The biggest threat to Western states

Each year as the months get warmer, Oregonians and westerners hold their breath to see what kind of wildfire season they'll be in for.

It used to be that we could count on a few wildfires to ignite in late August or September, and be gone by the time fall rolled around.

But over the last ten years, wildfires have grown significantly bigger, hotter, more frequent, and more dangerous to fight. And instead of fires starting in August or September, fires have started igniting earlier each year.

This year, Oregon and the West are in for what's promising to be one of the most devastating fire seasons on record.

Our state is experiencing record-low snowpack. Much of our state received just 11% of its normal pack. Crater Lake has the lowest snowpack in recorded history.

These numbers are going to make Oregon's severe drought even worse.

But that's not all. Last year, Trump and DOGE took a wrecking ball to wildfire preparation and firefighting operations.

He defunded the federal programs that help states like ours prepare for and fight fires.

1400 qualified firefighting personnel left the Forest Service in 2025 and have yet to be replaced.

And, just recently, it was announced that the Trump administration has decided to "reorganize the Forest Service." This sounds innocent enough, but just like everything else Trump has his hands on, the reality is far more sinister.

Trump is replacing high-ranking fire officials with political appointees to do his bidding. He defunded 57 research stations, dedicated to researching the impacts of drought and forest management on wildfire risk.

Let's be clear about what this is: Trump is gutting the Forest Service, safety of our communities be damned. He's gutting the agency and public servants that work tirelessly each year to protect our communities from and help us prepare for wildfires, just weeks away from what's promising to be one of the worst fire seasons in modern history.

This is like needing open heart surgery and a few weeks before your operation, learning that the hospital has replaced your heart surgeon with Hannibal Lecter.

Simply put: Oregon and Western states don't have the resources or firefighters we need for the upcoming season.

Donald Trump and JD Vance set us up to fail, and I fear the consequences will be catastrophic.

In the meantime, I'm going to continue fighting tirelessly to make sure our state gets what it needs to prepare for wildfires this summer.

More soon,

Ron