US Forest Service research survives in House spending bill

By Marc Heller
E&E News by Politico
July 15, 2025
Category: Business & Politics
Region: United States

House appropriators Monday turned away a Trump administration effort to slash the Forest Service’s research budget, proposing to hold spending steady at about $300 million in fiscal 2026. The proposal by the Republican-led House Appropriations Committee is part of an $8.5 billion annual spending plan for the Forest Service that largely ignores the administration’s most far-reaching proposals. Total spending for the fiscal year beginning Oct. 1 would be $16.8 million less than this year’s level. Spending not directly tied to fire suppression would total $3.6 billion, or about $107 million less than this year. The measure is scheduled for a subcommittee markup Tuesday. The research budget would total $302 million, of which $34 million would be reserved for forest inventory and analysis — the data-collecting operation that the administration hadn’t looked to scale back. [to access the full story an E&E News subscription is required]

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