Gov. Tony Evers is again urging the Trump administration against cuts to U.S. Forest Service programs, warning the combination of reduced funding and staffing will be “devastating” for states like Wisconsin.
Evers in a letter Monday to U.S. Department of Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins noted the U.S. Forest Service warned the state to expect less funding from the Urban and Community Forestry grant program, “presumably to cover the cost of terminating dedicated federal workers.”
“It is untenable to expect Wisconsinites to take on the additional workload caused by cuts to the federal workforce while also gutting the investments necessary to support that effort,” Evers wrote. “Using the very funds that are being eliminated to compensate for the workforce reduction undermines the trust and commitment that this important work requires.”
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The Dem guv said the cuts would put the $42 billion and 126,000 jobs the forestry industry contributes to Wisconsin’s economy at risk. The state currently receives more than $2 million annually from the U.S. Forest Service, according to Evers’ letter.
USDA has said eliminating State, Private and Tribal Forestry funds will “ensure fiscal responsibility with American taxpayer dollars” and “better balance the appropriate roles of federal and state governments.”
But Evers argued reducing the aid is “detrimental to Wisconsin’s forests, impacting programs required to maintain healthy forests and protect the forestry industry.”
He said even if new grants are eliminated, the state still has existing grants spanning up to five years, and the cuts would create “significant gaps” in administration and lead to payment delays for industry partners. Evers also raised concerns about the ability to address invasive species’ impacts on forests, combat wildfires and support research and development.
White House spokesperson Anna Kelly in a statement to WisPolitics said Trump and Rollins “have done more to support America’s timber industry than any prior administration, including through the President’s Executive Order to rapidly expand timber production and improve forest management.”
“As usual, Governor Evers is wrong – the Forest Service and USDA are totally equipped to serve the needs of Wisconsinites, and the entire administration will continue to ensure our country’s timber industry has every possible resource to thrive,” Kelly said.
Sen. Romaine Quinn, R-Birchwood, chair of the Insurance, Housing, Rural Issues and Forestry Committee, said the reductions “don’t warrant the hysteria being drummed up by Governor Evers and opponents of President Trump.”
“God forbid somebody tries to trim a little spending from a Federal Government that is incapable of living within its means,” Quinn said.
He said the state receives between $2 to $4 million directly from the U.S. Forest Service and has a positive balance “upwards of $100 million” in its state forestry account. He also said 20 probationary forest service employees were laid off in the spring, out of a 670-person workforce.
