Trump plans to merge wildland firefighting efforts into one agency, but ex-officials warn of chaos

But organizations representing firefighters and former Forest Service officials say it would be costly to restructure firefighting efforts and cause major disruptions in the midst of fire season. Over the long term, they said, it would shift the focus from preventing fires through forest thinning and controlled burns, to extinguishing them even in cases where fire could have beneficial effects.

“You will not suppress your way to success in dealing with catastrophic fires. It’s going to create greater risk and it’s going to be particularly chaotic if you implement it going into fire season,” said Steve Ellis, the chairman of the forest service retirees group and a former wildfire incident commander.