The 2026 budget proposes consolidating federal wildfire roles into a single agency.
The new Federal Wildland Fire Service would consolidate USDA and DOI fire programs into one command under the Interior Department

It is in the current budget proposal to place the USFS firefighting organization under the Department of the Interior. The four land management agencies under the DOI manages public land for the National Park Service, US Fish and Wildlife Service, Bureau of Land Management and the Bureau of Indian affairs, while the USFS manages public land under the Department of Agriculture.
I have mixed feelings about this having worked/firefighting for every land management agency mentioned above except the BIA. If this provision stays in the budget and it passes, it is a done deal. I do not have any idea how it will work, the devil is in the details and there are few details at this point. One thing I am pretty certain of is, if this comes to fruition it will have a severe negative impact on the budget of the USFS.

Article from Fire Rescue1
WASHINGTON — "The Trump administration released its proposed 2026 budget on May 2, which includes a proposal to restructure federal wildland firefighting responsibilities and make significant cuts to several health agencies.

Under the fiscal year 2026 plan, the administration is seeking to consolidate wildland fire management functions — currently divided between five agencies across the Department of the Interior (DOI) and Department of Agriculture (USDA) — into a new Federal Wildland Fire Service housed within DOI.

The proposed agency would assume firefighting duties currently managed by the U.S. Forest Service, Bureau of Indian Affairs, Bureau of Land Management, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the National Park Service. The budget describes the current division of responsibilities as “dispersed,” resulting in “coordination and cost inefficiencies.

The new service would operate independently from existing firefighting agencies, with its own command structure and appropriations. The Trump administration says the move would improve operational efficiency, strengthen coordination with non-federal partners, and enhance response to what the budget calls a growing “wildfire crisis.”

While the proposal highlights support for operational efficiency in wildland fire response, it also includes notable reductions in public health funding, including funding for agencies that have historically supported firefighter health and safety initiatives."

Link to above article in Firerescue1.

yes and my opinion it is very stupid. You have now also much of the fire fighters have dual duties or other forestry jobs when it is no fire season, so who will decide what.
Its a power play,
I will leave it at that.
I guess I can't leave it at that> I think the coordination the way system is setup now to fight fires is excellent.
If you got a good thing going don't mess with it.
I have seen past-retired Fire fighters at the top of the ladder ring says this is a horrible idea.

Part of the reorganization

Pinetree: "yes and my opinion it is very stupid. You have now also much of the fire fighters have dual duties or other forestry jobs when it is no fire season, so who will decide what.
Its a power play,
I will leave it at that.
I guess I can't leave it at that> I think the coordination the way system is setup now to fight fires is excellent.
If you got a good thing going don't mess with it.
I have seen past-retired Fire fighters at the top of the ladder ring says this is a horrible idea."

There are just so many questions on the role the firefighters would play in other land management duties when not on fires. Would they do timber work with the foresters in the winter? (I did that rather than get laid off in the winter)
Would they do prescribed fires and other forest improvement work?

Part of me wants to say it might be a good move, because I felt us firefighters were little appreciated by our agency and it would be good to move away from those agencies pulling us like puppets.
The other part of me says it is working pretty well, is not broken, so be careful trying to fix it. It could go bad if some how these firefighters/fire management are not part of the decision making on their agency lands.

IMHO, I always thought the whole United States Forest Service should be managed under the Department of the Interior. Lets have all five land management agencies under one umbrella.

When I thought about starting this thread I was hesitant thinking, I hope it does not go off the rails. This change has the potential to be a big deal for the USFS and Superior NF.
The USFS employs over 11,000 wildland firefighters which will be reassigned into the Dept of the Interior, from their current Dept of Agriculture. With that shift will also come the reduction in the USFS's budget which currently is over 50% funded from the wildland firefighting dollars. How all of this is threshed out remains to be seen, but I am certain that it will have serious changes to how the Superior NF resources are managed. When I was a firefighter out of Isabella our fire engine crew regularly cleared recreation trails, mowed, built fishing platforms, cruised timber in the winter and did all kinds of non fire related work. Last season, 2024 thew fire crew out of Gunflint cleared campsites and the border route trail after the June windstorm.

My hope is that this thread can remain politically neutral, this was a bi-partisan bill introduced by Senator Tim Sheehy (R) and Andy Kim (D) California. Tim Sheehy was the CEO of Bridger Aerospace, an aerial wildland firefighting company until 2024 when he decided to run for a Montana senate seat.

While this may, or may not , be a good thing, I wonder how much thought and planning went into it. As someone else mentioned, how do those in other main jobs with a red card fit in to the firefighting effort? What of prescribed burns etc? It already is hard to recruit and retain firefighters, I would hate to make things worse for them. I think more research/ planning and listening to those who are involved in the various aspects are needed before a final decision is made. Rushing will just create more chaos.