SEATTLE (AP) — Budget woes, combined with cuts to the federal wildfire-fighting workforce and President Donald Trump’s tariff and sovereignty threats against Canada, have made it more difficult for state officials to plan for the upcoming wildfire season.
In Washington, a $12 billion budget shortfall prompted majority Democrats in the Legislature last week to propose slicing spending on wildfire prevention and fighting by one-third to two-thirds.
“These massive cuts to wildfire prevention and response increase the threat to public safety — putting lives and homes at greater risk,” state Department of Natural Resources Commissioner Dave Upthegrove told The Associated Press in an email. “The cuts make Washington more likely to experience the kind of horrific scene we saw recently in Southern California.”
As Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency slashes federal spending, the Trump administration withheld money for wildfire mitigation in several states and then fired thousands of workers involved in firefighting from various agencies. Those included rangers in the Forest Service and weather forecasters with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Some were rehired under a court order, but many were then immediately placed on administrative leave.
Washington State Forester George Geissler, who has decades of wildland firefighting experience, said the officials who fired federal workers don’t understand the roles they play in fighting fires. Although they don’t have “firefighter” listed as their job title, they all undergo special wildland firefighting training that enables them to respond to a fire when needed, he said.
Meanwhile, tensions between the U.S. and Canada over Trump’s proposed tariffs and calls to make the country the U.S.’s 51st state have also complicated wildfire planning, especially in border states, Geissler said. Washington state has maintained a solid relationship with British Columbia for decades, but it’s unclear how firefighting will work if the borders are closed due to federal tensions, he said.
“In wildfire, we like to say we can bring order to chaos,” he said. “But the hard part has been that things are changing so quickly and doing such dramatic swings, it’s hard to anticipate and plan.”
State and local budget woes have compounded those concerns.
Wildfire season in the West can run as early as April through November, while drier and hotter conditions linked to climate change have increased their intensity. These conditions have also sparked recent wildfires burning in the Carolinas, New Jersey, Florida and Texas.
Oregon and California lawmakers boost wildfire spending
Lawmakers in Oregon held a special session in December to approve $218 million in emergency wildfire funding. The 2024 wildfire season was the state’s most expensive on record, and the funds paid contractors who helped fight the blazes. Lawmakers have said finding new revenue sources for combating wildfires is a key issue in this year’s legislative session.
California Gov. Gavin Newsom has proposed spending $325 million on wildfire mitigation efforts next year. Many lawmakers have signaled their support for more investments in wildfire mitigation programs after the deadly fires in Los Angeles earlier this year.
Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass and the city council appealed to Sacramento last week for nearly $2 billion in disaster recovery aid at a time when City Hall is facing a nearly $1 billion projected deficit. The request included over $56 million for fire suppression and safety.
Washington state officials grapple with a budget shortfall
Washington state had made fighting wildfires a priority in recent years — passing a bill in 2021 that permanently authorized spending $125 million each two-year budget cycle on response, forest restoration and communities. Those projects ensured that 95% of the state’s wildfires were held to 10 acres (4 hectares) or less, officials said.
“That’s some of the best money that we can spend,” said Sen. Sharon Shewmake, D-Bellingham. Oregon and Washington had about the same number of fires last year, but while 2 million acres (810,000 hectares) burned in Oregon, only about 300,000 acres (120,000 hectares) burned in Washington, she said.
When newly-elected Gov. Bob Ferguson took office, he told lawmakers that state agencies needed to reduce spending by at least $4 billion and asked each department, including Natural Resources, to find ways to reduce spending by 6%.
A budget proposal from Washington House Democrats last week came in $85 million short of the $125 million that had been allocated for the previous two two-year budget cycles, while the Senate’s was $40 million short of that target.
The Washington State Council of Firefighters said the budget proposals would make it less safe for their members.
“Any cuts to funding for wildfire suppression and forest resiliency is going to be detrimental to the response to wildfire incidents for both the DNR and all fire service firefighters across the state of Washington,” Jeff Wainwright, a council spokesperson, told the AP.
The House and Senate proposals exceed Ferguson’s request, and instability at the federal level will magnify the shortages, said Michael Kelly, a DNR spokesperson.
“Our federal partners are behind on training and they’re behind on funding and they’re cutting staff,” Kelly said. “Knowing that we’re dealing with federal partners who can’t bring as much to the table this year, we hoped the Legislature would be able to give us the full amounts.”
Deputy Majority Leader Larry Springer, who authored the 2021 bill that allocated $125 million for wildfires, said he understands the need for funding, but the state’s fiscal challenges forced lawmakers to focus the money on one part of firefighting — the initial attack — and try to refocus on things like forest thinning and prescribed burns that help prevent fires in the next few years.
“Given the fact that we don’t have enough money to do all of that now, it’s a matter of which ones are the most important right now in the short term,” he said.
Washington Rep. Tom Dent, a Moses Lake Republican who has authored many wildfire-fighting bills over the years, said the state needs to ensure that it funds its initial attack and front-line firefighting programs.
“I’m relatively fiscally conservative,” Dent told the AP. “But you have to recognize there are times when you spend money to save money. This is one of those times.”
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Associated Press reporters Claire Rush in Portland, Oregon; Trân Nguyễn in Sacramento, California; and Michael Blood in Los Angeles contributed.
