Wildfires

New Republic -   Last year, the U.S. Forest service was already facing a 45 percent attrition rate among permanent employees. Reporting from ProPublica last week revealed that more than 4,500 Forest Service firefighting jobs—up to 27 percent of those positions—were still vacant as of July 17. A recent survey by Forest Service fire managers in California found that 26 percent of engine captain positions and 42 percent of engineer positions were vacant. ProPublica further revealed a frantic letter circulated among high-ranking Forest Service officials by its chief, Tom Schultz. “As expected, the 2025 Fire Year is proving to be extremely challenging,” he wrote. “We know the demand for resources outpaces their availability.”