By Billy Arnold
Jackson Hole News&Guide
Via- Wyoming News Exchange

JACKSON — The U.S. Forest Service is ahead of its hiring goals for the 2026 wildfire season, which has already begun in Jackson Hole and other parts of the west.

The agency’s chief, Tom Schultz, said as much last week in a series of hearings on Capitol Hill. He answered questions from Republicans about boosting timber production and reducing red tape from the National Environmental Policy and Endangered Species acts. Democrats, meanwhile, asked about proposed closures of research facilities, plus funding and staffing cuts.

Republicans and Democrats alike asked about the agency’s proposal to move its headquarters to Salt Lake City, the proposed consolidation of Forest Service firefighting resources into the U.S. Wildland Fire Service — and preparedness for the upcoming season.

On that front, Schultz said the agency is ahead of schedule, having hired over 11,000 firefighters so far, a roughly 6% increase over this time last year.

By the end of May 2025, the agency had hired 10,377 firefighters. By the end of May 2024, it had hired 10,485. By May 2023, it had hired 9,319.

The Forest Service’s goal is to hire 11,300 firefighters by July.

“We’ve actually hired more firefighters this year than over the last year and the year before,” Schultz said.

‘Red cards’ and cuts

But lawmakers also had questions about last year’s cuts, which were driven by Elon Musk’s Department of Governmental Efficiency, and how they could impact this year’s fire season.

“I’m troubled that more than 1,400 Forest Service employees with so-called red cards, which allow them to fight wildfires without being hired as firefighters, departed the agency last year amid broader workforce reduction,” said Sen. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn.

Red-carded Forest Service employees typically work in other roles, like trail management, but are called on to help fight fires.

In 2025, the U.S. Forest Service lost about 5,860 employees, according to government figures. Government Executive, a publication that watchdogs the federal government, reported that about 5,000 Forest Service employees had accepted incentive offers to leave the agency — and that about 1,400 of those employees had red cards.

That prompted agency staff to raise concerns about a loss of institutional knowledge and capacity ahead of the 2025 fire season, even as Schultz said the agency was fully staffed.

This year, Schultz is projecting a similar confidence, saying the agency has about 10,000 non-fire employees with red cards. 

In response to Rep. Cliff Bentz, an Oregon Republican, who asked the Forest Service chief whether the agency was prepared for the upcoming fire season, Schultz said it was, relying partly on red card recruitment.

“We also have an additional 450 red card employees above where we were last year at this time,” Schultz said. “We do feel we are prepared.”

Consolidation

U.S. senators and representatives also asked Schultz about the proposed consolidation of Forest Service’s firefighters into the newly created Wildland Fire Service, which is set to be housed in the Department of the Interior. Rep. Jared Huffman, R-California, said that 85% of the Forest Service’s current budget could be shifted into Interior if the change advances.

He asked Schultz what the Forest Service wouldn’t do if that happened, and how red carded employees would be impacted.

Schultz acknowledged that the agency is deeply integrated, with firefighters who support recreation, fuel treatment, and trail maintenance — and vice versa. Schultz said that the Forest Service is waiting for a study of the potential consolidation before moving forward and that the study would, in part, focus on whether consolidation makes sense given the agency’s structure.

“Part of the study is just to look at those land management functions and those fire functions and help advise and contemplate how we would do that effectively,” he said.

The consolidation would require congressional approval and, specifically, an authorization to move the funding around, Schultz said.

If the consolidation happens, he said the Forest Service would no longer complete fuel reduction work. Instead, it would focus on timber sales and recreation.

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