Thank you, Chairman LaMalfa, for convening us today, and thank you to our witnesses for making the trip.

I especially want to thank Dean DeLuca, who has consistently provided my team and me with valuable input that informs our work here in Washington. I know the Dean’s testimony and answers today, along with the perspectives of our other distinguished witnesses, will give this Subcommittee important insights as we consider the future of active forest management in this country.

I want to be clear at the outset of this hearing – active, science-based management is not about clear-cutting large swaths of forest. It is about targeted thinning, prescribed fire, fuels reduction, and other practices that restore balance to ecosystems and reduce wildfire risks to communities. We can prevent and combat catastrophic wildfires without irreparably damaging the habitat and ecosystems we require to survive as humans.

Unfortunately, even as the need for active management has grown more urgent, recent actions by the Trump administration have undermined the Forest Service’s ability to meet that challenge.

The Department of Agriculture’s proposed reorganization, which would centralize staff and research in distant hubs, threatens to strip away local expertise and trusted partnerships that are essential for success. That includes long-standing collaborations with institutions like Oregon State University.

Workforce reductions have only worsened the problem. As many as 5,000 Forest Service employees have been lost this year, when the agency already isn’t meeting it’s needed staffing requirements. These personnel cuts have primarily impacted staff who were relatively new to their roles, as well as the agency's most experienced staff nearing the end of their careers. The result is critical gaps in knowledge, research, and local capacity at the very moment when we should be scaling up our efforts.

On top of these workforce challenges, the Trump administration’s budget proposes deep reductions to the very programs that help state, Tribal, and private partners carry out active management. These are the programs that fund cooperative agreements, technical assistance, and cross-boundary projects. Cutting them undermines the ability of states and Tribes to match federal efforts on the ground, weakening the partnerships we know are essential for forest health.

That leads me to a larger point – the success of active forest management depends on partnerships. Tribes, states, local governments, universities, and private landowners all bring unique tools and expertise. Programs like Good Neighbor Authority, Service First agreements, and shared stewardship show what’s possible when we work together. In Oregon, we have seen firsthand how impactful these partnerships can be, and institutions like Oregon State have proven how seamlessly they can work with their federal partners.

But, instead of strengthening these partnerships, the Trump administration has pursued theatrical actions that will undermine our ability to meaningfully improve the health and resilience of our forests.

One example is Secretary Rollins’s repeal of the 2001 Roadless Rule, which she has justified as a way to expand active management and reduce wildfire risk.

The truth is that roadless areas are remote and costly to access. They are not the landscapes where decades of logging and deferred management have led to overstock and increased fire risk. They are not where wildfire poses the greatest threat to communities, people, and property. In fact, research shows that fire risk only increases in areas with roads and human activities. Our priority must be to focus on active management where the risk is highest, not to rescind protections in hopes of opening new areas for industrial access.

This Subcommittee has a responsibility to ensure the Forest Service has the resources, workforce, and research capacity it needs to carry out its mission and ensure the health and resilience of our nation’s forest lands. We must advance policies in the upcoming farm bill and beyond that expand science-informed management, strengthen partnerships, and keep our focus squarely on protecting people, communities, and ecosystems at risk.

I look forward to hearing from our witnesses and working together to chart a path forward that will help us achieve these goals.

Thank you, and I yield back.