r/Wildfire • u/Flat-Suggestion-8373 • Jun 01 '25

News (General) Additional FY26 Trump Budget Request Details - Forest Service

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Details pulled from 2026 USDA Budget Summary: https://www.usda.gov/sites/default/files/documents/2026-usda-budget-summary.pdf. Will post DOI details separately.

Pasting the WFM excerpt below, which confirms that all WFM program funding will be requested through DOI. Summary table outlines reductions to all FS account (e.g., -100% for Forest and Rangeland Research, -100% for State, Private, and Tribal Forestry, -48% for Capital Improvement and Maintenance, -34% for FS Operations, -30% for National Forest System). Overall, the request would reduce total discretionary approps for FS from $6.2b in FY25 to $2.1b in FY26.

“Wildland Fire Management The 2026 request will transfer the Forest Service Wildland Fire Management appropriations to DOI for the creation of the new U.S. Wildland Fire Service. This new DOI bureau will absorb the Forest Service Wildland Fire Management response program, including over 11,000 firefighters, 3,000 operational fire support personnel and leadership, and nearly 450 business support personnel. In addition, the Joint Fire Science program previously within the Forest and Rangeland Research account will be transferred to DOI to support the U.S. Wildland Fire Service.”

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u/[deleted] Jun 01 '25

That’s not what you said though. You said “we need an act of congress to move shit around.” The legislative branch doesn’t decide who works for DOI or USDA. They do pass budgets though which won’t be a problem.

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u/hack_nasty Jun 01 '25

The constitution gives congress the ability to create federal agencies and the control of the funding. So to establish a new agency and fund it, it would have to go through congress

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u/[deleted] Jun 01 '25

I guess. A new fire agency, I’d imagine, would be pretty easy to add. Just add that into the budget similarly to what they did with space force. If they didn’t want to do that then the executive branch could still work around it by placing all fire resources into existing agencies already within the DOI.

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u/hack_nasty Jun 01 '25

I would hope that even if they fucked it all up, at least it was done in the right/constitutional way