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Top Democrat on oversight committee demands Trump administration account for wildland firefighter vacancies
VOL. 9, 11,
NO. 237
LA County officials want public input on spending to address homelessness By Joe Taglieri joet@beaconmedianews.com
By Abe Streep, ProPublica This story was originally published by ProPublica. ProPublica is a Pulitzer Prize-winning investigative newsroom. Sign up for The Big Story newsletter to receive stories like this one in your inbox.
T
he top Democrat on a House committee is demanding that Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins account for discrepancies between her public statements about wildland firefighter staffing and a ProPublica report showing there were thousands of vacancies in the Forest Service’s firefighting workforce as peak wildfire season approached. In June, the Forest Service claimed it had reached 99% of its hiring goal for its wildland firefighting workforce. But ProPublica’s reporting indicated that the agency was selectively counting firefighters, presenting an optimistic assessment to the public. As many as 27% of jobs were vacant as of July 17, according to data obtained by ProPublica. Rep. Robert Garcia, a Democrat from California and the ranking member of the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, made the request to Rollins in a letter sent Aug. 14. “The Trump Administration’s staffing decisions are exacerbating an already dire situation: The Forest Service’s firefighting capacity has been dangerously hampered by Department of Government Efficiency and Trump Administration layoffs, deferred resignations, and other early retirements and resignations just as climate change is
Homeless encampments are a fact of life throughout downtown LA. | Photo courtesy of Russ Allison Loar/Flickr (CC BY-NC-ND 2.0)
L Rep. Robert Garcia. | Photo courtesy of Congressman Robert Garcia / Facebook
extending the fire season,” he wrote. The Forest Service’s assertions about its readiness are contradicted not only by its own staff — a wildland firefighter in California quoted in the ProPublica report called the 99% figure “grossly inaccurate” — but by its own statistics. In July, ProPublica reported that, according to agency data, its fire and aviation management program contained more than 4,500 active vacancies, including for such crucial primary firefighting positions as hotshots, dispatchers and engine captains. At the time, a spokesperson for the Agriculture Department disputed that the Forest Service had that many vacancies within
its fire and aviation management program but did not provide data showing otherwise. A spokesperson for the Forest Service later claimed that ProPublica’s figures were inaccurate, telling the High Country News, “Their numbers likely come from outdated org charts and unfunded positions.” However, ProPublica excluded all unfunded positions from its analysis, and its data came from active agency organizational charts. When asked to support its claims that the agency’s fire service is fully staffed, a spokesperson wrote: “The Forest Service is fully prepared and operational
to protect individuals and communities from wildfires. The Forest Service has over 19,000 workers, both in and out of the Fire and Aviation Management group, who hold incident response qualifications.” According to experts, the agency has long resisted providing a comprehensive and transparent breakdown of its wildland firefighting force. “Unless Congress tells them to, they’re not going to do a report of that magnitude,” said Robert Kuhn, a former Forest Service official who between 2009 and 2011 co-authored such an assessment. Kuhn cited the cost and effort involved
See Firefighter vacancies Page 31
os Angeles County officials asked residents Monday to help shape how money from voter-approved half-cent sales tax will be used to fund the new Department of Homeless Services and Housing launches next fiscal year. County supervisors approved in April a plan to create a centralized department to address homelessness and siphon over $300 million from the Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority to the new agency. LAHSA, a joint LA County and city agency, received sharply critical audits that cited issues including inadequate monitoring of contractors who provide services to unhoused residents and failure to alleviate the homelessness crisis. LAHSA officials have disputed the criticisms and said the agency improved data tracking, including See Homeless Page 31
establishing internet-based tools for increased public transparency. Over 72,000 people were experiencing homelessness in LA County with nearly 44,000 in the city of Los Angeles, according to the 2025 LAHSA point-in-time count. The county and city noted 4% and 3.4% decreases, respectively. Nearly $1.08 billion from Measure A is set for allocation in 2026-27, with $642,000 for homelessness services and the remaining funds for housing. Ten online Zoom meetings set to take place from Sept. 5-18 will focus on a Measure A spending plan for the 2026-27 fiscal year. "The driving force behind this new department is increasing accountability and streamlining bureaucracy to stretch our dollars further," according to a county statement. "This an opportunity for us