Latest news with #USForestService
Yahoo
7 hours ago
- Politics
- Yahoo
‘The stakes are life and death': The US is not prepared for wildfire season after sweeping DOGE cuts, report says
As summer temperatures begin to rise and another dangerous wildfire season looms, a new report warns the U.S. is underprepared due to sweeping budget and staffing cuts under the Trump administration. Federal agencies are grappling with reduced workforces, diminished resources, and weakened emergency infrastructure just as extreme summer heat and drought are taking hold of many states out West. Experts and current firefighters say the situation is dire. 'If this turns out to be a major fire year, it's going to be a s*** show,' Dr. Hugh Safford, a fire ecologist and former U.S. Forest Service (USFS) official, told The Guardian. Safford spent more than two decades working for the service before retiring in 2021. Five federal firefighters echoed the same concern to the outlet, speaking anonymously due to restrictions, all answering 'no' when asked if their agencies were ready. Already, wildfires have destroyed homes in Oregon, and more than 8.5 million acres have burned across Canada. Climate forecasters predict above-average fire potential this year across California, Montana, Texas, and much of the Pacific Northwest. But despite these warnings, there have been major staffing cuts. USFS Chief Tom Schultz told a Senate committee the agency is 'well-positioned,' citing the hiring of 11,000 firefighters—900 fewer than last year—and 37 incident management teams, down from 42, The Guardian reported. But lawmakers and fire experts disagree. 'The reality is on the ground, we have lost workers whose jobs are absolutely essential,' Senator Patty Murray said in response, citing a loss of 7,500 USFS employees, including maintenance staff, administrators, and qualified on-call firefighters. 'The stakes are life and death here – and this raises serious alarms about this agency being ready for this critical fire season,' she added. Cutbacks have strained fire operations. Some crews lack access to supplies, paychecks have been delayed or halved, and workers are filling roles far beyond their scope—mowing lawns, managing campsites, or doing their own plumbing. 'Those agencies were already understaffed,' Lenya N. Quinn-Davidson, director of the University of California's Fire Network, said. 'Now they are skeletal.' The Trump administration has pushed an early retirement program that 4,800 USFS workers have joined, including 1,400 with critical 'red card' fire qualifications. Schultz admitted there was no strategic analysis of who left or what skills were lost. Now, the Department of Agriculture is scrambling to re-enlist those workers for the fire season. 'I don't expect many to return,' said one fire planner. 'The loss of experience is immense.' Another complication came when an executive order was issued last week, giving agencies 90 days to consolidate all federal firefighters under a new Department of the Interior agency. Firefighters have concerns that the rushed implementation could create more chaos during peak fire season. 'It seems like a joke if you can't even pay my guys or get them insurance,' an USFS squad leader said. 'I like the idea of a firefighter-led agency. But I don't have faith in these people putting it together.' Grants that support wildfire mitigation on local, state, tribal, and private lands were halved this year and are set to be eliminated next year. Nearly $100 million intended to support rural and volunteer fire departments was withheld, The Guardian reported. 'The administration's budget for Forest Service research is $0—for the world's most important forest research organization,' Safford said. The administration also rolled back climate science initiatives and scaled down weather forecasting capacity. NOAA and National Weather Service layoffs have hampered early warning systems in fire-prone areas. So states are stepping in to compensate. California issued $72 million in fire mitigation grants last month. Colorado allocated $7 million this spring. 'Forest fires aren't going to take four years off just because of who's in the White House,' Governor Jared Polis told Politico. Schultz acknowledged a shift is underway to push more responsibility onto states and local governments. That shift, Quinn-Davidson said, underscores the importance of empowering communities to lead on fire prevention. 'The more we can empower people at the local level, the more resilient we'll be in the face of disaster,' Quinn-Davidson said. But with the season already underway, many fear the consequences of federal disinvestment may soon be felt. As one firefighter put it: 'I'm not seeing our interests being represented. That could be catastrophic.'
The Star
2 days ago
- General
- The Star
Weed manager of the year: One man's quest to save the Sonoran Desert
When Don Pike takes his daily walk, he laces up his brown hiking boots, grabs his walking stick and bucket hat and heads outside. Ten feet (3m) later, he carefully slips past barbed wire and enters the Tonto National Forest in Arizona, the United States. Unlike other parts of the Tonto, where the ground between native plants and trees is covered with dry grasses, the earth is pale, crusty and barren, like it's meant to be. That's because Pike has been pulling weeds. 'You won't find any of them in this area here because I've removed them,' said Pike, 84, a retiree from Maine who installed floor-to-ceiling windows in his living room to better see his beloved desert. Pike estimates that he's cleared invasive plants from roughly 222ha of desert near his home. Pike is at war with buffel grass and fountain grass, two invasive species that are spreading in the Sonoran Desert, choking native plants, increasing the risk and intensity of wildfires and threatening a vibrant ecosystem. He began hunting the thick grasses, which were introduced to the area by landscapers, almost 15 years ago. Since then, he estimates that he and his team of volunteers have cleared 550 acres (222ha) of the roughly 14,000 acres (5,665ha) they oversee. In 2024, that earned him the title of Arizona's Weed Manager of the Year. Work by volunteers like Pike has always been an important supplement to managing federal lands, according to US government workers who say their programmes have been underfunded for years. A cactus blooms in the Tonto National Forest. But since the Trump administration and the so-called Department of Government Efficiency began mass firings of federal workers, volunteers like Pike have become more vital than ever. 'It's going to be important for the federal agencies, the Forest Service in particular, to find ways to engage people,' Pike said on his back porch in March. 'There's a lot of people that want to get involved. Particularly retirees who have a lot of skills.' In February, at least 2,000 employees had been eliminated from the US Forest Service, which is responsible for lands across the country that, together, rival the size of Texas. Forests like the Tonto are at risk as climate change increases the chances of wildfires and as invasive species spread. But citizen scientists like Pike are working to reduce fire and heat risks, clear hundreds of acres of invasives and capture data on threatened cactuses, helping to save what otherwise might be lost. Parking and shade structures (right) at a trailhead in an area where abundant red brome, an invasive species of grass, raises the wildfire risk, in the Tonto National Forest. Bringing in reinforcements Patti Fenner was an invasive weeds specialist for the US Forest Service in 2011 when she gave a presentation to a retirees group that included Pike. After the talk, Fenner and Pike took a hike and she pointed out how invasive grasses had begun overtaking native plants. That first outing led to a decades-long obsession, and when Fenner retired three years later and founded Friends of the Tonto, a volunteer group with about 70 members that assists the national forest, Pike became one of the first members. Fenner had worked in the forest since college, doing a variety of jobs. She liked the US Forest Service-style of land management because it demanded compromise from all parties. Unlike national parks, US Forest Service land is used by multiple interests, including logging, mining and ranching in addition to recreation. Fenner holds a blade of invasive red brome grass, which raises the risk of wildfire. But maintaining an ecological balance is also key, and when Fenner became the forest's first noxious weed manager in 2003, it felt like a Sisyphean task to clear three million acres (1.2 million hectares) of rapidly multiplying invasive species. Pike decided to concentrate on a smaller scale, homing in on what's known as the wildland urban interface, or the space where developments like his neighbourhood creep up on wilderness areas like the Tonto. A former engineer, he created a map to track the progress he made with his team of volunteers, pinning a green flag where invasives were cleared. The flag turns yellow after two years as a reminder to clear the area again. While his system is effective in his relatively small section, it's an unlikely fix for an entire forest. 'In the direction that we're headed, the desert will become a grassland,' Pike said. Fenner became the Tonto National Forest's first noxious weed manager in 2003. Lightning-strike fires have always been possible in the desert, but excess vegetation like red brome, a grass that dries into short haylike tufts, has contributed to bigger and more frequent wildfires in the Tonto. One of the first huge wildfires came in 2005, when the Cave Creek Complex fire burned 243,000 acres (98,340ha). Then, in the summer of 2020, Pike watched the sky turn orange as the Bush fire burned 193,000 acres (78,104ha), killing roughly 80,000 saguaros, the distinctive cactuses with cartoonish curved arms. Invasive plants grew back quickly, outcompeting the native saguaros and paloverde, the state tree with flowers like tiny yellow bells. A dying saguaro cactus that was scorched by a fire in the Tonto National Forest. So, Friends of the Tonto started a second monitoring programme for the saguaros. In late 2023, Pike created another map with more than 9,900 tiny saguaros. On this one, green signals good health and black means the cactus is dead. He's trained about 40 people to find additional saguaros and monitor the ones already in the database. The future of the forest The main office at Tonto has been closed for years because the US Forest Service had trouble staffing it, even before the recent hiring freeze and terminations, largely because the pay was low, Fenner said. Other offices within the forest used to stay open on weekends during the busy season, but that also ended years ago because of a lack of employees. 'If you're trying to get ahold of somebody there's no one to talk to,' Fenner said of the forest staff. 'It's like nobody's home.' Ongoing budget and staffing issues at the Tonto have limited the scope of volunteer work, which is based on an agreement with the US Forest Service that spells out the terms of the relationship. The US Forest Service did not respond to a request for comment. Pike has been struggling to contact federal employees who can help him apply for grants. In 2024, he helped win a US$105,000 (RM444,255) grant from the state's Department of Forestry and Fire Management to hire a contractor to apply herbicide and organise a youth group to cull invasive plants in the forest. A detail of the epidermis of a fire-scorched saguaro cactus. 'It's not going to get better, it's going to get worse,' Pike said of communication with forest managers. He wants to secure more grants to better manage the invasive plants, but without support from forest officials, he said, 'I can't logically expand the area that I'm covering.' Still, they are tackling the impossible, weed by weed. At the top of a hill overlooking the Tonto called Sears-Kay, which features ruins almost 1,000 years old, Fenner spotted buffel grass in late March. She tried to pull it with her bare hands but it was rooted too firmly. So she called Pike, and he encouraged her to go back with a shovel. She went on a walk and pulled the plant the next day. – ©2025 The New York Times Company
The Independent
2 days ago
- Politics
- The Independent
California preps for intense fire season – as Trump slashes federal aid
California, still recovering from a series of devastating January blazes, may not be prepared for the upcoming fire season amid changes made by the Trump administration. As temperatures soar in the West, experts say that Trump's weakening of federal agencies that respond to wildfires leaves the state in a potentially precarious situation, according to The Los Angeles Times. The experts specifically referred to changes at the U.S. Forest Service, FEMA and National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. State officials believe parts of Northern California, the Sierra Nevada and areas close to the ocean are at risk of 'significant fire potential.' 'The level of anxiety is so extreme among people who understand the consequences of converging crises,' Daniel Swain, a climate scientist with the University of California Agriculture and Natural Resources, told the newspaper. 'It's every single one of these agencies, departments and entities that would be helping us either preemptively prepare or emergently respond to wildfire events and other kinds of disasters — all of which are dysfunctional at exactly the same moment.' Trump has requested a 63 percent reduction in the U.S. Forest Service's budget. This would include a 30 percent reduction in its workforce, amounting to roughly 10,000 employees. The agency is the nation's largest firefighting entity and oversees more than half of the state's forestland. There are about 11,000 firefighters set to work during the upcoming fire season. About 3,500 of those are in the Pacific Southwest. The newspaper reported that crews that cleared flammable vegetation, scientists who studied fire conditions and employees who managed operations, technology and machinery were not protected from staffing reductions. At FEMA, Trump's administration terminated the agency's Building Resilient Infrastructure and Communities grants. The payouts went to states to prepare for disasters like wildfires. The president has further suggested cutting $646m from FEMA's budget and eliminating the agency after hurricane season. Speaking on the budget cuts, Swain said: 'The problem is when there is an extreme event or a disaster or an where people are going to mess up and make mistakes — not on purpose, not due to lack of training or lack of professionalism, but because they're being asked to do 200 things simultaneously, and all of them are life-and-death critical.' In January, 12 people died in the Palisades Fire, a blaze that directly impacted Los Angeles. Over 6,000 structures were destroyed and more than 23,000 acres were scorched.
New York Post
13-06-2025
- Science
- New York Post
Invasive Asian insects spreading across 20 US states can cause hives, vomiting — and even death
The spotted lanternfly might be the least of your worries this summer. Experts are sounding the alarm about the Asian needle ant — a tiny but dangerous insect moving across the US whose sting can lead to severe and even deadly reactions. As Americans flock outdoors to soak up the sunshine, scientists are urging caution so that your summertime fun doesn't end with a trip to the emergency room. 4 Asian needle ants have a unique and highly painful sting. Samuel – What are Asian needle ants? Known to scientists as Brachyponera chinensis, the Asian needle ant hails from China, Japan and the Koreas. It was first spotted in the States back in the 1930s, according to a report by the US Forest Service (USFS). These ants are small — about 0.2 inches long — with shiny dark brown to black bodies. They're often mistaken for other species, making them easy to miss. Where are they now? Asian needle ants have popped up in 20 states so far, mainly in the Northeast and Southeast, but reports have come in from as far as Wisconsin, Arkansas, and Washington, according to These pests can survive cooler weather and start appearing as early as March, but their numbers peak in June and July. Asian needle ants are often found in moist, shaded areas, like leaf litter, under rocks and inside dead logs. They can also nest in potted plants, under wood piles and in lawns. 4 Asian needle ants are commonly found in forested areas. Diane Macdonald – 'People don't typically notice them,' Dan Suiter, a professor of urban entomology at the University of Georgia, recently told the university. 'Unlike, say, fire ants, which build a mound, the Asian needle ant doesn't establish foraging trails — those lines of ants you can see.' Why are they dangerous? Asian needle ants aren't as aggressive as fire ants and usually flee from humans. But when disturbed — like if you reach into their mulch or wood piles — they'll sting in self-defense. And that sting packs a punch. 'Imagine somebody inserting a needle directly into your flesh,' Benoit Guénard, a professor of ecology and entomology at the University of Hong Kong who studied the ants in North Carolina, told USA Today. 'It's a very sharp, acute pain but it's quite local,' he added. 4 Redness of the skin and mild to severe hives are common symptoms of a sting. RFBSIP – To make matters worse, the pain can come and go in waves. 'The first, initial pain lasted a few seconds. Then about five minutes later, when the pain had eased, I felt 'ouch!' as if somebody had stung me again in the same place,' Guénard said. 'For me, it goes on for about two hours … But I know in some people it lasts for as much as 24 to 48 hours.' Victims can also develop skin reactions like hives, itching and flushed or pale skin. In more serious cases, stings can trigger nausea, vomiting, dizziness, a rapid pulse, swelling of the tongue or throat, difficulty breathing and even psychological symptoms, like a sense of impending doom. The biggest threat is anaphylaxis, a potentially life-threatening allergic reaction that can strike within seconds of being stung. 4 If you have a history of allergic reactions to insect stings, you might be at a greater risk for anaphylaxis. brizmaker – A study from the ants' native range found that 2.1% of people stung suffered severe, potentially life-threatening reactions. Experts say those with allergies to other insect stings are especially vulnerable. In Georgia alone, Suiter received three calls last year about anaphylactic shock following stings from Asian needle ants. 'I fully expect that some people who end up in the emergency room were stung by them but didn't realize it,' he told Scientific American. 'If you suffer from anaphylaxis, you should really know what this ant looks like,' he warned. 'And it might be smart to carry an EpiPen.' The USFS urges anyone experiencing an allergic reaction to seek immediate medical attention.
Associated Press
13-06-2025
- Climate
- Associated Press
Officials brace for fire season as Nevada is ‘abnormally dry'
'Don't say this is going to be the worst fire season,' Nevada Gov. Joe Lombardo jokingly told State Forester and Fire Warden Kacey KC at a June 10 wildfire briefing in Carson City. 'You say that every year.' KC smiled in reply, but her cautious forecast for the coming fire season didn't quite comply with the governor's request. The state is 'abnormally dry for this time of year,' she told him, primarily because of minimal snow at lower elevations during the winter followed by a warm spring that rapidly melted the snowpack at higher elevations. The annual briefing, focused on updating the governor and his staff on the state's coming wildfire season, brought together a conglomeration of agencies and groups, including the U.S. Forest Service, Bureau of Land Management, Nevada National Guard and city, county and tribal representatives. Despite dry conditions, officials are optimistic about their ability to respond to whatever happens, touting interagency cooperation and well-executed emergency responses last year that will serve as models for the coming season. A healthy dose of one-time state and federal funding was also a cause for optimism. But that same day, two fires broke out in the Reno-Sparks area. One, a small brush fire in North Reno, was quickly contained, but a second blaze, the more than 115-acre Marie Fire in Spanish Springs north of Reno, prompted evacuations. And, with early drought conditions settling in over the drying state, it has the potential to be a long fire season. 'There's no department — state, federal or local — that can mitigate a significant emergency on their own,' Reno Fire Department Chief Dave Cochran said. 'We need that collaboration and cooperation.' 'An active summer' Roughly 150 fires have burned more than 600 acres so far this year, KC said, and they are making 'bigger runs than we would expect at this time.' The state has already received about half of its average number of fire-related calls, Eric Antle, deputy administrator at the Nevada Division of Forestry (NDF), said at a June 4 wildfire event focusing on Reno, although the fire season hasn't really started yet. That heavy number of calls reflects that half of the state is already experiencing drought conditions. At this time last year, just 1 percent of the state was in drought. Much of the state's lower elevations saw little to no snow during the winter. Last year's cheatgrass, an invasive and highly flammable weed found across much of the state, was never tamped down, and a second crop of cheatgrass is springing up this year. Two years of cheatgrass, as well as other dry fuels, are a concern and will lead to above normal wildfire potential for Southern and western Nevada, according to Jim Wallmann, meteorologist for National Interagency Coordination Center Predictive Services. The conditions, he said, recall those of 2006, when two consecutive years of heavy grass crops led to well over 1 million acres burning in the state. 'We're seeing the same signs,' he said at a June 3 webinar focusing on drought and fire conditions. The state's largest fire season was 1999, when 1.8 million acres burned. In an average fire year, Nevada sees about 450,000 acres burn. Wildfire concerns are expected to slow in Southern Nevada in mid to late July with the arrival of the area's monsoons. But, as the danger lessens in the south, it will increase in the rest of the state. 'Expect an active summer, kind of moving from the southwest up into California (then) Nevada as we head into the summer,' Wallmann said. Davis Fire response 'is the model' Despite issuing a record number of vetoes, Lombardo signed two bills from this session expected to help the state's firefighting efforts: AB578, appropriating $6 million to the Nevada Division of Forestry for projects through the state's shared stewardship agreement, and SB19, authorizing the state to enter into two interstate wildfire compacts, easing the state's ability to transfer resources during an emergency. The $6 million allocation is the first time the state has invested in wildfire prevention work in nearly a decade, KC said, and could allow the state to unlock about $150 million in federal funds. NDF was also recently awarded $45.5 million in federal funds for projects along the Sierra Front and around Elko in areas that experience frequent fires. Last year, 760 fires in Nevada burned more than 103,000 acres; nearly two-thirds of those were started by people, including the Davis Fire, which destroyed 13 structures in South Reno in September. Officials at the governor's briefing highlighted the unified response to the Davis Fire as a model for future emergencies. The fire was one of the first to involve the state's Division of Emergency Management and to utilize personnel from Southern Nevada who, while not qualified to fight wildland fire, were able to backfill Truckee Meadows Fire positions while those wildland fire-trained crews battled the Davis blaze. The Davis Fire response was 'seamless,' said John Stansfield, Humboldt Toiyabe National Forest supervisor. 'That is the model. In order to be successful this year, that's how we have to keep doing things.' NV Energy wildfire self-insurance policy As wildfire season ramps up, NV Energy is poised to begin hearings with state energy regulators on its request to create a $500 million self-insurance policy to increase the utility's liability insurance coverage limits in the case of a catastrophic wildfire that is alleged to have been caused by its equipment. The increase would bring the utility's total coverage to roughly $1 billion. It would also increase the monthly bill for Northern Nevada customers; according to the utility, the average residential customer would see their bill go up by $2.42 if the utility's request is approved. In Southern Nevada, customer bills would increase by just over 50 cents per month. If approved, the utility would begin collecting the funds in October, with collection occurring over the next decade. The utility is also seeking to recover roughly $55 million in expenses it has already spent on wildfire mitigation work, including vegetation management, implementing planned outages and equipment replacement. Northern Nevada customers would pay an additional $1.44 per month. At a June 11 public comment session before the state energy regulators, Tim Clausen, NV Energy's vice president of regulatory, said a self-funded insurance policy would 'protect customers' by avoiding significant and unexpected rate increases if a wildfire were to occur. Louis Renner of Sparks, a former California electric utility employee, told energy regulators funding wildfire insurance isn't the responsibility of ratepayers. 'If we're worried about the fires, increase the preventative maintenance … Do something that's proactive rather than just let's just keep throwing money at it,' he said. 'The only person that (the proposal) helps is NV Energy.' ___ This story was originally published by The Nevada Independent and distributed through a partnership with The Associated Press.
