U.S. Senator Amy Klobuchar (D-MN), Ranking Member of the Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry, delivered the following opening statement at the Agriculture Committee hearing: Oversight of the United States Forest Service.
A rough transcript of Klobuchar’s full opening statement is available below and a video can be found here.
Ranking Member Klobuchar: Thank you very much, Chairman, and thank you for holding this hearing. Thank you, Chief Schultz, for serving as the 21st chief of the U.S. Forest Service, and for appearing before the committee.
And I also appreciated the briefing we had just last week with Secretary Rollins and Secretary Burgum and others about the status of various fires, and what was happening across the country, and as I said then, I thank the firefighters of the Forest Service for responding to the recent Stewart and Flanders Fires that were scary for many Minnesotans in Senator Smith’s and my home state, including the residents of Two Harbors, Cross Lake, and now we just, this, yesterday have a fire near Ely, Minnesota, which is actually where my dad grew up, and I know that there’s coordinated efforts, as there were for the past fires over the last month with the Forest Service, Bureau of Indian Affairs, the Minnesota DNR, and local first responders, most important, who are protecting lives and properties.
Last May, Senator Smith and I visited an incident command center in Two Harbors and surveyed the damage dropped by the Brimson Complex Fires. Drier, hotter spring seasons, and an ongoing spruce budworm outbreak are contributing to these fires, and I am focused on ensuring the Forest Service and its partners are ready for this approaching fire season.
I don’t quite remember a season where we’ve had so many – I would call them flash fires – they come up out of the blue, they’ve been put out so far, but it just does not bode well because of the dry weather and the conditions for what we’re going to see, so Chief Schultz, I appreciate our recent conversations, as I noticed, and I’ve also raised the issues with Director Fennessy at DOI.
Your agency’s focus on the wildfire issue is critical and forests across the country, which is why I remain concerned by some of the reductions that we’ve talked about.
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, especially when we’re seeing these sort of flash sudden fires, as well as major fires across the country.
These employees are crucial to the agency’s wildfire response during challenging seasons like we may be seeing now, and these departures could leave the agency less prepared.
And I also look forward to hearing how the Forest Service will treat more acres for hazardous fuels this year after a year over year drop in 2025.
I believe we should be strengthening the agency’s wildfire response capabilities, and unfortunately we’ve seen these cuts that should be concerning to all.
The budget that we’ve seen from the administration proposes deep cuts to popular state forestry programs, funding for volunteer fire departments, and forestry research, and the budget the administration recommends moves wildfire operations out of the USDA’s Forest Service, as you know, and we are concerned about the unintended consequences of doing that.
I’m sure you’ll address that.
The budget proposes eliminating forestry research and cutting NFS funding, but at the same time, the Forest Service reorg suggests these mission areas will be reconfigured. That leads to confusion.
The Forest Service research facility in Grand Rapids, Minnesota, which carries out invaluable red pine research, is on the list of facilities to be closed, as is a site in Ely.
Employees have been notified of potential reorganization, but questions remain about where researchers will be located.
In April, I, along with Ranking Members Heinrich and Merkley and more than 30 of my colleagues, directly raised concerns with the reorganization of the USDA. If this reorganization is not well executed, it could lead to additional capacity and workforce reductions. And again, I’m sure you will be addressing that, and I’ve appreciated your willingness to answer my questions over the last few months.
The departure of red card-holding employees, a drop in wildfire mitigation and trail maintenance work, and confusing reorg plans are concerning developments.
And there is a role for Congress. My colleague, Senator Boozman, just mentioned the Fix Our Forests Act, which this committee passed through, and we’re looking forward to its consideration on the floor, and we understand that its passage could be eased by some additional changes that we hope we’ll be able to develop together.
But I do appreciate the bipartisan leadership, and that is why I supported that bill.
Chief Schultz, your leadership and the dedicated work of the Forest Service personnel are much appreciated, are needed more than ever, to see the agency through these challenging times, and I look forward to hearing your testimony.
Thank you.
