Could Trump budget cuts hurt WA wildfire fighting efforts? We asked an expert

As Washington’s wildfire season approaches its peak, the state is struggling to secure federal funding for its wildfire preparedness efforts.

The Trump administration has yet to distribute $280 million in State, Private and Tribal Forestry program funds to agencies across the country, according to a news release from the office of U.S. Sen. Maria Cantwell of Washington.

The Washington Department of Natural Resources received $20.5 million from the program in 2024, and officials anticipated receiving a similar amount this year.

In the past, federal funding has been used to train wildland firefighters and provide assistance to fire departments in sparsely populated areas

The funding dispute is significant, according to officials at the state Natural Resources Department, which handles wildfire fighting efforts at the statewide level, but its impacts likely won’t be felt this summer.

Here’s how the state agency is ramping up its wildfire season efforts amid uncertainties with federal funding.

Will Trump funding cuts impact WA wildfire season?

According to Robyn Whitney, strategic advisor to the State Forester, the Washington Department of Natural Resources, will operate at full capacity this summer, regardless of possible federal budget cuts.

“Currently Washington DNR is not experiencing any impacts to our capacity or our capabilities,” Whitney said in a phone call with McClatchy.

That could change next year, though.

The dispute over the State, Private and Tribal Forestry funding could leave the Washington Natural Resources Department without $20 million in expected funding for its firefighting efforts.

According to Whitney, if the funds aren’t released, it would impact the state agency’s 2026 budget.

Funding for fiscal year 2024-25 was “approved by Congress in the current continuing resolution that we’re running on through Sept. 30,” Whitney said. “And that’s (those) dollars that are being withheld by the administration. That funding is currently at (the federal Office of Management and Budget).”

In her release, Cantwell quoted U.S. Forest Service Chief Tom Schultz as saying that a determination on the funding distribution would be made in “in the next several weeks.”

However, Schultz said that he couldn’t commit that the funding would be released.

Firefighter training, assistance programs at risk in Washington

The state Natural Resources Department primarily uses State, Private and Tribal Forestry funding for two programs: its wildland firefighter trainings and its Volunteer Fire Assistance initiative.

“DNR uses some of that funding to put on fire academy training, and that’s for state, local and volunteer wildland firefighters,” Whitney said. “If we don’t get that funding next year, we’ll have to make some tough decisions on how many academies we can provide.”

The Volunteer Fire Assistance program, meanwhile, is the state agency’s initiative to provide equipment to the more remote parts of the state.

“We pass that funding through to the volunteer fire departments in communities” that have populations of 10,000 people, Whitney said. “They can use that funding to purchase safety gear for their wildland firefighters … hoses, nozzles, all the equipment for engines and brush trucks.”

If the state Natural Resources Department is unable to fully fund those programs, how big of an impact would it have on the state’s wildfire preparedness efforts?

Whitney said the department typically trains 600 wildland firefighters a year.

Without the funding, that number could drop to 200, Whitney said.

“Typically, we do three fire academies in a year, and it’s about 200 wildland firefighters at each academy that receive training,” Whitney said. “If we don’t get that (fiscal year 2024-25) funding, we, for example, may only be able to provide one fire academy training. Then that’s 400 wildland firefighters that don’t receive training.”

According to Whitney, neither program makes up a significant portion of the Washington Department of Natural Resources’ budget, but both are important to its fire management efforts.

“These programs (are) ... not huge funding sources, but they have a very outsized impact,” Whitney said.

How did federal budget cuts impact Forest Service, FEMA?

Earlier this year, the Trump administration reportedly cut more than 700 U.S. Forest Service staffers who assisted in firefighting efforts.

However, the Forest Service was later ordered to reinstate fired employees. Despite the reinstatements, Reuters reported the department’s staff is down by 15%.

Current Forest Service data suggests that firefighting forces are fully staffed. The department reported that its firefighting staff is at 99% of its target size as of June 29, and roughly on pace with recent years.

President Donald Trump has also discussed plans to eliminate the Federal Emergency Management Administration and instead have state-level emergency management agencies.

The Trump administration has already started reducing staff at the agency, laying off around 200 employees, according to ABC News and NPR.

Whitney pointed out that any FEMA cuts could impact Washington’s recovery efforts in the event of a significant wildfire, but wouldn’t affect firefighting or prevention efforts.

“When it comes to wildfires and all disasters really, FEMA is more involved after the incident, and dealing with the cost of recovery,” Whitney said.

According to Whitney, any other potential cuts wouldn’t impact Washington’s wildfire prevention efforts until 2027.

“There’s proposed cuts that were in the president’s budget request to Congress for fiscal year ‘26 funding,” Whitney said.

This story was originally published July 24, 2025 at 5:00 AM.