WASHINGTON — Senators balked at proposed budget cuts to the world-leading U.S. Forest Service, including the complete elimination of all forest research funding, during a subcommittee meeting late last month.
U.S. Forest Service Chief Tom Schultz answered questions about the agency’s FY 2027 budget, with senators largely skeptical about whether the cuts would hinder the agency’s ability to realistically manage 193 million acres of land. The agency was established in 1905 during the Theodore Roosevelt administration. It currently has the world’s largest forest research agency.
“This is not the bright vision for the future that I know many of us strive for,” said Sen. Jeff Merkley, D-Ore. “These changes appear to weaken an agency that has been a global benchmark for integrating forest research and stewardship for over a century. The budget request suggests a dimmer future.”
According to a document published by the U.S. Forest Service in April 2026 titled “FY 2027 Budget Justification,” the budget eradicates all funding for forest and rangeland research. Additionally, the plan proposes to transfer the wildland fire management appropriations and activities to the Department of the Interior.
In FY 2026, the U.S. Forest Service allocated $308,697,000 for forest and rangeland research. Previous forest research conducted by the U.S. Forest Service includes the creation of the Behave Fire Modeling System, which is described by the agency as one of the most widely used systems to model fires since its establishment in 1984.
“Fire fighting in 2025 was a billion and a half higher than the prior year, a 25% increase and we will run out of funds this summer to fight fires,” Merkley said. “Are you concerned about us running out of funds?”
The U.S. Forest Service’s forecast does not anticipate a shortage of funds, Schultz said. He added that people would review costs and transfer funds if needed, then acknowledging the active fire season in the southeast region.
Two days before the hearing, for example, NASA reported two large human-made fires in Georgia, which burned over 50,000 acres of land as of April 28.
The reorganization of the agency prompted questions from senators from both sides of the aisle. Sen. Susan Collins, R-ME, asked, “Can you clarify the purpose of this reorganization?”
“We have about 3,500 directors, that is on top of statutes, regulations, our manual,” Schultz said. “We are trying to push the decision-making down to the ground so that men and women on the ground have the responsibility and authority to make decisions and to move more resources to the forest.”
Merkley also expressed confusion over the reorganization of the U.S. Forest Service.
“It boggles my mind that it makes sense to separate the firefighting from forest management that forest service is responsible for,” Merkley said. “Do you share that concern at all?”
Schultz responded by saying that the U.S. Forest Service has been instructed to conduct a study starting in mid-May with an expected timeline of six months that would address the question raised about the reorganization plan.
Sen. Jon Husted, R-OH, said that he is supportive of Schultz’s goal of “using money more effectively,” but asked whether the budget would provide enough money to maintain the agency’s services in the Wayne National Forest such as boat ramps and camp grounds.
Schultz said that services will not be impacted from the reduction in staff because of partnership plans with states, tribes and local entities. He attributed 82,000 current volunteers in the national forest system to partnerships.
“Your budget eliminates all the discretionary cooperative forest funding, including programs that support state forestry partnerships,” Husted said. “With that funding going away, how will it affect those joint partnerships?”
Partnerships that are not financial and instead are information-based and help with management will be explored, Schultz said.
“Dollars may or may not transfer hands, but we would still be partners at the table sharing personnel and resources to to get it done,” he said.
Husted responded by reemphasizing the importance of these partnerships.
Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-AK, encouraged the U.S. Forest Service Chief to consider hiring more people if he thought it would help the agency achieve its mission, noting that the budget proposal may not provide sufficient staffing.
“As you are moving and reorganizing and creating efficiencies within offices, which I appreciate from a fiscal perspective, we want to make sure that we have enough people to do the tasks we have tasked you to do,” Murkowski said. “Because if you need more to do the jobs we have asked you to do, we need you to tell us, we need you to hire them.”