Vox Populi:

A week ago, smoke from early season Canadian wildfires, which had necessitated mass evacuations in several Canadian provinces, began wafting into the United States. It was a harbinger of what will likely be another dangerous and disruptive summer of fires across the United States and Canada.

Yet, while Canadian provinces such as Ontario have been boosting the resources they provide their firefighting services, the United States Forest Service, which includes the 10,000 personnel in the federal firefighting system, has fallen victim to indiscriminate “Department of Government Efficiency” (DOGE) cuts since Donald Trump’s inauguration.

In February, about 700 Forest Service employees, whose full-time work is other than firefighting but who are trained to join firefighting efforts in emergencies, were fired. Thousands of other Forest Service employees, as well as others in the parent department, the Department of Agriculture (USDA), were also placed on notice that they would be fired at some point over the coming months. Many more have disappeared from, or will soon disappear from, the government’s payrolls, either through job losses or deferred resignation or early retirement, and many others have spent the past several months in limbo, as court battles play out as to whether or not they can be terminated. Absurdly, as fire season nears, many are still being paid but have been placed on administrative leave — meaning they are being paid not to work.

Go to link