Salem, OR. – Official Release: Dear Secretary Rollins,
Intense Oregon wildfires burned almost 2 million acres in 2024, a tragedy we risk experiencing
again if sudden layoffs and canceled contracts at the U.S. Forest Service leave a hole in the
fire-prevention work that is crucial for public safety in Oregon’s wildlands. As members of the
Oregon Senate, we know that fire protection takes teamwork and we have long valued our
state’s partnership with the federal government in the shared effort to save lives and property in
fire season.
Today we request you reinstate the workers tasked with thinning trees and removing
combustible materials, jobs that lower fire hazards. As the days go on and fire season
approaches, we ask that you allow the U.S. Department of Agriculture and the U.S. Forest
Service to remain active and productive partners for fire safety in Oregon. These employee
dismissals shortchange the communities that need us all working together to stop the threat of
wildfire.
Please bring back the prevention workers and commit to stabilizing operations in your agency.
While the courts assess whether the firings are legal in departments like yours, please do not
interrupt the essential public services Americans count on for health, safety, and prosperity.
Confronting the crisis of wildfires will be successful only when we all work together. We need
government bodies–local, state, tribal and federal–working with each other and with private
sector partners, over rural and urban areas, and across all political lines. As lawmakers, we
legislated comprehensive preparedness and resiliency with funding for local fire departments
and districts, risk reduction, forest-thinning, early smoke detection, clean-air shelters, and more.
Oregonians deserve to see their federal tax dollars serving their safety, too. Those federal funds
should be returning to the state as services performed by federal agencies like yours. For thegood of Oregon’s people and beautiful places, please put Forest Service workers back on the
job.
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