As the 2026 wildfire season becomes one of the most destructive in Pacific Northwest history, fire policy experts, congressional Democrats, and agency employees are raising urgent concerns that staffing cuts made by the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) earlier this year have hobbled the federal government’s ability to respond — and could get worse as the season continues.
The Cuts and What They Mean
DOGE-directed workforce reductions at the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) and the U.S. Forest Service have eliminated positions across land management, science, and field operations over the past several months. Critics note that effective wildfire response requires more than frontline firefighters — it depends on a network of land managers, scientists, resource advisors, and support staff who work in tandem to plan operations, coordinate logistics, and protect sensitive habitats during and after fires.
In a letter to Interior Secretary Doug Bergum, ranking Democrats on appropriations and oversight committees wrote: “While consolidation could be an effective strategy to improve efficiency and coordination, the Administration’s approach risks diverting critical resources and funding away from land management agencies without any public plan to replace those capabilities.”
Incident Management Teams Under Strain
A particularly pointed concern involves Incident Management Teams (IMTs). The Forest Service has publicly maintained that its frontline firefighter cadre will not be affected by the changes, but agency employees have told outlets including NOTUS that IMTs are routinely staffed by non-firefighter personnel — the very positions being cut. Without those professionals, the agency’s ability to stand up Type 1 and Type 2 management teams for major incidents is potentially compromised, even if the number of uniformed firefighters stays constant.
USDA Relocation Orders Adding Uncertainty
A separate but related issue is a USDA directive requiring agency employees in certain positions to relocate to new duty stations. Multiple Forest Service employees have indicated they do not plan to comply, raising concerns about near-term staffing at regional offices that coordinate fire response across the Northwest. The Forest Service has stressed that fire suppression operations will not be affected, but the potential departure of experienced personnel at a critical moment in the fire season has raised concerns at the state level as well.
The International Backstop
NPR reported this week that fire managers are contemplating requests for international firefighting assistance, likely from Canada, if domestic resources remain insufficient to manage the growing number of large fire incidents. Canada has mutual aid agreements with the United States that facilitate the temporary deployment of crews and aircraft, a resource that has been invoked in especially severe fire seasons in the past.
Meanwhile, Oregon’s 2026 suppression costs have already surpassed $61 million with the season far from over, raising questions about emergency supplemental funding and whether existing fire borrowing reforms are adequate. Congressional leaders from Oregon and Washington are expected to address the issue when Congress returns from recess.