PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN) – Congresswoman Janelle Bynum (OR-05) is leading an effort among her Democratic House colleagues calling for job protections for federal wildland firefighters amid efforts to purge the federal workforce by the Trump administration.

Bynum led the caucus in a letter sent Thursday to Secretary of Agriculture Brooke Rollins and Interior Secretary Doug Bergum, urging the department heads to reconsider the current federal hiring freeze and termination of employees — including 3,400 United States Forest Service, 1,000 National Park Service and 800 Bureau of Land Management employees who have been fired to date. This includes federal wildland firefighters, according to Bynum.

In their letter, the lawmakers warn that insufficient staffing and funding will leave agencies unable to prepare and train for future wildfire seasons.

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“We urge you to take immediate action to avert the potentially catastrophic consequences of these actions by exempting all employees serving in firefighting, fire mitigation, and fire suppression roles from staffing cuts, and immediately reinstating any federal employees who were recently dismissed from these roles,” the lawmakers wrote.

“The hiring freeze and staffing cuts have harmed the livelihoods of dedicated public servants across our state and will directly undermine public safety,” the lawmakers continued. “Fewer firefighters and insufficient staffing during fire season exacerbate fire response delays, prevent effective mitigation efforts, and place lives, property, and our environment at greater risk.”

The terminations of federal wildland firefighters come after recent massive wildfire seasons in Oregon.

During the Labor Day Fires of 2020, the Santiam Fire scorched over 400,000 acres — destroying more than 5,000 homes, and 1,500 structures, “nearly decimated” the communities of Detroit and Gates and severely damaged the cities of Idanha, Lyons, and Mill City, Bynum noted.

2024 brought a historic wildfire season, which led to a record of nearly two million acres being burned, and dozens of homes and structures being destroyed. The fires also killed an air tanker pilot and injured 26 civilians and fire responders.

Bynum says these major wildfires are becoming more frequent, highlighting the need to maintain federal resources to prepare for and fight fires.

“The safety of our communities and our firefighters depend on your swift and decisive action,” the lawmakers wrote. “Without appropriate and sufficient federal firefighting resources that support response and mitigation, Oregon faces a higher risk of destruction when the next wildfires strike.” 

Even though the Trump administration claimed public safety roles would be exempt from the federal firings, the lawmakers noted, “reports that firefighters and employees with fire mitigation duties have been terminated are very concerning and require your immediate attention.”