By using this site, you agree to the Privacy Policy and Terms of Use.
Accept
Pew PatriotsPew PatriotsPew Patriots
Notification Show More
Font ResizerAa
  • Home
  • News
  • Tactical
  • Guns and Gear
  • Prepping & Survival
  • Videos
Reading: As US braces for ‘significant’ wildfires, Trump’s agriculture secretary addresses Forest Service departures
Share
Font ResizerAa
Pew PatriotsPew Patriots
  • News
  • Tactical
  • Guns and Gear
  • Prepping & Survival
  • Videos
Search
  • Home
  • News
  • Tactical
  • Guns and Gear
  • Prepping & Survival
  • Videos
Have an existing account? Sign In
Follow US
As US braces for ‘significant’ wildfires, Trump’s agriculture secretary addresses Forest Service departures
News

As US braces for ‘significant’ wildfires, Trump’s agriculture secretary addresses Forest Service departures

Jimmie Dempsey
Last updated: June 2, 2025 9:49 am
Jimmie Dempsey Published June 2, 2025
Share
SHARE

The Trump administration is prepared for what could be a “significant fire season,” despite thousands of Forest Service employees departing under Trump’s deferred resignation offer, according to U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Brooke Rollins.

“It did not compromise and will not compromise at all, 1%, what needs to be done to make sure that we are ready,” Rollins told Fox News Digital Friday.

More than 4,000 U.S. Forest Service employees voluntarily resigned under buyouts offered by the Trump administration, according to a POLITICO report.

Wildland firefighters were largely exempt from the buyouts and a federal hiring freeze, but blue state leaders say President Donald Trump’s slash-and-burn approach cuts key support staff.

SEN. SCHIFF URGES TRUMP ADMIN TO EXCLUDE FIREFIGHTERS FROM FEDERAL HIRING FREEZE

“The reality is that Trump has decimated the U.S. Forest Service,” Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash., said in a May press conference. “Nearly every single Forest Service employee supports fire operations in some capacity.”

Many of the workers who departed held Red Cards, meaning they have special training to either fight fires or “provide essential frontline support to the firefighting crews,” Sen. Jeff Merkley, a Democrat from Oregon, said.

But Rollins said the Biden administration wasted taxpayer funds on unsustainable and irresponsible hiring of people who “really had no job description.”

“That was in the — not hundreds — in the thousands of hirings that went on just in the Forest Service in the last administration,” she said, adding that the service is becoming “more lean” but no less effective.

Brooke Rollins appears for the hearing on her nomination for Secretary of Agriculture as part of President Donald Trump's cabinet

LA MAYOR KAREN BASS ACCUSED OF DELETING TEXTS IN WAKE OF WILDFIRE DISASTER

Rollins and U.S. Secretary of the Interior Doug Burgum signed a memo on May 20 signaling the Trump administration’s wildfire response strategy. It calls for the elimination of barriers and “unnecessary procedures” to ensure a rapid response when wildfires threaten life and property.

The memo also directs the Forest Service to examine the impact of “voluntary departures” on the firefighting workforce and propose a plan to “remedy critical vacancies.”

Non-fire staff should also be deployed to support frontline firefighters as wildfire activity increases, allowing for a “more robust and more intentional and more effective force as we move into this season,” Rollins said.

“But we are not going to waste taxpayer dollars the way that we’ve seen happen in the past,” she said.

Wildfires have already scorched more than one million acres across the country so far this year, according to the National Interagency Fire Center. The center’s outlook shows higher temperatures and drier conditions than typical across much of the West this summer.

“Our prayer is that it won’t actually happen, that it will be lighter than usual, but indicators are showing that it actually may be a heavy fire season,” Rollins said.

Firefighters battle Lilac Fire

She added she’s confident Americans will see “an unprecedented level of coordination” among federal, state and local governments as the summer progresses.

“There is zero compromising [on] having the most prepared, most effective [firefighters],” Rollins said. “And we’ll do everything possible to ensure that they have every tool they need to be successful this season.”

Read the full article here

You Might Also Like

Trump welcomed by world leaders at Notre Dame reopening ceremony in ‘presidential’ fashion

Dems call budget bill ‘bureaucratic water torture’ as GOP ‘glad to have the ball in our court’

Professional boxer Paul Bamba dead at 35, days after winning title bout

Department of Education warns that public schools must remove DEI policies or lose federal funding

Georgia passes ‘Riley Gaines Act’ that aims to prohibit trans athletes from competing in female sports

Share This Article
Facebook Twitter Email Print
Leave a Comment

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

We Recommend
Karen Read’s silence in murder trial raises stakes for defense
News

Karen Read’s silence in murder trial raises stakes for defense

Jimmie Dempsey Jimmie Dempsey June 4, 2025
Trump’s ‘Big, Beautiful Bill’ faces resistance from Republican senators over debt fears
Source of death threats against Astros pitcher Lance McCullers identified as ‘inebriated’ bettor, police say
Dawn Staley reveals she rejected Alabama coaching offer before landing job with South Carolina
Vikings great Jim Marshall dead at 87 after ‘lengthy hospitalization,’ family says
Natural Pain Relief: 20 Proven Remedies
Bucks’ Damian Lillard issues playful response to teammate Kyle Kuzma’s boxing challenge
News

Bucks’ Damian Lillard issues playful response to teammate Kyle Kuzma’s boxing challenge

Jimmie Dempsey Jimmie Dempsey June 3, 2025
CDC Wants Plane Travel LOCKDOWN For All Humans Who Haven’t Received the MMR Vaccine
Prepping & Survival

CDC Wants Plane Travel LOCKDOWN For All Humans Who Haven’t Received the MMR Vaccine

Jimmie Dempsey Jimmie Dempsey June 3, 2025
Dem governor ripped as ‘total disgrace’ after vetoing bill limiting Chinese land ownership near military bases
News

Dem governor ripped as ‘total disgrace’ after vetoing bill limiting Chinese land ownership near military bases

Jimmie Dempsey Jimmie Dempsey June 3, 2025
Pew Patriots
  • News
  • Tactical
  • Prepping & Survival
  • Videos
  • Guns and Gear
2024 © Pew Patriots. All Rights Reserved.
Welcome Back!

Sign in to your account

Username or Email Address
Password

Lost your password?