Increase Forest Service Baseline Funding to Close $4-8 Billion Annual Gap

The U.S. Forest Service is functionally broke, and the numbers prove it. The agency manages 193 million acres of national forests and grasslands on approximately $9.3 billion annually, which breaks down to just $48 per acre per year. Meanwhile, actual operational costs range from $13 to $17 billion annually, creating a structural funding gap of $4 to $8 billion every year. This isn't theoretical. The Forest Service carries a $10.8 billion maintenance backlog across 370,000 miles of roads, 164,000 miles of trails, thousands of bridges, drinking water systems, and 13,000 campgrounds. Basic road maintenance alone costs $5,000 to $10,000 per mile annually, totaling up to $3.7 billion. The agency needs $1.08 billion annually over ten years just to prevent the backlog from worsening. The workforce crisis compounds these problems. The Forest Service has lost 25 percent of its employees since the early 1990s, dropping from 38,000 to 40,000 down to 30,000 to 32,000 today. In 2025 alone, another 3,000 to 3,400 employees were cut, leaving approximately one employee for every 6,000 acres. Non-fire staffing in many ranger districts has fallen 30 to 40 percent compared to historic levels. Cutting the Forest Service doesn't save money. It delays and multiplies costs. Unrepaired roads become six-figure emergencies. Deferred fuels work becomes expensive wildfire suppression later, which is why wildfire costs keep ballooning despite budget cuts elsewhere. I urge you to increase baseline funding for the Forest Service to close the multi-billion dollar gap between responsibilities and resources. This means hiring field staff and maintenance workers at living wages with permanent positions to retain expertise. This means funding year-round permanent positions for wildland firefighters so they can perform preventative forest mitigation work alongside firefighting duties. One-time fixes won't solve a structural crisis. Our national forests deserve adequate funding to maintain, prevent, and improve, not merely survive.