Non-fire forest workers to support wildfire response as Forest Service becomes ‘more intentional and more effective,’ USDA secretary says

The Trump administration is prepared for what could be a “significant fire season,” despite thousands of Forest Service employees departing under Trump’s deferred resignation offer, according to U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Brooke Rollins.

“It did not compromise and will not compromise at all, 1%, what needs to be done to make sure that we are ready,” Rollins told Fox News Digital Friday.

More than 4,000 U.S. Forest Service employees voluntarily resigned under buyouts offered by the Trump administration, according to a POLITICO report.

Wildland firefighters were largely exempt from the buyouts and a federal hiring freeze, but blue state leaders say President Donald Trump’s slash-and-burn approach cuts key support staff.