Several elected leaders from northern Arizona are calling on Attorney General Kris Mayes to determine if the Trump administration’s cuts to wildfire mitigation efforts are illegal.
Coconino County Supervisor Lena Fowler, Tusayan Mayor Clarinda Vail and Flagstaff mayor Becky Daggett are among the 160 western officials who are concerned about the drop in federal fire preparedness in recent months. They signed onto a letter as part of the Mountain Pact, a group that advocates for western communities in climate, public lands and outdoor recreation policy.
They are urging their respective state attorneys general to push back against layoffs, voluntary deferred resignations and early retirements within the U.S. Bureau of Land Management, U.S. Forest Service and the National Park Service.
It comes months after the Dragon Bravo and White Sage fires burned more than 200,000 acres on the Kaibab National Forest and in Grand Canyon National Park.
“As climate-induced drought continues ravaging the West, communities like mine are becoming even more vulnerable to devastating fires like this one—and federal cuts to public land management are only making the situation more dire,” says Coconino County Supervisor Patrice Horstman. “Wildfires are not just a seasonal threat but a growing year-round danger, and we cannot afford to weaken the federal firefighting force.”
Nationally, more than 4,500 U.S. Forest Service firefighting jobs, or about 27%, were vacant as of July, according to internal data obtained by ProPublica. In addition, hazardous fuels reduction work like prescribed burns and mechanical thinning had decreased by 38% nationally as of Oct. 1 throughout the U.S.
In Arizona, the Forest Service has conducted work on about half as many acres as it has averaged over the past four years.
“Wildfire preparedness is a matter of life and death in rural western communities,” reads the letter. “The danger posed by wildfires to homes, businesses, and livelihoods is ever-present. The impacts of climate change, from increased drought to hotter and more unpredictable weather, are only heightening these risks.”
On Dec. 2 a dozen U.S. senators wrote a letter to Forest Service Chief Tim Schultz expressing their concern over the cuts. Senators Mark Kelly and Ruben Gallego, along with others from California, New Mexico, Colorado and elsewhere, demanded information about wildfire staffing levels and what the agency is doing to boost the amount of treated acres in western forests.
“The steep decline in hazardous fuels reduction efforts on Forest Service lands poses a serious risk to public safety, public health and the economy,” read the senators’ letter. “It is imperative that the Forest Service works closely with Congress to address shortfalls in wildfire mitigation and ensure staffing and budgetary resources are sufficient to fulfill the agency’s mission.”
