffing Shortages

Forest Management and Escaped Fires

• ⚠️ Representative Leger Fernández highlights that in New Mexico, four managed fires have escaped, causing significant harm to the land and communities.
• 🤝 Rebuilding trust with rural and tribal communities requires communication, which is hindered by insufficient Forest Service personnel on the ground.

Staffing Levels and Data Requests

• 📉 The Forest Service is not staffed at the same levels as the previous year, contradicting claims of full staffing.
• 📊 A request was made for specific personnel data, including staffing vacancies, to be provided to the committee.

Budget Cuts to Essential Programs

• ✂️ The fiscal year 2026 Forest Service budget zeros out essential functions like the state, private, and tribal forestry program.
• 🌳 Programs like landscape scale restoration, which work across jurisdictions, are also threatened by budget cuts.

Collaboration and Jurisdictional Boundaries

• 🌲 Bark beetles and wildfires do not respect boundaries, necessitating cooperation between federal, tribal, state, and private landowners.
• 🤝 The importance of collaborative programs like landscape scale restoration is emphasized, despite budget proposals to eliminate them.

Congressional Intent vs. Administration Spending

• 💰 Congress has historically funded programs like landscape scale restoration, even when the administration's budget proposed zeroing them out.
• 🗣️ A commitment was sought from the Forest Service Chief to spend funds as directed by Congress for these programs.
• ⚖️ The question was raised whether the administration can refuse to spend funds appropriated by Congress for specific programs.

Cost of Inaction

• 📉 The justification for zeroing out programs based on "efficiencies" is challenged, arguing that failing to maintain forests in advance costs significantly more when fighting fires.
• 💸 The cost of fighting fires is presented as substantially higher than the cost of preventative upkeep and management.