Today, House Agriculture Ranking Member Angie Craig (MN-02) delivered the following opening statement at a Subcommittee on Forestry and Horticulture hearing titled “For the Purpose of Receiving Testimony from Chief Tom Schultz, U.S. Forest Service.” Watch the hearing here.

[As prepared for delivery.]

Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

I want to begin by thanking our courageous wildland firefighters, especially those battling the fires in Minnesota and the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness. 

I also want to recognize the search and rescue personnel from Minnesota, the Forest Service and Canada who recently evacuated the young YMCA campers from the Boundary Waters and helped get them home to their families.

And how did the president respond to these acts of bravery by our friends to the north? He blamed them for the wildfires and increased tariffs on them.

Today, I’ll say what he should have to our Canadian neighbors – thank you.

Mr. Schultz, thank you for being here today. Before I go any farther, I want to start by inviting you to join me in Minnesota to see firsthand the damage caused by these wildfires and meet with the communities and small businesses affected by the decisions being made in Washington.

Mr. Schultz, you are the first political appointee to serve as chief in the agency’s history. 

This unprecedented decision coincides with some of the most radical shifts in Forest Service history. 

This includes DOGE cuts that forced out about 16 percent of the staff and a politically motivated reorganization. And the issues go deeper than staffing. 

The Forest Service diverted forest management funds that Congress provided through the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and the Inflation Reduction Act to pay for the Deferred Resignation Program.

That has been par for the course under this administration: using limited taxpayer dollars not to pay for critical, valuable work, but to handicap federal agencies for years to come.

And it has had obvious consequences: the Forest Service treated 23 percent fewer hazardous fuels acres last year compared with 2024.

Rural communities in Minnesota and across the country are understandably worried about what happens when the agency continues losing experienced employees and accomplishing less work.

Earlier this year you said that the agency does not intend to “push anyone out the door.”

But internal documents show just the opposite; these reductions weren't accidental; they were the objective.

Now, despite the challenges you face, USDA is seeking to completely reorganize your agency.

History shows that requiring employees to uproot their families and relocate across the country leads to substantial attrition. At a time when the Forest Service is already struggling to retain experienced personnel, that is a risk the agency cannot afford.

Despite all the proof to the contrary, we’ve also been told that the reorganization will not harm the research arm of the Forest Service. Research, mind you, that is intended to prevent and more quickly stop forest fires.

But the department’s budget proposal for the next fiscal year eliminates funding for Forest Service research altogether. What type of message does that send to rural communities and wildland firefighters on the frontlines? 

It’s not enough that your department is putting our public lands at risk, but you’ve also opened the door to proposals like state and local “primacy” which would be a step toward selling off them off altogether. An idea so unpopular that it was removed from the Republicans’ reconciliation bill last year.  

Chief, when so many of your decisions undermine the Forest Service’s mission, people are right to ask whether that’s the intended outcome.

Let me close with this: there is bipartisan support for a strong and effective Forest Service.

We all want healthier forests, more hazardous fuels treated, more trails restored, more sustainable timber harvested and safer communities.

For the rural communities many of us represent, the Forest Service isn't a political weapon to be wielded when the administration changes.

It's an essential partner that supports local economies, like those near the Boundary Waters.

It protects public lands and helps keep families safe from catastrophic wildfire.

That's why we need this agency to succeed. That’s why we need you to do better.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I yield back.