Why it Matters
The Senate Appropriations Committee is set to examine the U.S. Forest Service budget estimates for fiscal year 2027 on April 30, and the stakes extend well beyond a routine line-item review. With fiscal year 2026 appropriations still unresolved, workforce reductions underway at the agency, and wildfire season approaching, the hearing arrives at a moment when decisions about Forest Service funding carry immediate consequences for public lands, rural communities, and fire-prone states across the country.
The Legislative Backdrop
Congress has yet to resolve fiscal year 2026 Forest Service funding. The Senate companion bill, S.2431, which is the Department of the Interior, Environment, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act for 2026, sponsored by Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-AK), has been reported out of committee but remains on the Senate Legislative Calendar awaiting floor action. Its House counterpart, H.R.4754, sponsored by Rep. Michael Simpson (R-ID-2), is similarly stalled at the floor consideration stage.
That unresolved fiscal year 2026 picture makes the fiscal year 2027 budget hearing more complicated. Senators will be asked to evaluate the Forest Service's forward-looking budget request while the agency is still operating without a final funding bill for the current year.
Separately, legislation aimed at halting Forest Service workforce reductions has been introduced in both chambers. The Saving the Forest Service's Workforce Act, introduced in the House by Rep. Jared Huffman (D-CA) and in the Senate by Sen. Martin Heinrich (D-NM), would institute a moratorium on reduction-in-force actions at the agency until full-year fiscal year 2026 funding is enacted. The bills have been referred to the Agriculture committees in each chamber, not Appropriations, but the workforce concerns they reflect are likely to surface during Thursday's hearing.
In April 2025, Sen. Patty Murray (D-WA) raised concerns about the impact of a Trump administration funding freeze on federal forest management and wildfire response, discussing those issues directly with Yakama Nation tribal leadership. And a Senate Agriculture Committee communication from the same period flagged alarm from state foresters over proposed Forest Service restructuring.
A Well-Lobbied Hearing
The Senate Appropriations hearing on Forest Service funding comes after sustained lobbying pressure from a broad coalition of interests, spanning timber producers, conservation groups, county governments, and research institutions.
On the appropriations side, the American Forest Resource Council lobbied explicitly on the Forest Service budget and Interior appropriations bills in the fourth quarter of 2025, spending $30,000 that quarter. In the first quarter of 2026, the National Association of University Forest Resource Programs filed disclosures specifically citing "Forest Service budget and reorganization" as a lobbying target, spending $10,000. Conservation Legacy also filed in the fourth quarter of 2025, spending $22,500 to lobby on national parks and Forest Service budget appropriations.
Wildfire and forest health concerns drove a separate stream of lobbying activity. Linn County, Oregon spent $60,000 per quarter across multiple filings in 2025 and into 2026 on issues related to forest fire prevention and the Forest Service. Placer County, California similarly spent $40,000 per quarter on federal wildfire and forest management issues. San Bernardino County, California filed multiple disclosures throughout 2025 focused on forest management and fire prevention.
The Fix Our Forests Act, which addresses prescribed fire and forest management, attracted lobbying from groups including Tall Timbers Research Inc., and the White Oak Initiative, which spent $50,000 in the first quarter of 2026. American Forests also filed disclosures in every quarter of 2025 and into 2026, with amounts ranging from $11,000 to $60,000 per filing.
Safari Club International spent $210,000 in the first quarter of 2025 lobbying on fiscal year 2026 Interior and Agriculture appropriations. The Northwest Public Power Association spent $30,000 in the first quarter of 2025 on wildfire management policy, including Forest Service liability issues.
The Hearing
The Senate Appropriations Committee is scheduled to convene on Thursday, April 30, 2026, to examine the proposed budget estimates and justification for fiscal year 2027 for the U.S. Forest Service. The committee is chaired by Sen. Susan Collins (R-ME), with Sen. Murray serving as Vice Chair. Sen. John Hoeven (R-ND) serves as Ranking Member of the Senate Agriculture Appropriations Subcommittee, which has jurisdiction over Forest Service funding.
The hearing will place senators in the position of evaluating a fiscal year 2027 budget request for an agency that has faced funding uncertainty, organizational restructuring and workforce reductions, all while the demands of wildfire season grow more acute each year.
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